Culpeper residents discuss immigration

About a dozen area residents last night spoke for and against a Culpeper Town Council member's proposals to crack down on illegal immigration.

[Robert Allen]

Immigrants who already live in the US should have the opportunity to become legal and pay taxes. some of the Latin American countries are getting upset about the rights other countries have here in the USA and they have not done anything against the USA but they are mistreated. I am an American citizen and I can even see this. Blacks even seem to want to think they are still after all these years are discriminated against. They get more rights than we dobut they like to stir up drama instead of live in peace. Those Latin people who already live here and came here via proper channels but lost their Visa's due to being young and not having guidance and therefore losing their rights because they did not have money to renew the Visa's or forgot it. Now they are sorry but they are scared to say anything.

This is sad for them and those who care.

[Robert Allen]

Why should those who are here in the USA treated so badly who coime from the Latin Countries. Latin American persons are different from Mexican people. Most people do not realize that. These Latin American persons have done nothing to us.Most of our stores and restaurants see the Latin American people not trying to take over but they are trying to work and get approval. Many managers talk about how they work very hard so why can't we live in peace.

[K Clinton]

Mr. Allen wrote:
Blacks even seem to want to think they are still after all these years are discriminated against. They get more rights than we dobut they like to stir up drama instead of live in peace.
I would love to live in the part of the country where African Americans (and other "people of color")aren't still discriminated against. Mr. Allen is either blind, uninformed or just plan living in a bubble.

[Mari Parr]

I sure wish there was an advocate around for my Black ancestors who were brutually stripped from their country many decades ago. With all the rights that Mr. Allen says Blacks get, when can we get jobs for our newly college graduates?Why does my 22 year old son has to be stopped by the policemen because he has an air freshner hanging from his window or he looked like a person that robbed a bank? And, oh yeah, what about how hard Blacks worked to build this country and promised 40 acres and a mule? Mr. Allen you're implying that the new immigrants should be given a chance to prove they could be productive citizens; guess what, Blacks wanted this same opportunity. It seems that you may not know the shoes we've walked in. Sorry to be so dramatic, but I need to drive the point home.

Robert Allen wrote:

Immigrants who already live in the US should have the opportunity to become legal and pay taxes. some of the Latin American countries are getting upset about the rights other countries have here in the USA and they have not done anything against the USA but they are mistreated. I am an American citizen and I can even see this. Blacks even seem to want to think they are still after all these years are discriminated against. They get more rights than we dobut they like to stir up drama instead of live in peace. Those Latin people who already live here and came here via proper channels but lost their Visa's due to being young and not having guidance and therefore losing their rights because they did not have money to renew the Visa's or forgot it. Now they are sorry but they are scared to say anything.
This is sad for them and those who care.

[Dinah]

Well, as usual, all I'm seeing in this new thread is one side of things.

NONE of this addresses the ISSUE at hand. The issue is NOT simply immigrants coming here legally through the proper channels, or people of another race. It is not about bigotry or what our brown brethren have had to suffer in the past. This is activist's smokescreen.

The ISSUE is about those people who come here illegally- that is WITHOUT DUE PROCESS.

There have been instances where these people have come here for work, been hired and taken unfair advantage of; been sold fake I.D.s by charlatans- with what little they have been able to save up. To put it frankly, these people have been USED. They are also being lied to by activist groups that tell them that they have a right to have a say in the government when constitutionally; they don't because they are not citizens of this country. I don't blame those here illegally. I suppose if I thought my need was greater than the rest immediately I'd try to break the waiting line too.

I blame the MOST INCOMPETANT GOVERNMENT I have ever witnessed. Instead of controlling the line, they leave a free for all. Human smuggling is a crime. I don't see a war on that. Transporting illegal drugs over the country lines is uncontrolled. Terrorists can come in easily enough.
So much for 'homeland security'.

We have immigration laws that help prepare our new guests for life here that are thwarted and the government turns a blind eye to them. It seems that only recently have the government has been active in punishing the employers that take in these workers that are here illegally. And that list of employers grows daily. We have laws in place already that are NOT obeyed; and law enforcement's hands are tied because 'we don't want to offend'. Every time a city tries to enforce the laws, the ACLU or some other activist group interferes and our federal government sides with the lawbreakers.

We have a strong need for bilingual (or even multilingual in some cases) people when we shouldn't have to.

We have a medical system that is slowly buckling under the weight of- not only our own people- but those hundreds coming in daily as well--that can't pay the bill.

We have already overcrowded schools bulging at the seams trying to figure where the funding is going to come from.

We have aggressive fringe groups coming from the south that issue the threat of conquest.

ALL THIS represents a TERRIBLE lack of planning on our part and has resulted in BAD feelings. Until this situation is remedied; the bad feelings will continue. It is happening all over the country. If you are not affected now; you will be soon.

If our government TRULY cared about the "national security" of this country; they would take the time to fix what is in our own backyard before
" spreading democracy" elsewhere. While some up there are trying to spread it; it is systematically being taken away from us here at home.

These people who write in about this really need to study some more about the topic.

[K Clinton]

Dinah,

I totally agree with your statement that the issue was not addressed in this thread. I was only responding to Mr. Allen's blanket and ignorant remarks. But on the issue, I am in TOTAL agreement with you. I could not have said it better. I believe this was another plan that did not go as they planned. Years ago, when I used to listen to "talk radio", I heard Limbaugh say "..Mark my words, in a few years this will be a third world country". I no longer listen to Limbaugh, because he is a liar and splitter-dividing Americans on unimportant issues, like the rest of them, but I think he was on to something and it was planned. Now, it has become a mess in many facets of our society, from education, health care, taxes, you name it. Even causing hatred towards Latinos. They created this environment by intentionally turning a blind eye - for monetary gains. Look at the Guest Worker program for Katrina "rebuilding". They fired African-American workers who were paid $12/hr to ship in workers from Latin America and pay them $9/hr. This has caused a rift between those two communities. Then they fire the Latino worker and bring in workers from India for $7/hr. Meanwhile these workers have to PAY to work in this country, are given no care and barely any housing and are forced to work. This is a mess. A complete mess.. But most of us care more about Shanjiya getting kick off American Idol (I confess I wish he is too) than this. I bet most don't even know it's going on...

[Luis Corrales]

I love reading comments from all walks of life because I get a different perspective than I would normally have. From reading I could see that we are not blaming people that are the root of most of the problem. Yeah I agree that immigrants should not be here illegally and all that jazz but we have to go back and recognize that the company owners are the people that drive these issues. If the owners were not trying to save a dime and find an immigrant there would be no issue with people losing their jobs to and immigrant. This issue if very complex and I would bet that one of use could come up with a solution that would benefit all sides. There is always a loser in every situation and it seems to me that immigrants are losing the battle in this case.

[DMS]

I am so tired of hearing about other races being discriminated. There is no particular race that is discriminated against, they all are. Get used to it, that's life.
I received an email chaing the other day that described this immigration problem perfectly. It compared illigal immigration to breaking into a house. There is no difference. It is wrong either way. You want to live in America, do it right.
SPEAK OUR LANGUAGE. I think it is horrible that every cartoon my 2 year old watches now encourages speaking the spanish language. This is America. The native language is English. If you can't speak it fluently, you need to go back to where you came from.
The immigrants now a days are ruining our working world. They agree to work for little to no money, which causes everyone elses salaries to decrease.
Worst of all are the day laborers. They don't belong in America. If you are standing on the side of the street waiting for someone to pick you up and give you work, you are illegal. They only do this to get paid cash under the table.
They should ask themselves why they come to America. Is it to live a better life, great health care, exceptional career opportunites, education? They want to take all of the wonderful things America has to offer, but they do not give back.