Surlethe wrote:Open immigration is a win-win situation.
I'm not singling out Surlethe, but using the quote as a jumping-off point.
One thing that makes Mexican/South American illegal immigration deleterious to America is the
lack of integration. Unlike other great immigration waves, like those from Ireland, Germany, China during railroad construction, Cuba when Castro took power, etc. The vast majority of immigrants to the US, at least until the 1970s, were legal immigrants who had every opportunity to assimilate and become Americans.
For the past twenty years Mexican immigrants in particular
have not integrated into their communities. On the whole, these are individuals who, in their
millions, violated American law to come into the US, further violate American law to work, often work without documentation or falsify it (i.e. using false or stolen SSNs to get a job), and hide in the shadows when they're not waiting for a job at an intersection or a Home Depot parking lot. They also often bring the cultural norms they used south of the border with them: litter, vandalism, sleeping 12 to a 2-bedroom apartment,
machismo, and so on. Much of the money they do earn goes to Mexico, which is not a net US benefit; last time I read the figures, about $40 billion of Mexico's economy was attributed to money wired 'home' from illegals living in the US. Note that I'm talking only about those who come here and get jobs, and not MS13 gangsters or other criminals; the murders, assaults and other outrages committed by Mexican illegals in the US is another thread of itself.
Because illegal aliens are here illegally, and KNOW they're here illegally, they avoid mainstream interaction as much as possible. That keeps them isolated from the wider American culture. They largely continue the habits learned growing up in a corrupt, impoverished, chauvinistic, socialistic, oligarchical culture, which habits are antithetical to American ideals and behavior. Once they're here for a while, the mindset with some seems to be "well I got away with sneaking in, let's see what else I can get away with." In the real world, this means that illegal immigrant neighborhoods have more crime, more poverty, more police calls, more trash, and a much, much lower standard of living than American communities next door to them. A one-hour drive through and around Phoenix, AZ or Riverside, CA will show you just how stark the differences are.
Then there's the economic cost. No valid SSN means no insurance coverage, which translates into higher hospital bills for American citizens for treatment of people who in many cases
can't even speak English. No legitimate residency of aliens means they will work for less than an American worker can afford to do: some, not all, but some, businesses take advantage of that fact and hire illegal aliens until they're caught (like Tyson Foods); wages for Americans are depressed. No conformity with American standards of cleanliness, hygiene or respect for property translates into - to put it bluntly - shitty neighborhoods where illegals live that drive down property values in adjacent neighborhoods. No shared cultural values means that illegals perform careless, thoughtless, violent acts that are ignored in their home countries but are crimes here in America, where the standards are a bit higher; more costs for law enforcement, the courts, penal system, etc.
Net-net, it's a big loss for Americans, and not a great deal for the illegals. Back to the topic, I have nothing but sympathy for the rancher and his family who have put up with shit for ten years, and nothing but scorn for the head-up-his-ass judge who decided there was enough 'evidence' to send this case to trial.
