Thank you Observer. If only everyone had your mindset...

The hardest part for us, was the first 6 months he was here. He wasn't allowed to work, till he had a SS# and the paperwork was taking forever to be processed. I'd had a stroke and my doctors wouldn't allow me to work anymore. So we had no income coming in, had a minimum of what was supposed to come in for my hubby to be here, and we weren't allowed to seek any financial/medical aid to pay bills.

If it hadn't been for my congressman, hubby would have been deported and I'd be living on the streets. My congressman had hubby's SS card the following morning with a copy that evening. Also, family had to loan us money to pay for the necessities and my medical needs till hubby's insurance kicked in.

Still, the headache wasn't over. It cost us a small fortune alone in the paperwork for him to be here, as they charge thousands for that process. We were threatened 4 times with hubby being deported when they lost paperwork, or they'd send it back for it to be resent cause it arrived 'too early' then hit us with 'it's late' cause of the mailing system...

After 5 years though, they finally approved him for permenant residency. And we've almost paid back all of the family loans to those family members that helped us keep afloat the first couple of years so we could pay immigration fees as well as personal bills and my medical needs. The doctors still say that alot of the stess that was causing my strokes was the results of this legal process and I don't doubt it a bit.

If you read the links I've and others have posted and open your eyes, you will find a multitude of problems that will solved. Just for a starter, many lives will be spared. You need to think that you or loved ones might be made another "statistics" by an illegal. I have. What I "lost" was several hundred dollars damage to my car which I was never compensated for. Not only was the driver illegal, he was also driving drunk. I'm lucky I didn't lose my life. Nothing was done. His lawyer got him "off" and returned the car to him (that had a tag that had been "borrowed" from another car)

What you and your family has experienced by immigrating LEGALLY, is no doubt the reason why others attempt (and succeed) in coming in "under the radar". But there are reasons for the law being in place. I believe this country is experiencing the consequences of not enforcing those laws. There is no excuse to come in illegally. Anyone who does should suffer the consequences....and more than your family has.

Thank you for abiding by the law. You are to be commended.

Your experience just proves that those who obey the law suffer more than those who don't in the U.S. We need to fix that. If we will quit looking for easy solutions to problems that cannot be fixed by mass immigration (Pres. Bush's solutions to our economic and social security problems), start enforcing the law, the majority of our problems will dissolve.

I don't support things like mass deportation not because I think it's the wrong thing to do (morally) or anything of the sort, but because it's practically impossible. Not only that, but if we were able to organize such a thing, it would hurt our economy, it would hurt people and families as a humanitarian issue, and above all it wouldn't work anyway. The most practical way, and indeed the way that the benefits outweigh the negative consequences is helping them; by what ever method we deem more appropriate, and I personally think the worker pass program is the best way to go. The EU has the same program and it's working, and it seems to be the most realistic solution to this particular problem; especially when it comes to Mexican immigrants.

You should post this in the thread on health insurance too.

No matter how flawed the National Health Service is, Britain (nor any other industrialised country) would never allow someone to go through this kind of hell just to get healthcare.

Certainly you would have fared far better in Cuba or Saudi Arabia, both countries offer universal healthcare

That's what happens when the law is broken. But it doesn't solve the problem by ignoring it and going on as if to say, "Oh, well!"

That's why we have laws. If laws are ignored, anarchy prevails. When the law is ignored, there is chaos, just like there is now. Ignoring or giving it "a pass" doesn't solve anything. It only makes it worse.

It is NOT practically impossible. It was done once before by Eisenhower. How do you think it was "practically impossible"? Simply because you don't want to take the trouble it requires to fix a wrong that wasn't handled right in the first place?

Funny, you have sympathy for those who broke the law. Why is that? Where is your sympathy for the victims of these people? The people who pay taxes to support them, the ones who have suffered because our country didn't enforce the laws, actions of those who will not abide by our laws, i.e., like taking tests before driving our streets, don't drink and drive, learn to read so they can read the signs on the highway, pay their own way, don't murder, rob, rape, and maim. As Alicorn's Prayer so clearly pointed out, anyone who enters the country LEGALLY encounters hardships and time-consuming paperwork and red tape for the PRIVILEGE to live here.

You may be of the mind-set that laws were made to be broken. They certainly were not. Anytime any kind of law is broken, whether it be God's law or man's, there-are-consequences. The situation that exists presently in our country is positive proof of that.

Fine. Then YOU help them. Get together with others of your ilk who share your sympathetic urges. Go to Mexico and sing Kumbayah with your friends! Just don't think you can spend "other people's money" to satisfy your benevolent emotions and feel all warm and fuzzy. My sympathy goes to the victims, the American people, not to a people who thumb their noses at our laws and victimize decent, law-abiding citizens, the ones who've had to pay the tab for this madness, one that's resulted from unlawfulness.

Right! The EU's program is working. The Muslims are taking over Europe and the Europeans are too weak and stupid to put an end to it. The same thing will happen here if the criminal politicians have their way.

I suspect you've only glanced (ever so slightly) at the links that were posted for your education. If you had read them thoroughly, you'd be embarrassed by your remarks in favor of amnesty, or at least should be.

Mass deportation is far from impossible. Eisenhower did it with far less resources than what is available today. However it's not necessary if we use the Attrition Through law enforcement method.

I disagree that mass deportations would hurt the economy. You under estimate the resiliency of the American economy, the strongest the world has ever known. More accurately, mass deportations and attrition would have a negative impact on some businesses, not the economy as a whole. In so much that these businesses are a huge reason for the problem we have today, I say so be it. History proves you wrong my friend, mass deportations and attrition do indeed work.

The only way a guest worker program can work is if we have Eisenhower like enforcement. He actually implemented a successful guest worker plan and the guest workers actually went home after a year or so. Anything that is more complex than is already in place simply won't work. It can't because we can't make what we presently have work. Any complex program would be riddled with fraud and non compliance.

When ever I see humanity brought into the discussion, it gets the hairs on my neck up. What about humanity for the American people that have been devastated by illegal immigration? Choosing between human suffering for Americans or foreigners, I will choose foreigners every time.

What disturbs me the most about your post is your willingness to ignore the rule of law for the sake of the economy, convenience and humanity. The rule of law is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of American government. It is the foundation upon which the greatest democratic republic in the world was based on. It has survived more than two hundred years because of the rule of law.

Nothing is working in the EU, don't kid yourself. Paris is burning and Great Britain is struggling with an influx of "workers" that refuse to assimilate. The worst thing America could ever do is follow the European lead with regard to any topic.

Tough decisions need to made and difficult but not impossible actions need to be taken. It won't be easy to fix illegal immigration and the cancer like damage it has caused. However, restoring America to its glorious past and full potential is well worth the effort. If need be, I will certainly die trying.