[MD] an attempt at sharing good idea

[Andy Skelton]

I wrote:
>> I have to stop for a bit. Somebody take over where I left off.

dmb wrote a lot of things I won't address, and then:
> As I see it, the problem with illegal immigration is that it creates an underclass, a group within this country that has no rights.
> Because they have to live under the radar, illegal immigrants become prime targets for all kinds of criminals and the worst kinds of employers.

Good addition. Can you expand on the conflict of values in this?

In America everyone is supposed to have equal rights, equal protection
under the law, but "everyone" can exclude specific classes. For
example, convicted felons keep their citizenship but they loose many,
many rights and they lose (in practice) the presumption of innocence.
For that matter, suspected criminals and people arrested but never
charged lose many of the same freedoms as felons. I could go on but I
won't. I mention this because "illegal immigration" is a crime that
many people, at all points in the range of awareness of the risks and
rewards, evaluate and decide it's worth it to enter the country
illegally. It's not a secret that it's a violation of law to enter the
country without permission.

I disagree with the way the law is carried out, the unreasonably low
number of permitted entries, and the hypocritical cruelty of keeping
the supply low when the demand is so high.

More people should be allowed to enter the U.S. to work. I don't know
how; but that's the part of the solution that I am sure of.

It's like the drug war: prohibition doesn't succeed at what it was
ostensibly designed for, and the people who are most hurt by it are
the same people who are already disadvantaged by race, ethnicity,
language, income, status, etc. Unfortunately it also hurts ordinary,
law-abiding citizens whose liberties are eroded to ease the
enforcement of an unjust statute.

This informs my skeptical view of government and bureaucrats: whatever
they're doing, they're not doing it for the reasons they've sold it
with.

Andy