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Monday, August 01, 2011

Immigration Debate Splits Marylanders

State and local leaders wrestle with changing views

At a tidy jail in Frederick County, Sheriff Chuck Jenkins and his deputies have helped federal authorities identify nearly 1,000 illegal immigrants for deportation in the past three years.

In a renovated mansion in Prince George's County, Casa de Maryland employees have welcomed tens of thousands of immigrants over the years, regardless of legal status, teaching them English, helping with citizenship paperwork and defending them against policies like the one in Frederick County.

Maryland has a split personality about illegal immigrants — a divide illustrated this year by the legislature's passage of a bill to provide college tuition breaks to undocumented state high school graduates only to have it put on hold by a citizen petition.

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Some belive in upholding the law. And others belive in breaking it.

Anonymous said...

And some believe that laws infringing on a person's natural rights don't deserve to be upheld. And others believe in blindly following whatever laws politicians enact, regardless of how many of our natural rights they take away.

Anonymous said...

I can promise you this, so mark my words...

We will soon loose all of our rights in the near, useable future...

Since you all are to lazy to fight for our rights, and since you are to easily scared by just gray smoke...

Before you criticize, try reading the bill and information to it... It says that as long as they can prove they were paying taxes for 3 years and graduated from HS then they can get tuition for instate prices...

Now I'm not a brain scientist but how in the hell can and illegal pay taxes? That would me they are using a stolen SSN or an made up one...

I am not against people bettering themselves, but you have to do in within laws and I would be damnd if i have to pay high rates for school just to have it undermined by an illegal getting it for the same or cheaper price...

If i can work my fingers to bleed to get paid and have a job, they can do that shit to...

Half the problem is you all want something for nothing yet I am the one paying for your something so I have nothing...

Anonymous said...

I know the bill, 3:06, and I also know something about tax law. You don't need a Social Security number to pay taxes. All you need is an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), which the IRS issues to people without Social Security numbers.

Yes, you may work your fingers to bleed to get paid and have a job, but so does an illegal immigrant. They come here to work, and they often work much harder and at far worse jobs than do citizens.

They don't want something for nothing; they want to come here to better themselves and work at jobs provided by willing employers. And yet, somehow, conservatives who claim to revere the free market and value hard work want to stop them from doing so. These conservatives want to interfere with a transaction between a willing employer and a willing employee. They want to claim that they only do so because they revere the law so much. Funny, I'll bet that reverence for the law goes out the window as soon as something like ObamaCare or gun control laws comes up.

Anonymous said...

3:43 are you for real, "The illegals don't want something for nothing " just open up your eyes they are sucking up entitlements as fast as they can, whoops I almost forgot this provides jobs for some more lazy ass Government workers.

Anonymous said...

3:43...so I would be correct, if these same people came into your home and plopped onto your sofa without an invite from you, consumed all of your resources that you work very hard for, spent all of your money that you work hard for, used your car that you worked hard for...is the picture any clearer now? Or are you still suffering from delusions of granduer? Illegal..get it. Don't force us to except that it's okay to invade my country illegally. We legal Americans won't put up with it.

Anonymous said...

To 4:06 -- considering that illegal immigrants aren't eligible for entitlement programs, I find it hard to believe they are "sucking up entitlements as fast as they can." The people on entitlement programs are almost exclusively U.S. citizens. The reason our nation is having fiscal problems isn't illegal immigrants, it's all the Americans on entitlement programs like Medicaid, Social Security, and Medicare.

Anonymous said...

To 4:27 -- you can't compare a private home to a country. I own my private home; no one owns the United States. The United States is made up of a variety of people who own private property. Some of those people choose to hire foreigners to work on that private property. However, other Americans have elected people called "politicians" to pass laws telling everyone what he can do on his own property. These people have a view that some sort of collective "we" owns the country and can pass whatever laws "we" want, no matter how much these laws infringe upon the rights of others.

If you think that Americans own America, then you are essentially a communist. You think that all the land here is owned collectively and there are no private property rights. That's fine; you can believe that. Just recognize what you believe.

Personally, I prefer to believe in the America of the Founding Era. The one that protected private property rights and recognized that just because government termed something "illegal" doesn't make it wrong. I'm with the Founders recognizing that all men have natural rights and that governments can't legitimately pass laws that infringe on those rights.

Besides your inherently communist view, you seem to also accept the notion that whatever some clowns in DC term "legal" is OK and whatever they forbid is wrong. While you may blindly accept the edicts from our central government, I'll continue thinking for myself.

Anonymous said...

8:12...okay, I'll entertain some of your points. No, I'm not communistic-actually far from it. If it makes you feel better to think I and most logical people in this country are because we prefer to not give our country away, help yourself. We (Americans)believe this is our country. Fought for and paid for. We only elect politicians to facilitate our democracy. Since you own your home, do you think you own the property it sits on? Think about it. Foreigners that come here and do it the proper way, are more then welcome to join our society. But don't come and force us to change for you, because you think you have some sort of rights. If you haven't noticed, many people have issue with your values and the issue at hand because its logical, not because of the laws. You have to understand the scope of how we have gone the wrong way due to your socialistic values and its about to come to a head. I'm sure all of this won't sink in, as it never does when one relies on illogical solutions or a socialists. I'll leave you with this..its been made legal for an illegal person to attend college with in-state tution in MD, however there were alot of people saying no by signing the petition...and we've had enough.

Anonymous said...

10:19 -- it's funny that you think I'm a socialist. Considering that you have no respect for private property and want to involve the government in who a person can hire to work for him, I'd suggest you re-think your views.

If you truly believe in private property, why is it OK if I hire someone from Crisfield to work on my land but not OK to hire someone from Juarez, Mexico, to work on it? If you believe in the free market, why do you support government policies that jail employers for hiring certain people who are willing to work?

You say you are willing to welcome foreigners who come here the proper way. Great. Do you support changing our byzantine immigration laws so they can do so? There is essentially no way a low-skilled Mexican can enter this country legally to work. The visa process is simply too cumbersome. If we had an easy way for them to come here or a realistic guest worker program we wouldn't have an illegal immigration problem.

I find it funny that you think I'm the one being illogical here. In fact, I'm the only one being consistent. I believe that private property rights apply even when someone is dealing with a foreigner. I believe that free markets are good even when it comes to labor. Examine your own views. Ask yourself why you suddenly don't believe in limited government when it comes to interfering with an employer hiring a Mexican employee. Ask yourself why you hate gun control laws but suddenly start blindly defending the law when it comes to controlling Mexican immigration.

Yes, this is "our" country. And in this country, you shouldn't get to tell me what to do with my property or who I get to hire.

Anonymous said...

All elected officials take an oath to uphold the laws of the land. It seems that too many of Maryland elected officials are looking for ways to circumnavigate instead of uphold. Whether you like it or not, agree with it or not, the law is the law.I don't beleive that Marylanders are split on this issue. I think the citizens want the law to be enforced.