-=> Quoting John Sampson to Jean Halverson <=-
JH> I snipped alot---
 
 JS> What Roland was addressing was the ILLEGAL ALIEN problem. He is no
 JS> from  what I've read, against LEGAL immigration. Or are you sugges
 JS> that it's  justifiable for aliens to enter and remain in this coun
 JS> in violation of  the law?
JH> No, what I'm saying is that quotas placed on legal immigration are unj
JH> due to racism. And I disagree with the common statement that _all_ Mex
JH> are leeches on our society, whether legal or illegal. I am saying that
JH> social welfare program that we have is a contributing factor in allowi
JH> people who cannot work into the country. It wasn't that way before wel
JH> and if we got rid of welfare, alot of the problem people would not wan
JH> to come here.
JH> Having grown up in a family that is proud of its' racism I find myself
JH> rather sickened by it. 
Immigration Law 201 (Advanced Course)
There are two types of immigrant visas, generally speaking. 
A. Non preference categories which include spouses and minor children of 
U.S. citizens, as well as parents of U.S. citizens. These visas are 
immediately (technically speaking, they still have to be processed) 
available and not subject to numerical limitations.
B. Preference categories such as spouses and children of Legally Admitted 
Permanent Residents (LAPRs). These ARE subject to the numerical limitations 
set by Congress.
Limitations are set by Congress and are equally aportioned between ALL 
countries with no consideration of race, religion, etc.  So Mexico has the 
same number of preference category visas each year as does England.
Where the problem arises is when the numbers of applicants far exceed the 
limitations and the numbers become backlogged so that someone applying 
today will not see their visa number come up for ten years or so. 
There are SOME categories, such as brothers and sisters of U.S. Citizens, 
relating to  SOME countries that are no longer available because the 
backlog is so large that a visa for someone applying today will not become 
available during their lifetime. 
 
 JS> I'll take it one step further than Roland and will assuredly incur
 JS> your  ire. I believe that the Federation of Immigration Reform's (
 JS> policy  that we should have a five year moratorium on LEGAL immigr
 JS> is the  correct course to take. We have been overwhelmed for many
 JS> years.  Application backlogs exist to the point where someone who
 JS> applies to become  a naturalized citizen in Denver, Colorado has t
 JS> wait 23 months before  their interview. And it's much worse in the
 JS> major cities such as New York,  Los Angeles, etc. 
 JS> We simply cannot absorb the record numbers of people who are comin
 JS> this  country, both legally AND illegally. If you have a solution 
 JS> this  problem, I'd love to hear it. But rest assured that I along 
 JS> my  co-workers have looked at every possible solution. We just sim
 JS> cannot  continue at the pace we are currently experiencing. 
JH> Why can we not allow the numbers of immigrants into this country that
JH> would come? We surely are not experiencing any of the problems that 
JH> overcrowding is supposed to bring? 
Look at cities like L.A., N.Y., Miami, El Paso, Chicago, etc. that have 
huge amounts of immigrant influx. They cannot cope with their 
infrastructure to absorb all these people. Social services, like Police, 
Fire, Medical, Sanitation, Housing, Education, etc. cannot handle the load. 
If we had an open border policy, how many folks from China do you think 
would come here? From Mexico? From other countries? Do you think that most 
of China would move here? I"m not racist, but the sheer numbers would 
overrun our abilities to absorb all the people that would come here.
Lastly, we, like every other nation on this planet, have a sovreign right 
to control our borders and to have an orderly system of immigration. Just 
because some poet wrote "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses 
yearning to breathe free", does NOT mean we must surrender that right. 
Yes, we ARE a nation of immigrants. LEGAL immigrants. We are a nation of 
laws FIRST and foremost. Canada is also a nation of immigrants. They have 
their own problems with immigration. But I don't hear anyone saying that 
Canada must open its borders because they are a nation of immigrants like 
the U.S.
What I am tired of is being told that the United States is "different" than 
the rest of the world. The reason why we're "different" is because we have 
the wealth that others want. It's a simple matter of "king of the hill" and 
"haves" vs. "have nots". 
The balance of payments is against us. Let me illustrate what I mean. 
Assume for a moment there are 5 million illegal aliens in the United 
States. That is the "official" INS ESTIMATE. Assume that each one sends 
home to their country $100 a month to family there. That is $500 million 
that leaves this economy each and every month, never to be spent here or 
reinvested here. That's 6 BILLION with a "B" a year that is "sucked out of" 
this country. 
That does NOT count for those aliens who are here LEGALLY. Triple that 
figure from above and you get an idea of how much money is being funneled 
out of this country never being invested or used to support OUR economy. 
When Prop 187 was being hotly debated in California, illegal alien children 
and teenagers were marching in the streets of East L.A. carrying Mexican 
flags claiming that they had a RIGHT to be here because, after all, America 
was a "free" country. When asked by a reporter what they thought being a 
"free" country meant, several students replied that things here didn't cost 
anything and that things here were free. 
We've had a recurrence of diseases that thirty and forty years ago we 
hardly ever saw. Tuberculosis and Hepatitis are on the steady rise. Why? 
Because many of the immigrants coming to this country come from areas where 
health care is primitive. We are therefore importing diseases in this 
country that we had beaten years ago. A Federal District Court judge in NYC 
ordered the INS to allow 120+ Haitians being held in Guantanemo Bay, to 
enter the United States despite the fact that every one of them tested 
POSITIVE for HIV. 
If you believe those "immigrants" or "refugees", have been celibate since 
they've come here, or have practiced "safe sex", better think again. 
Consequently, I shudder to think how many people in this country have been 
infected by these people simply because a judge wanted to make a 
"political" statement and used the power of the bench to practice social 
activism or soical engineering. 
Construction jobs that used to pay $15 to $20 an hour in the "era of 
greed", the 80s, now pay $9 to $12 an hour despite inflation. Why? Because 
it has become a prime job for illegal aliens. Most, if not all, of these 
aliens are illiterate and cannot perform simple arithmetic. Creates all 
sorts of problems for builders when things are even, or cut properly, or 
measured right. 
The reality is that we cannot absorb the world's population in the United 
States. But that's precisely what would happen if we adopted your belief 
that we can simply have open borders.
I haven't even begun to discuss those aliens who come here and commit 
crimes.
John , jnsampson@ibm.net 
 "To find reasonable doubt, one must first be capable of reason."
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