Box Turtle Bulletin

and as a member of both, the gay population and the “someone else” population, i hope gay people will see how deeply racist this is and will condemn it just as much. I have seen it with myne owne eyes how even gay people will play into the same fear mongering that is used against us.

Jimmy

yep. We better stand with our immigrant brethren (and sistren) to protect them against the ignorant talk of our racist half. If we, don’t stand with others who are persecuted, we are hypocrites.

homer

I have been predicting that for a couple of years. As gays and lesbians are gaining in acceptance, another group had to be found to do the “Group Hate” thing about.

Pomo

The difference between illegal immigrants and LGBT people is that we’re not breaking the law. Thats a distinction I refuse to ignore. And the ethical way to deal with it is complete reform/overhaul of our immigration system.

Wyzdyx

I sometimes wish my Iroquois ancestors had formulated a stronger immigration policy….

tavdy79

When an alien lives with you in your land, do not mistreat him. The alien living with you must be treated as one of your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were aliens in Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19 vs. 33-34 (NIV)

I’m a gay would-be immigrant (bi-national couple). Does this mean I get double dose of hate?

Tommy

Well Pomo, prior to Lawrence v.Texas LGBT people were breaking the law. Did you refuse to ignore the distinction then?

Bryan

The difference between illegal immigrants and LGBT people is that weâ€™re not breaking the law. Thats a distinction I refuse to ignore. And the ethical way to deal with it is complete reform/overhaul of our immigration system.

Pomo, have you forgotten that just a few years ago gay people were breaking the law?

Also, why do Latinos who happen to be US Citizens have to bear the brunt of the new “papers please” law? The Republicans want to repeal the 14th Amendment in order to take away citizenship by birth; they want to take away the 1st Amendment in order to block the construction of a new Islamic community center in Manhattan. Do YOU want to repeal the 4th Amendment in order to keep SB 1070 on the books?

Why don’t we just set aside the entire Bill of Rights? Would that make you happy?

Besides:
â€¢ In 2009, Obama deported 10% more immigrants than Bush did in 2008

â€¢ Obama has doubled the number of border patrol agents and tripled the number of analysts

â€¢ Immigration reform has already passed The House, but has been blocked in The Senate thanks to a Republican filibuster.

â€¢ Crime of all kinds has fallen every year for the past 25 years in all 5 of our southern border states, so immigrants are being used as a scapegoat for a diminishing problem.

Jimmy

Instead of scapegoating immigrants for the disappearing jobs in the US, why don’t concerned Americans scapegoat the corporations who send all of the manufacturing and IT jobs overseas the minute the Clinton administration let them?

So perhaps immigration fears are racist, but maybe they aren’t – depends on who’s having the fear I guess – but in any case, they are founded on false assumptions and pretty cruel expectations.

Immigrants might be breaking the law of our land, but they are not breaking the laws of the free market we are so obsessed with in the US – if your family is poor and hungry, you go where you can find work (labor also follows the principle of supply and demand).

Jimmy

The essential effect of what anti-immigrant crusaders are after is the criminalization of survival. If we are unwilling to take ownership of our contributions to the impoverishment of “the global south,” and actively work towards stabilizing and making trade and work truly fair, then we would be fools to expect any other outcome than poor folk trying to better their situation by coming to the land where all the work and resources are being hoarded.

Terry

WOW….what about those of us that have been in 8 years relationships with illegals? We NEED some action. My partner loses his papers in February. Can anyone shed light on what to do? Does going up to DC and getting married help at all? We are at wit’s end. Any ideas? Immigration reform/gay marriage….we think both are pretty good ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Burr

It’s better to have an immigration problem than the problem countries like Cuba are having.. just saying..

And actually there’s proof that the tide is turning and the brain drain might be headed the other way thanks to all the jingoism, therefore hurting our economy even more.

Emily K

Deporting aliens and demanding papers when stopping them at routine traffic stops is not a good solution. You need to attack the root of a problem, otherwise, like a pernicious weed, the problem will return.

For example, people oppose abortion but want to deny gays and unmarried people the right to adopt a child; they also oppose comprehensive sex education to prevent such pregnancies from happening.

Likewise, Republicans will support measures like the AZ bill, but take obscene amounts of money from corporations that use illegal aliens as poorly-treated cogs in their system. Handing these companies corporate welfare and ignoring their breach of labor laws must be addressed.

Richard Rush

While I think I’m very liberal on social issues, and while I’m opposed to the new Arizona immigration law, I believe the FEDERAL government has the right and duty to control the borders. And furthermore I believe that children born in the U.S. to ILLEGAL immigrants should NOT be U.S. citizens.

Although the immigration issue would never persuade me to vote for any Republican, I think it may be a vote-getter for them.

Burr

And furthermore I believe that children born in the U.S. to ILLEGAL immigrants should NOT be U.S. citizens.

That’s a horrible idea. Why? Because those children will not be citizens of their parents country either. There is nothing worse you can do to a child who has done nothing wrong themselves than to completely deprive them of a country to call home.

And sorry but there’s that little thing called the 14th amendment in the way, and it’s not changing any time soon.

Timothy Kincaid

I do hope that we are intelligent enough to look at each situation separately and not assume that because Republicans who oppose gay rights also oppose illegal immigration then that’s reason enough to encourage or defend it.

Mark F.

“Thatâ€™s a horrible idea. Why? Because those children will not be citizens of their parents country either.”

That is nonsense. Every country on earth (including Mexico) recognizes the citizenship of children born overseas to its own citizens. Barack Obama was at one time considered a citizen of Kenya, for example.

The 14th Amendment refers to people born or naturalized in the United States AND subject to the jurisdiction thereof. I maintain that children born of illegal immigrants are not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States (just like children born to foreign diplomats who ARE NOT entitled to automatic citizenship) and are therefore not citizens, despite a long tradition to the contrary.

Why don’t you people sobbing for illegal immigrants simply call for an end to all restrictive immigration laws and giving U.S. citizenship to anyone who wants it? If immigrants are so great for this country, that’s what you ought to do.

Mark F.

Terry:

Sorry my friend, you and your partner are probably out of luck due to DOMA –which most Democrats supported. But you should consult an immigration attorney to see if you have any further options.

John in the Bay Area

To deny children born on US soil automatic American citizenship will require changing the Constitution. I would strongly oppose any such change.

Despite Republicans stoking anti-immigrant sentiments (a historically common political tact used against various groups over the last 200 years), I doubt that even the Republicans would be willing to push for such a Constitutional change.

Terry, welcome to the minority amongst the minority. It seems we’re the gays the immigrant crowd doesn’t want to hear about, and the immigrants the gay crowd doesn’t want to hear about. We bi-national couples, for the moment, are screwed in every sense of the term and don’t seem to matter much to either community.

Priya Lynn

I want to hear about immigrants like Terry.

Priya, go to out4immigration.org or immigrationequality.org, or contact me through my blog (linked under my name). There are actually a lot of us out there – those who face deportation, like Terry’s partner, or those who can’t even get in, like myself.

(Sorry, I meant to say that my e-mail address is available on my blog if you wish to contact me)

Tommy

Sorry, Mark F., but what you maintain is against over a century of jurisprudence, case law, and several Supreme Court decisions. Thus it is not a “tradition” but the proper application of the Constitution.

And having no restriction on immigration worked until 1875. That was when people began noticing undesirables like the Chinese were coming in.

Priya Lynn

Mark F said “Every country on earth (including Mexico) recognizes the citizenship of children born overseas to its own citizens.”.

I don’t know much about it, but that seems highly unlikely to me. It’s my understanding that most, if not all countries recognize the citizenship of children born in their countries.

Jason D