Remember- the Confederate constitution made it specifically illegal for states to abolish slavery.
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Mod note: Stay on topic.
It’s complicated. Democrats seem to want to look the other way with out officially supporting illegal immigration, partly in hopes of gaining political power. The Hispanic demographic, where most of the illegal immigration is coming from, is a growing one in the US.
At the same time this attitude conflicts with their want of higher wages and more social programs. An influx of cheap labor keeps wages down. And all the European countries with massive social programs have much stricter immigration regulations, as you have to have everyone contributing to the system in something like that.
As I said above, the Republicans in actions haven’t been all that tough on illegal immigration, with most of it lip service, as they see the benefit of the cheap labor. But, like EVERY immigration surge in the past, they make great scapegoats for any and all problems.
IMO we need to revise the system. Switch from jus soli to jus sanguinis, for one. We need a way to get these grey area immigrants into the system, with out just completely open borders. Personally I am pro immigration, but there has to be SOME limits and metering. And at the same time, someone who crossed the border just running across, while I can appreciate their reasons, shouldn’t have the same status as someone who went through the official channels. There probably needs to be a third status, citizen, legal immigrant, and something else. I am just not 100% sure what that would look like.
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Even that is complicated. Latin American immigrants who came here legally generally have contempt for those who came here illegally. Plus there is a lot of classism and racism in Latin America cultures.
The Democratic and Republican Parties both treat Hispanics/Latinos like they are a homogeneous group, when they really are not.
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All great points. I have taken a few trips to Mexico and witnessed the classism and racism you mentioned. Basically all the shit menial jobs are done by the darker/redder peoples who have more indigenous blood - many immigrants from Central or South America.
Yes, anytime you get a large group of anything, Latinos/Blacks/Whites/Asians, gun owners, people who like Red Delicious apples, Star Wars fans, people named John, Democrats/Republicans, Christians/Muslims/Jews - while you can make a few blanket generalizations of the groups, more specific generalizations don’t fit well at all.
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Illegal immigration is actually experiencing negative growth. In fact, it’s not only in decline, but the number of undocumented people living in the United States is at its lowest point since 2003. Additionally, the number of illegal immigrants here has fallen every year since 2008. Yes, there may be 11.5 million illegal immigrants in the United States now, but in 2007, there were 12.2 million. One study actually put that number below 11 million and at 10.9 million for the first time since 2004.
So there’s no invasion. There’s no crisis. Illegal immigration is demonstrably in decline.
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Yeah, I was aware the numbers are down, partly because our economy sucks. If they really wanted to curb illegal immigration, you wouldn’t need to crack down on them, you just crack down on the people who hire them and make it something that would drive people out of business, and you would see
But my point was the Hispanic population IS growing - even if the influx is tapering off. @LearnedCoward is right some Hispanic citizens resent illegals, sort of an “I got mine, fuck you” attitude. But there are also Hispanic citizens with family in other countries who would like to see them come over some day. Both the Democrats and the Republicans have tried to appeal to the group in various ways, with such things as stances on immigration, and also their rather conservative views many of them have, many of them staunch Catholics. It is a growing demographic and seen as a way to get a finger hold into states like Texas that have been consistently red if the Democrats can sway them as their numbers grow.
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No, it doesn’t.
The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.9% annual rate from July through September compared with the same time a year ago -- the fastest economic growth in two years.http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/28/news/economy/us-economic-growth-gdp-third-quarter/index.html
It’s also a reason trump’s shit-ass “infrastructure” plan is nothing more than a trump family “blind trust” giveaway.
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A recent growth spurt in the economy isn’t necessarily going to result in an immigration spurt. At least not right away. (Nor does a healthy quarterly boost mean our economy isn’t still shaky. There are still a lot of people looking for good jobs.)
They were definitely hit by the housing crash in 2008 when the building boom ground to a stop. There are other factors as well, but the economy is certainly a factor.
Huh, ironically while the Democrats seem friendly to illegal immigration, when looking something up, I found out 2013 saw the deportation of Mexican immigrants reached a record high. Thanks, Obama!
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Which confuses the hell out of me.
I mean c’mon, you’re worried about what the 50 states might do so you stash your stuff in the 51st state? Durr!
We are not “The 51st state” or “America’s Hat.”
Now will you please stop tossing and turning in your sleep? You’re knocking us out of bed.
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I take it you weren’t paying much attention during the recent election?
This is not necessarily true, as your follow up statement notes. Democrats seem to prefer legal immigration, but the existing system is utterly borked, which is why they’re constantly proposing reforms to the immigration system that Republicans never vote for. Republicans say they’re against it, but never do anything substantial about it because those undocumented workers push down wages for all workers. Bush the Lesser granted an amnesty, quite the opposite of Obama’s 3M deportations.
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Maybe we’ll see this with Electoral College, as well…
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