Discuss this editorial.

part 3 I think our country is really mingy in allowing people refugee and asylee status. Our legal immigration system is byzantine, illogical and punitive. And we take no responsibility for the number of deportations -- legal, or, as in this article, sorta legal -- wind up being death sentences. More due process is the answer. Not less.

MdeG @ 3:08 PM PST, Nov 17, 2008

As for Mitchell Young's comment, most in-country adjustment of status is gone. In today's information age, people who left home in fear of their lives can be easily tracked there by those who want to harm them. People who came here because they were in need will, given the costs and time delays involved in legal immigration, very probably die before being readmitted. And the IIRAIRA bars, requiring those who have been present without documents to stay out for 3 or 10 years before applying for readmission, complicate matters greatly.

MdeG @ 3:08 PM PST, Nov 17, 2008

tucanofulano, You are apparently ignorant of the fact that the US issues upwards of 20 kinds of legal visas to people. In addition to being legally present as a citizen or an LPR, you can be legally present as a student, a temporary worker, a visitor, a religious worker... You oversimplify vastly.

MdeG @ 3:07 PM PST, Nov 17, 2008

I am sick of the ILLEGALS, they refuse to pay for health care, they refuse to learn ENGLISH and then demand we provide for them because they are cheap labor..did anyone read the NY Times last week? I have 3k in hospitla bills that myinsurance did not cover and I have to pay..if I was ILLEGAL medicare would pay for it or it would be a writeoff! DEPORT them all and if the average citizen feels bad..sponsor a family!

karin @ 11:09 AM PST, Nov 16, 2008

TrishG, do you know that Canada, with one tenth the population, every year lets in, at a minimum, a quarter million legal immigrants, often more? The US would have to increase annual intake to two and a half million, not one million, to match Canada, per capita. In the good old days, the US used to lead, now, it lags in immigrants!

really? @ 11:00 PM PST, Nov 15, 2008

Illegal immigrant is sure, illegal. So, what do we need to do to make them legal? To make them feel like they belong? To make them legal. Tsk. Tsk.How would you feel if YOU were in their shoe? YOU wouldn't know becauce you will never be. You will never go out of your comfort zone to explore the possibilites of the third world. How do I know? Because I was there. With them. For them. I was with an NGO before. Pls. have a heart!

crunch @ 1:26 PM PST, Nov 15, 2008

I am a Citizen but I cannot believe how heartless and ruthless most are regarding this immigration issue. This is my country. I don't see why I should not let anyone else from the face of the earth be in it? America already has diverse cultures.

crunch @ 1:26 PM PST, Nov 15, 2008

cont--America is a vast land. There is a universe in this country to accommodate these "illegal immigrants" who are just here to work, who are skilled professionals who can, who knows take care of me and youo when we land in hospitals or in skilled nursing homes? Pls. soften your hearts. May God bless America. God bless us all!

crunch @ 1:20 PM PST, Nov 15, 2008

cont2--Since they are out of status, the more they take care of their job, their patients knowing they need to cherish every work day as if it were their last! Knowing they need to send hard earned money to their minor children who is growing up without parents?! Pls. , let us not be too harsh on them. They are not here to kill and to steal, they are just here to work to better their lives. Pls. have a kindheart and give them a chance.

crunch @ 1:20 PM PST, Nov 15, 2008

cont..We treat our pets with love and care, why don't we with humans who just want to better their life, and they contribute with their taxes anyways? Their the ones who are in healthcare. Millions of them?

crunch @ 1:20 PM PST, Nov 15, 2008

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