Another classic standoff in the making over immigration. It's a word that is often spoken these days

[pampango]

as if it were a profanity. Many who utter it do so with a snarl. And the very mention of it can instigate intense debate, enormous outrage and visceral reactions that border on the insane. Think of the most offensive curse word you know and I doubt that it would be greeted with such disdain and indignation as the one now dripping from the lips of angry "patriots" and opportunistic politicians.

Immigration

You don't even have to add the adjective "illegal" in front of that noun for it to be the toxic subject that divides a nation, pitting neighbor against neighbor.

The immigration issue is not going away, especially as more people suffering in these tough economic times continue to look for an enemy to blame. The illegal immigrant is a convenient scapegoat.

It is way past time that the Congress take up this issue in a comprehensive way as opposed to the piecemeal, emotional "solutions" that call for federal troops and more fences along the southern border, more local and state laws designed to punish undocumented workers and their families, and the occasional roundup of workers staged more for media attention than enforcement.

We need a reform package that takes into account the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country, and that includes some path to citizenship. A large number of those undocumented residents came here legally and simply stayed once their papers expired, many because of our over-burdened and inefficient office of Immigration and Naturalization Services. Let's be real: There is no way we're going to deport 12 million people, especially considering the added dilemma caused by the fact that many illegal immigrants are the parents of children who were born here. Those children are U.S. citizens. The immigration debate is nasty; there's little reason to believe future discussions will be any more civil than the other highly partisan political fights in recent years.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/04/24/2139234_p2/another-classic-standoff-in-the.html

[RKP5637]

1. Exactly, the root cause of the conflicts is that congress has failed to address

immigration reform for years, so states are grappling on their own. I wonder which states will be the next to pass some law. This decrepit immigration system we use now is unfair to almost everyone and creates conflicts by lack of clarity. As usual, the US is in this mess because of our own fault and the inability of the US to apparently be proactive on most issues, and this has been going on for years.

Thanks for this post!!!