Size of L.A. March Surprises Authorities

I am completely against this legislation. I believe it's obscene and absurd that a country founded BY immigrants forged and built by immigrants would choose to alienate and pigeonhole Mexicans and Central and South Americans who LOVE this country; and are patriotic to it regardless of whether or not it is their home land. This legislation is garbage. There are an estimated 39 MILLION Latinos in America. If you want to see America come to a grinding halt you pass this legislation and you watch a country stop dead in its tracks when Julio in McDonalds isn't there to open up and take your order for a McMuffin over the entercom. Immigrants are the backbone of this economy it isn't Jared on the 30th floor of Chase Manhattan Bank in NYC it's Miguel the security guard or Juan the cook that works in the cafeteria. So forget thinking this country can even function if Jared can't think on an empty stomach and has Bubba watching his back. I think more than anything this is showing the ignorance and stupidity that the vote of a majority party, whether it be Republican or Democrat in control of the government, is capable of when in power. The idea of some 50 year old man deciding the fate of unborn children because he feel he has more of a right simply because he was born here sickens me. He will not have to deal with the consequences because he'll be dead. If this country doesn't wake up and realize the damage that will be done with this legislation it better wake up otherwise it's going to have a rude awakening.

The hypocrisy of this legislation is astounding. The 12 million illegal immigrants in this country are here to work. The jobs they take are not jobs that American citizens are clamoring for. The guy who mows Senator Frist's lawn or cleans Rep. Tancredo's pool, or works the overnight shift cleaning office buildings, or follows the crops and picks the fruit and vegetables that grace our tables -- these are the illegal immigrants. These are people who risk their lives to get here just to participate in this nation's good fortune, and now we want to make the American Dream a felony for those with darker skin.

Maybe a major motivation for this harsh action has to do with the businesses who are the real constituency of this Administration. If we legalize these immigrants in some way -- either through amnesty or a guest worker program -- then the businesses that have been underpaying these workers will suddenly be forced to raise their wages to a legal level and start paying taxes on them. But businesses know that, whatever the outcome of this debate, they will still find a way of hiring these workers since Congress will certainly never fund the enforcement of the law at the required level.

Giving them legal status means that we'll be collecting taxes on them, too. In fact, admitting them into the Social Security system might help the Social Security "crisis" this Administration has hyped. With a sudden influx of 12 million new contributors with a much higher birthrate than the average American, we suddenly have a larger base supporting the retirees and a way to keep Social Security solvent for longer.

And if "national security" is the issue -- which I think is a load of bull -- what better way to secure our border than to make sure that our southern neighbor is stable and prosperous. The flow of dollars from the immigrant workers in America back home to Mexico is a significant portion of the Mexican economy. Why doesn't the northern border with Canada require a fence? Because Canada is stable and prosperous and partners with us in protecting the border, and her people have no need to look elsewhere just to provide their families with the necessities of life. If Mexico were at that same level, their people wouldn't be rushing here at all. Investing billions of dollars in Mexico would be much more conducive to our safety than spending that same money for a wall and its patrols and its upkeep and its repair.

What it comes down to, I believe, is racism. The people who are illegally in this country are, for the most part, brown-skinned, and although these immigrants see the Statue of Liberty's invitation to the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, our Congress believes that the Statue is looking East at Europe, and not South at Mexico, for a reason.

I think it is rather sad that this isn't getting more coverage.