Well, not exactly correct...it's a misdemeanor the first time someone is arrested and deported, and a felony the second time, unfortunately.

Man, I'm getting tired of hearing this. Want to draw the comparison of illegal aliens coming into the US to someone entering your house? Why not try the easy one when discussing this topic: you looked the other way while a house maid entered your property and cleaned your place for pennies a day. Suddenly, after decades of profit and cheating the system, you're calling the cops because this woman keeps doing work for you while taking small amounts of money that you leave for her on the counter. If you wonder why all of these "burglars" are annoyed, it is because we've allowed them to be here, practically invited them here, and based a large portion of our economy on them. Neither party is in the right, but in the end the "illegals" (read: "not the hiring party") will be the ones to pay the price for American greed, not anyone else in the system that encouraged them to be here to begin with and not the law enforcement system that purposely looked the other way.

Will the aformentioned house painter enjoy painting a house for 1/6th of his normal rate? Maybe not? Maybe he should get used to it. Or maybe the American people would enjoy the dramatic shift if they were suddenly required to pay to keep the profits up for the corporations that thrive on illegal labor?

Next year, and the year after that, and the year following that, I'm sure we can look to the fields and see people picking strawberries for $1.25/hour. If that suddenly changes, you can expect your strawberries to be shipped in from South America and the farm down the street to be plowed under. The US economy is about cheap labor, be it Mexicans picking the fields, H1-Bs coming in to code billing applications for the phone company, or call centers going out to India. If the laws won't permit the labor to be done cheaply and the industry can't sway the lawmakers, you can expect business to find a way. Regardless of how it is done, no one who holds a job currently also done by illegals should expect a miracle fix no matter how this pans out.

Stirring up racism, trying to make race the central issue, is the game of the ruling classes on both sides of the border. It conveniently diverts attention from the fact that it is the rich who employ the Mexicans, and the Plantation owners who stand to profit the most from an entire underclass of indentured servants for whom they have to pay zero benefits.

The point I'm making is that the fact that border enforcement isn't perfect doesn't create an easement, invalidate immigration law, and make illegal aliens legal.

Putting scare quotes on "illegal" doesn't make them legal either. This "undocumented" crap is a lame attempt to euphemize.
And the law that passed the House that's being protested so strenuously would make those profiting from employing illegal aliens criminals also.

Maybe he should only have to compete in a fair labor market composed of people who are working legally, rather than being underpriced by illegal labor. Gresham's Law again.

Yes...from a January article in the Washington Times:

Under the U.S. government's "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy, Cubans who reach dry land in the United States are usually allowed to remain in the country, while those caught at sea are sent back.

Apples and oranges. Most of the illegals here are apparently not here for criminal activity. Are you equating illegal immigration with burglary?

In theory, yes. But does the proposal really make the US more secure? I don't think so.

I got this email today that I found to be a pretty stupid idea. Maybe I'm just not in the right social circles (read, young, hip, party animal), but I can't see how this would impact much of anything. It reminded me of those stupid "Don't buy gas from xxxx company on Tuesday and they'll cut the price in half" emails I get all the time. :rolleyes:

Of course they are, just being here after getting here the way they did is criminal, working without the proper credentials is criminal, not paying their taxes while working is criminal & a form of burglary, getting paperwork under false pretenses is criminal and it goes on-&-on.

What type of crime would you consider illegal immigration? (white-collar, crime against property, etc.)

Being an illegal immigrant, working while one is fraud... among other things.
Being in the US without a Visa is illegal... it ain't hard.

What ain't hard?

What would you suggest be done with illegals?

The same thing that has always been done with the law, enforce it.
Deport them if they do not comply with the law.
What is not hard are the concepts involved here.
This is a legal issue, you enforce the law for all or none.

US law is never as simple as "all or none." And we don't have enough money to enforce the current laws. That's why there are so many illegals now and why their numbers are growing.

But I just don't see the illegals on the same level as murderers, rapists, burglars, etc...at least, not the ones that aren't committing those types of crimes.

And speeders are not on the same level are murders either... so we should just let that go too?
Where in the hell did you come-up with that argument?

I tend to look at crime from several standpoints, among them severity and circumstance. Illegal immigration is a mild concern to me...it's nothing compared to violent crime or securities issues.

I tend to look at what it does to our economy and keeping poor American citizens poor.