Forget reporting them to immigration authorities. We need to start thinking bigger. We need to enlist the American sense of adventure and entrepreneurial spirit. We also need to make use of our current preoccupation with different forms of reality entertainment.

American citizens should be issued dartguns with nano-tracking devices. Enforcing immigration could be the next national pass time. The whole country could access the ongoing tagging, registration and apprehension of illegal aliens. Every bagged illegal that comes from a successfult tagging could count towards cash and prizes.

apparently the genocide of the vative tribes and the enslavement of africans wasn’t enough for you. Keep going baby, this country is amassing a kharmic debt that, like your trade defecit and budget shortfall, you probably will have no chance to ever repay.

How much do you figure you would fine those that tag one that looks like an illegal but isn’t. What if you tag an american citizen by mistake? does it matter? I’m latino and all whites look like the invaders to me. Do I get to tag all the honkeys?

You raise some important issues. There would be some serious ethical and logistical considerations, regarding my proposal. I don’t think that should deter a nation as great as this one from making an attempt to get this thing off the ground. Despues de todo, tiene que romper algunos huevos para hacer tortilla de huevo.

Is there some REAL reason this is an important issue?

What about the candidates’ stand on issues that affect every American every day? THAT’S what the reporters should be asking about. Who cares how many spanish speaking people cut the grass or sweep the driveway.

Wake up folks.

As a citizen, one should never feel obligated to police others if they do not want to.

there is supposedly a federal law on the books that prohibits US citizens from having contact with illegal aliens from outer space…

y un imbecil no conoce la diferencia enter un omelette y una tortilla.

It is sad that there are still people that think like this in this country, but I guess when you let your education system fall apart, the healthcare system fall appart and the agencys responsible for the safety of your food and medicine are useless, then I guess it should be no surprise you are being overrun by the uneducated, the sick and the poisoned.

As for mitt, The question was definately a loaded question, but it was designed to expose the hypocresy of the guy, who, like most white wealthy religious fanatics are so adamant and virulent towards aliens, illegal or not, when playing politics, yet have no problem exploiting them for their labor.

The problem with reporting illegal aliens is that nothing happens. ICE does not care. Why? Because illegal labor has powerful friends. We could end the illegal immigration problem by levying huge fines on those who employ illegals. Not just the big companies but the yuppies who hire illegal nannies. Fines and jail time will cause the market for illegals to dry up ASAP.

makes sense huh? dry up the source of jobs and the people who don’t have an entrepreneurial spirit to make their own business will be forced to do whatever it takes to survive. You’ll find when people are desperate for survival they will lie, cheat, steal and murder to survive themselves. So instead of solving the problem you have exacerbated it and made it a more dangerous prospect.
The solution is valid as part of a larger plan however. Fact is that the ‘immigrant problem’ is merely a way to divert attention from the ‘disindustrialization’ problem and the outsoursing of high paying jobs to help the economies of china, india and the board of directors. Pay close attention and find the real problem before jumping to poorly thought out solutions. Personally, I think there’s no way to solve it unless you make a concerted effort to at least find out who is here and what they are doing. An ID card would go a long way to helping in that respect.

Nicely done Jed. There is NO ‘immigration problem.’ There is a economic problem, a disinformation problem and a perception problem. The Cons have ALWAYS had a boogey-man or two dangling out in front of the MSM, and by default, the great unwashed (TGU). The MSM media eats it up ’cause it knows TGU loves it. Look what ‘plays’ on network TV.

The ploy has worked for about 100 years now, why mess with success?

the whole system needs to be reformed…we’ve been clunking along with the same immigration system since about the time of Wilson, with little stop-gap changes every 20 years or so…its almost criminal to make someone wait as long as they have to gain entrance into this country, and the massive amounts of paperwork required slow the process down–overhaul and streamline the process

and yes there is no immigration problem, there is an “ILLEGAL” immigration problem–why should someone who broke the rules of a sovereign country get to stay there and get all the perks and privileges of someone who waited 7 years to gain entrance there legally? And border security is a must, for both borders, because security-wise, both are laugable. Economic-wise, that part of the problem lies with Mexico– they have miles upon miles of resort worthy coastline, and a sea of oil, yet they’re still a third world dump, and are dumping their problem on us…if we’re going to give mexican nationals (not legal immigrants of hispanic origin) ids, then every american citizen should be given a mexican id, and enjoy all of the perks their govt has to offer…fair is fair right? After all, what good is sovereignty anyways

why do we have to do all of the work? doesnt mexico harbor at least some of the blame for its own corruption and economic mismanagement? At the very least it makes one want to reconsider globalization

If you’ve got some facts and figures about the financial impact, pro and con, of ‘illegal immigrants,’ I’d be interested in reading about it. Otherwise, it’s just speculation. And we don’t need to ’speculate’ about the financial impact of Bushney’s adventures, outsourcing and government subsidies to such life critical ‘businesses’ as oil and farming.

This whole immigration ‘debate’ is absolutely childish. If America is not going to enforce their borders, then why should we villify the ‘illegals’?
We spend 10 billion dollars a month, 120 billion-plus a year in Iraq. But, yet, we can’t get miniscule percentages of that spent on the borders/ports. In fact, the President just cut counterterrorism funding, which leads to cuts in port/border security.

It’s a wedge issue the Republicans can use to divide the country. It wouldn’t cost that much money, compared to what we’re spending overseas militarily and oil subsidies, to make it more difficult for immigrants to ’sneak’ in. But, republicans don’t spend domestically…….

And, for the love of God, PLEASE tell me that immigration enforcement isn’t going to be privatized!

Coach,

If we wanted to do regime change, we should have started with Mexico.

We should start with our own, we should purge the system from the old school, lobbyist purchased politicians that have our system in dissarray.
Take a look at the hearings they did for the telecom industry. When the heads of industry were testifying the congresspeople couldn’t find enough seats for themselves. Everyone was there.

When the rich talk, our politicians listen.

When that panel finished it’s testimony there was a few minutes break for the experts to sit and prepare to give their testimony the cameras panned towards the congressmembers seating. there were two people there, the chairman that had to be there, and another member who actually was interested.

When the experts talk, congress isn’t interested.

Obvious to all by now, the system is broken and needs to be purged of all those that have ulterior motives or interests other than helping the populace rather than business partners.

Do away with private funding of campaigns and elections. institute some real punishments on those that usurp the people’s trust. Cunninham and others like him should do no less than life, considering the impact their corruption has on the lives of common folk.

Jed,

Well said. I was trying to be glib. Sure didn’t mean to imply that we had out act together.

That’s good stuff about the hearings. I guess we can’t be surprised. ‘Money talks.’ Public financing DOES sound like the answer and some sort of accountability.

Back on the ‘illegal’ immigration spiel, why is it that the only ‘illeagles’ are Latinos, mainly Mexican?

Because you can’t ‘walk’ to the U.S. from Asia or Europe and because Mexico is an impoverished nation beside a bountiful one. I have a sense that while you can’t lay the blame for all the corruption Mexican politics has had for the past 100 years at the feet of this country, you could make a pretty good case that this country (government and business)has found reason to go along with the status quo.

Your take?

It isn’t that it is only mexicans, they are the largest group and considered the least acceptable so they make a convenient target. Chinese come to america in droves hidden in shipping containers, then they are made to pay the thousands of dollars it cost to make the trip by working in slavelike conditions in textile companies or massage(sex) parlors and other industries. Many from just about any country you can think of are able to gain entry legaly with a visa and then decide to stay well beyond the alloted period.
Truth is that the migration of people away from troubled regions, for whatever reason, has always existed. It is only in our recent history that this has become a ‘problem’. Normally, the migrants are assimilated into the communities and become a fixture that contributes to the benefit of the whole. When those peoples are denied the right to work for a fair wage and denied the necessities of life… affordable housing, preventive healthcare, a viable education… that they become a ‘nuisance’.

We are not monolithic in having a problem with illegal immigration, North Koreans go to china, africans go to europe, zimbabweans go to south africa. The vietnamese risked it all to get away from vietnam… remember the flimsy makeshift rafts they used to cross the oceans? desperate people will do desperate things to improve their situation and to get our from under the oppressive rule of tyrants, it’s a natural law that all animals must follow. If we didn’t help create those tyrants and the adverse conditions, they would not see the need to leave the place of their roots and family. If we instead helped create the conditions for prosperity and success in their lands, they would not come here at all, except maybe to increase their education level and then return home. Any person would rather be in their home nation, with their family and familial history, with the people they grew up with and the culture they know and understand rather than going off to a land where they don’t know the language, risk being exploited, risk being criminalized and incarcerated and perhaps will never see loved ones again. It is a desperation for survival and the survival of their progeny that drives people to migrate away from their birthplace, the only way to prevent that is to help create the conditions that will allow them to succeed in that place.