Views on Immigration

[KasieMiehlke]

Ok, loaded topic here. But I will say my view is to currently not allow immigration right now. We have enough children and people who are homeless and need assistance that already live here (regardless of whether legal or illegal- they are here). Take care of them first. For example, there were currently 25,000 homeless children in NYC right before winter approached. Put your resources into taking care of them. Once you solve that problem then re-evaluate immigration. It's like going to help and spend your money on the neighborhood when your own house and family are falling apart but you aren't taking care of it.

I don't believe that we should, in any given circumstance, completely block immigration just because we have inner issues that have always existed (such as homelessness) our country. We should concentrate our resources in helping problems running rampant now, yes, but that doesn't mean we should restrict immigration flow because of it.

I fully agree with you.

[vinodsai]

I think immigration is fine but two things need to happen first. The first thing is any country should take care to help their own people first, you can't be a land of opportunities and yet have so many people that still need housing and food in your own country. Secondly, I think any immigration needs to be done legally, to immigrate anywhere "off the books" really causes problems later down the road not only for the person/people immigrating but for the country as a whole.

I totally agree. Immigration process should be done legally.

[Jax14]

Gosh this really is a difficult issue to debate isn't it? So many valid points for both sides come up. If my husband hadn't legally immigrated to this country I would never have met him, and most of my family have immigrated around the world (legally) to get away from crime. We are all on this world for such a short amount of time, and since we are invested in keeping our families safe, it would be a shame to be stopped for trying to do something legally because of fear that has arisen through deeds of others.

[gunnyswife]

As this is a nation founded by immigrants and colonists, I don't feel stopping immigration is a good idea, as there is much we can learn from other people. We should focus our resources on helping those in need on our own soil first, but still, immigrants are very hard workers that only want to live the American dream. Why stop others from doing what our ancestors did long ago (and maybe not that long ago too )

[NeonKay]

I think receiving immigrants is not as bad as what others may think. Given that there are security risks in some cases, it is still highly possible to accommodate foreign people without discrimination provided that the laws about it are improved and strictly implemented.

[jessinikkip]

I have always been of the idea that immigration is a good thing, no matter the religion of the person coming in, as long as they do it the right way. If it's legal then by all means, please come on in. It's the illegal immigration I have a problem with. Besides, if America didn't allow immigration and it was just Native Americans here, how many people would actually live in America that live here now?

[lavellan]

I agree that we need immigration reform. The pathways to citizenship and general immigration are extremely difficult. This encourages desperate people to enter the country illegally and punishes legal immigrants. I agree that we should help the homeless and poor who are citizens, but immigration and homelessness shouldn’t be considered as mutually exclusive.

[ostercl]

Our nation was built on the influx of immigrants from all over the country. As long as immigrants are doing something to better their own lives AND the lives of others, they should be welcomed. They need to pay taxes like the rest of the United States Citizens, and contribute to the society that they are trying to be a part of.

[Delioness]

I totally agree with Melissy370. Laws should be put in place and also enforced, not only for the citizens' protection, but also specfying the penalties for any undocumented immigrant apprehended, as well as special cases in which they can be legalized, for instance in cases of natural disasters and so in. This will serve as a deterrent to others who are planning to tow this line.

[NL Hartje]

The homeless issue expressed above is entirely separate. We have a ridiculous amount of empty houses and apartments across the country. They're sitting, falling apart, with no one living inside them. There will probably never be anyone living inside them again.

This is an incredibly perceptive note khusnick. My husband studied urban development when we were in college and I spent a lot of time with him going over zoning and repurposing plans for abandoned "projects" and neighborhoods. I certainly don't know the path to making these homes livable again but it is heartening to see it acknowledged by others.

[vinodsai]

Immigration is honestly the least of our problems. It's pushed to seem super important, but most people have not and never will be harmed or affected by an immigrant in a negative way.

The homeless issue expressed above is entirely separate. We have a ridiculous amount of empty houses and apartments across the country. They're sitting, falling apart, with no one living inside them. There will probably never be anyone living inside them again. The affordability of housing and assistance programs in getting homeless people back into actual homes are something we need to work on, yes, but that has no relation to immigration. There's no reason we can't do both.

I totally agree with you. I think immigration is not at all a problem. There are many problems other than immigration.

[Katepcell13]

I believe immigration is what made this country. Immigration isn’t a problem if immigrants come legally. I agree that homelessness is a huge problem! We help other countries all the time which is amazing but we need to help our own country first. Our country is failing because we can’t simply help ourselves first. That may sound selfish but sometime you have to be selfish. So I don’t think immigration is a problem at all. There are probably some things that need work with immigrating laws but with immigration it’s self isn’t an issue.

[Frank Rod]

As a person born from Macedonia, that moved to the UK, I will tell you what I think on this.

In Macedonia, we have people with all sorts of different cultures. Apart from the Macedonians, there are Albanians, Turks, Romans, Bulgarians, Bosnians, Serbians etc. etc. All of them have different religions - Christian (ortodox), Christian (catholic), Muslim...
People have somehow learned to live together, but there are and always will be provocations, issues, attacks and what not.

At the moment, Macedonia is on the way of becoming a two-language country (Macedonian/Albanian), which is something that I don't agree with at all.
It is getting hard now for Macedonians to get jobs, because people would prefer hiring an Albanian person, just because that person has a 1+ advantage on a language.

On the other side, there is the UK, which is struggling with a lot of foreigners coming to the country. One of which is, well, me.
There is no discrimination at all, and people can get jobs easily if they have the knowledge and experience needed. I have managed to find a wonderful job and climb the ladder, despite my nationality, and the fact that English is not my main language.

Please let me know what you think, and ask me anything, I am happy to answer

I too was born in another country and migrated to the U.S.A. which is the best country in the world. this is my opinion. I married an American young lady and have 2 boys. They are doing extremely well. People say "America was established through foreigners." True! However, we are now in 2018, and these times are different from the past. they have people that have blown up our towers and many other buildings. These individuals have killed and beheaded many individuals. There exist a serious drug culture and not to mention human trafficking. The only way to slow down this problem in the U.S.A. is to establish what President Trump wants, and that is a wall and a careful review of who wants to come here. these issues did not exist in the 60s or 70s. They do exist now. I am a retired cop and tend to think along the same lines as other police officers and this is what we want and need.

[VictoriaMcMillen]

The views on immigration were much-needed in this day, with all that is happening. The immigrants narrative is not being told by mainstream media. You do not see any of them on TV being interviewed or sympathized with. Without all narratives having a chance to be heard, it creates an atmosphere of ignorance and misunderstanding. If there is anything "fake" about the news, it is that it doesn't tell the whole story or all sides, as they believe they need to cram everything they can into one hour and call it comprehensive journalism. We are conditioned to accept that for news because growing up news was more comprehensive. This book made sure we saw into the possible lives of those we might come into contact with. A true glimpse into what we need to see in order to form real understandings and make sound decisions in our world.

In regards to the Muslim question- I believe that it is imperative that more people see them as human beings and not just terrorists. They are women and children, and men, all with dreams and ambitions of their own. They also have their own history and suffrages that are never talked about. I would like to hear from anyone that truly learned about these groups of people growing up, rather than simple geography and important vocabulary? Nearly none of us have actually learned about the plights of their countries as we know the plights of ours. Not that our country has a great job of telling the whole story there either.

All much needed insight for the modern human being.

[Kelaine]

Immigration is honestly the least of our problems. It's pushed to seem super important, but most people have not and never will be harmed or affected by an immigrant in a negative way.

The homeless issue expressed above is entirely separate. We have a ridiculous amount of empty houses and apartments across the country. They're sitting, falling apart, with no one living inside them. There will probably never be anyone living inside them again. The affordability of housing and assistance programs in getting homeless people back into actual homes are something we need to work on, yes, but that has no relation to immigration. There's no reason we can't do both.

This, yes!!
Legal immigrants (mostly) get jobs, buy things, pay taxes, and contribute to the whole economic system. Illegal immigrants still (mostly) get jobs and buy things, and contribute to the whole economic system. If illegal immigrants aren't paying taxes, they also aren't accessing free/subsidized public services to the same degree that tax-paying citizens can, so they aren't actually pulling those tax-based resources out of the economy to any significant degree.

Immigrants contribute so much to so many aspects of society; preventing immigration slows down progress working on other internal issues, including homelessness.