Well, we had more guns. We won that war, they signed away their lands, etc. Stronger, better armed civilizations have had a history of pushing the weaker guys around... so what? By such an "illegal" standard, all of us non-N.A.'s are invaders and we should just pack our bags and head back to whatever part of the world we came from.

That's all ridiculous of course, this couldn't happen. The United States is the rightful soveriegn over this land. If the Mexicans want to try and cleanse us out, they are free to try. If that's their aim we're not doing much to stop them.

Anything to slow down or stop this influx of illegals would be welcome and helpful. I really don't care about the Native Americans 100 years ago. I care about my own country right now.

Maybe it arises out of a duty not to assist someone in committing an illegal act?

I just made that up, but it sounds good to me.

Right. I can feel the pain of people who are seeking a better life but a relaxed immigration policy isn't the answer. Many of these nations that these illegals come from have very strict immigration and visitation policies that preclude people being able to do in their country what has been done in ours.

Moreover, contrary to conventional wisdom, the browning of our society through immigration and illegal immigration doesn't lead to increased diversity and tolerance. Instead, it leads to increased racial tensions as the connection between economics and race is highlighted even more.

I can't say that I wouldn't try to be an illegal in America if I was desperate. But it stopped being a small, "oh, these people are seeking a better life and we should feel sorry for and cater to them...just think of little Elian Gonzalez" over a decade ago and over a million people ago.

:) Sure, the Native Americans weren't accustomed to having non-Native Americans around on a more constant basis. But, the Native Americans were also benefitting from the settlers' presence at one point (the new diseases not included).

If the settlers had settled peacefully and contributed positively without oppressing the Native Americans, there would be a different ending to the story. So when people use the "how do you think Native Americans felt" response, I wonder if they have really thought-out that retort. The Native Americans initially felt similarly to how Americans initially felt when the immigration rate was relatively low decades ago--"okay, new people that we're not used to...are they clean and will they harm us? Well...capitalism is benefitting so maybe we can milk this for all its worth...let's hope this doesn't get out of control though."

There are many laws that the gov't can't enforce without citizens' assistance.

I also wonder how far they are taking the liability on this. If they're asking for ID cards, etc as proof of legal status, many illegals have pretty dang convincing fakes.

Meh, I think you're misstating your terms here . . . we could just as easily parse this as "Can anyone provide a compelling reason why teachers should have a role in enforcing child abuse laws?" due to their mandatory reporter status - or we could flip the phrasing, and say that landlords are now charged with ensuring their dollars are coming from a legitimate, legal source, upholding the law of the land w/re: their own income.

It's a fine line, and ultimately the semantic argument doesn't hold much water - the reality of the situation is that modern immigration reform, which essentially requires 'band-aids' over existing gaps, probably means removing easy supply-side enabling of aliens. Landlords who rent to illegals are certainly enablers, although not on the same level as, say, employers.

I just wanted to note this - this is simultaneously the biggest reason for and against what I've discussed above. Faking documentation always has happened and always will - that's another area to attack, but it definitely means that checking more stringently in other areas for things like doubled SSN/etc. can only serve to actively attempt to seek out aliens.

Public school teachers are government employees...so I have no issue with requiring them to help enforce laws.

RC touched on this, but I don't think this is really the feeling at all. It's just another idea in trying to stem off illegal immigration. The government feels like enlisting citizens in this way will help the effort.

Good luck in getting your citizenship - I think it's great that you're going through the process and going about things the right (and legal) way. I helped a friend of mine study for the citizenship exam in college, so that gave me a glimpse into the work people do to become citizens.

Those same laws apply to private school teachers. So the fact that they're government employees is not a controlling factor here.

Forest/Trees

Good point.

The winner always gets to write the history. That's why so many believe the War Between the States was waged to end slavery.

it was between deep south and new england, with the mid-atlantic cought in the middle :(

RU, what was between the deep south and new england? The war, or the war with a basis in ending slavery. Either way you're mistaken, considering the role of Virginia...