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With the possible exception of New Mexico, the states that have seen the most illegal immigration are the most prosperous, desirable, and growing states in the country (Texas, Arizona, Florida, California, Georgia, North Carolina, etc) Chicken or egg, I suppose, in that did the immigrant lead to the good times or did the good times attract the immigrant, but either way it is difficult to see your point.
Is this a joke? Illegal aiiens cost us over $100 billion a year. They have taken once good paying jobs like in construction from Americans by working for less. None of the states they have flooded is the reason that those states are prosperous if they even are in reality. They contribute to crime, they overcrowd our schools, jails, hospitals, roads and neighborhoods and are depleting our natural and social resources.
What's with the use of the word "immigrant" in your last paragraph? Illegal aliens aren't plain ole immigrants they are illegal alien invaders. They commit felony ID theft and/or tax evasion to. Nothing "illegal" is a positive and that's why it's called "illegal".
All I can say is that you probably have ethnic ties to them and that is selfish and self-serving and anti-American!
I said, quote, "And that being said, there are MANY Mexican-Americans (and blacks, too, btw) who are more hard-working, more "moral", and with better family values than many non-Hispanic whites I have known."
Excuse me, but MANY is not the same as ALL. And how is anything I wrote insulting? And as I used the words "I have known", which is the truth. I also think that is true, in general, although YMMV.
Where do you even get the notion of "many"? It was still insulting.
Yep growing up in Houston in the 80s and 90s half of my classmates and neighbors were illegal immigrants and no one cared. They were good, hard-working people, and we were all poor so it was what it was. I don't recall them being that controversial here before the last ten years or so either. The US didn't have any immigration laws whatever for most of the country's history and the politically driven mania over immigration is a far more recent event.
We have had immigration laws since the 1800's. The reason that illegal immigration has received more attention in the last 20 years or so is because it accelerated to where it was negatively impacting our own citizens and our tax coffers. It doesn't matter how hard an illegal works either they are here in violation of our immigration laws and are having a negative impact on our society today. This isn't a political issue it's a lawlessness issue!
Yep growing up in Houston in the 80s and 90s half of my classmates and neighbors were illegal immigrants and no one cared. They were good, hard-working people, and we were all poor so it was what it was. I don't recall them being that controversial here before the last ten years or so either. The US didn't have any immigration laws whatever for most of the country's history and the politically driven mania over immigration is a far more recent event.
What the hell are you talking about? Illegal aliens have been appropriately labeled as "problematic" for decades.
Bill Clinton would be labeled as a right-winger today. Perhaps even ULTRA MAGA! After all, Bill Clinton did fund a big beautiful border wall in California!
That's how far left today's democrat party has gone.
Bill Clinton would be labeled as a right-winger today. Perhaps even ULTRA MAGA! After all, Bill Clinton did fund a big beautiful border wall in California!
That's how far left today's democrat party has gone.
no doubt about it. the democrats have gone off the far-left rails years ago.
But is that BECAUSE OF the illegal immigration or IN SPITE OF the illegal immigration?
I would contend that there are numerous other factors that make Texas, Florida, California, Arizona, Georgia, and North Carolina desirable and prosperous places for people to move to.
For one thing, you'll notice that all those places/states are warm weather states that attract lots of wealthy retirees from the north. How often do you hear someone say, "I can't wait to retire from my job so that I can move to Wisconsin, Michigan, or New York"? Probably never. But many people can't wait to retire to move to Florida, Texas, Arizona, etc
So, the climate of those southern states attracts prosperous people from all over the country, and the illegals entering (mostly from our southern border) find plenty of work in providing services to these prosperous retirees. It's not the illegals that made the states prosperous. It's the prosperous residents who live there that attract the illegals.
When my grandparents were growing up in Texas in the 30s and my parents in the 50s and 60s, the state was poorer with way less "illegal" immigrants. Not sure that theory holds. And Texas has never exactly been a retirement hotspot.
What Texas is, is a state for those who want to work and make a decent living, which most people here (including immigrants of all stripes) adhere to. The state has only gotten richer and more powerful as immigration has increased. Of course prosperous people moving here from other places plays a part as well, but much of Texas pull is it's diversity. I know I wouldnt have moved back here if we had the demographics of a Wisconsin or Iowa or Mississippi.
Natural population change takes into account total # of births subtracting # of deaths (does not take into account population change due to immigration).
I'm not talking about national politicians, I'm talking about people on the ground in a specific city and state. Have you ever lived in Texas or Houston specifically? I can't speak for how it was viewed in the rest of the country at the time, I was responding to a poster that had a similar experience as I did in the same place - I was not speaking on national attitudes.
We have had immigration laws since the 1800's. The reason that illegal immigration has received more attention in the last 20 years or so is because it accelerated to where it was negatively impacting our own citizens and our tax coffers. It doesn't matter how hard an illegal works either they are here in violation of our immigration laws and are having a negative impact on our society today. This isn't a political issue it's a lawlessness issue!
The late 1800s and even then, they were primarily focused on keeping Chinese people out at first. There was very little immigration enforcement as we see it today until the mid-20th century. The concept of illegal immigration plainly was not a thing during the 150ish years immigrants were pouring in during the time of the 13 colonies, nor the first 100 or so years of our history as a nation when people were pouring in at even higher levels.
Agreed 100% that the reason it's a bigger deal now is the perception of negative impacts.
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