Poll: Most say illegal immigrants are criminals
April 12, 2006
www.arguscourier.com/news/news/lastweekquestion060412.html
Fifty-five percent of people responding to an Argus-Courier online poll last week said they think illegal immigrants should be considered criminals and charged with a felony.

Another 65 percent believe the United States should erect a 700-mile fence on the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border to discourage illegal immigrants from crossing the border.

Nearly three-fourths of respondents -- 70 percent -- think employers should face criminal penalties for hiring illegal workers.

Only 26 percent said they have ever or would hire someone to do work for them if they knew or suspected the worker was an illegal immigrant.

Here are some of the comments that readers who responded to the survey on immigration wrote:

We seem to be forgetting the fact that these people are breaking the law! Even if there are 11 million supposed illegals in the U.S., does that make them any less guilty? If we pursue that line of thought, then should we decriminalize drugs because "everyone is doing it?"

My family lives near an apartment complex that has turned the area into a high-crime area. We hear sirens so much that we want to move. I don't dare drive down certain streets at night anymore. Everyone speaks Spanish in the stores and cannot communicate with you. God forbid if a disaster hits this community. At least the three taco trucks were removed from the street that takes you to one of the main shopping centers.

Everyone has a right to come here legally! Follow the rules, pay your dues, pay your own way and when in Rome ... I am tired of seeing the Mexican flags being waved in protest. How about if you really want to be in America, wave the American flag?

As a proud Latina American whose parents immigrated legally, I think the U.S. has already sacrificed too much security and sovereignty for the sake of sensitivity and political correctness. Let's enforce our existing immigration laws.

Who is going to round up millions of felons, force them onto thousands of buses and physically deport them or put them in prison? And at whose expense? Ridiculous.

They do work that others here in California would not do.

Let's not forget that these "immigrants" are people. They want what we all want -- a good opportunity for education, health and quality of life. I welcome the cultural diversity they bring. The contributions they make in the work force are vital to the economy. They should be welcomed here and not persecuted.

The key word in this legislation is "criminal." I don't believe that "criminals" are harvesting our fruits and vegetables. If anyone is "criminal," it would be the employers that profit from these hard-working people who are forced to live in squalid conditions and earn well below a living wage.

One planet, one people -- I am ashamed of the way my country is treating people. Other than native Americans, this country is peopled with foreigners. If illegal immigrants quit working for one week, our state's economy would be in serious trouble.

In the 1940s illegal immigrants were called invaders. The invaders of today are being welcomed even as they march in our streets flying the flag of their country.

Anyone breaking the law should be punished. Call them anything you want, illegal immigrants are just that, illegal.

If there's support to change immigration laws, change them. Until then, they should be enforced as aggressively as drug or tax laws.