If you enter our country illegally you are a criminal and will be treated as such

Good thing my parents came in legally

Someone spelled immigrants wrong...
Immigants?

Haha I hadn't noticed that. Thank you

Here's where you're logic is flawed. The process for getting into the country legally is long, hard, and nearly impossible for poorer people. Especially with the revolution in Nicaragua, many of these people don't have the means to get into the country legally and resort to whatever means necessary to provide a quality life for their children and families. You have perfectly showcased the utter lack of empathy in our country for these people who are just looking for a better life.

I understand that they want a better life and believe that they should have that opportunity. However, families that go through an entry point aren't illegal while those who jump the fence are. Surely they understand that they will be separated from their families just like every other criminal in our country. Yes, it's a long process but if they come in legally at least that process is started. Those who cross illegally have no intention of following the rules, so they are criminals.

While that makes sense, the people that enter illegally often don't have the means to enter legally. The USA should provide an easier way for these immigrants to get green cards and citizenship, but the way the system works ends up filtering out the poor, the very demographic that would benefit most from living in the US. We give them no other option but to risk coming into the USA illegally with a chance of getting their families separated for the sake of giving them a better life, or stay in whatever country they're in and sentence them to a life of poverty and danger, where they most likely will never become wealthy enough to live a healthy lifestyle and also risk living amongst ramant crime. Let's also not forget that many of the "immigrants" from Nicaragua. In case you didn't know, Nicaragua is in the middle of a full-fledged revolution, and it's heating up. So many of them have fled the country to come to the USA and seek asylum or refuge. They are legally considered refugees. We've not just turned these people down, we've taken their children from them and put them in "shelters" that are horrendously unsanitary.

Americans often talk about how much we love our country. We act like our country is the greatest in the world, wave our freedom around like a flag, and talk about the rights every person in our country is entitled to, no matter their race, gender, ethnicity, or social class. Yet, when people come to our country, illegally or legally, they are greeted with blatant xenophobia and fear-mongering. If we as a country are going to say the things we do about ourselves, then we ought to at least act like it and treat these people with some semblance of humanity and compassion.

Totally agree with this, it should be easier for the most underprivileged to get citizenship while making it harder for the bad guys to enter. I know a lady who came here legally in the 1950s as a permanent resident and two years ago her green card expired. It took two full years of her worrying to get it renewed. This is a lady who has never hurt anyone and this is a problem.

Yes, Nicaragua is experiencing a civil war. So are most Central American countries, although we don't hear about it much in recent years. I remember when Honduras and Panama were the center of attention. It's no wonder why people spend their life savings and risk their lives to come here.

So yes. If we're going to talk the talk we should definitely walk the walk. I just have so little faith in our government doing the right thing that I know it would be screwed up somehow. But I don't care which side of the aisle makes it happen as long as it does happen. Get these people vetted and give them their chance.

That's fair enough. From there, process of how to go about granting these people citizenship is simply an issue of personal political ideology, but starting from that reasonabe point of agreement helps.

Well, personal political ideology isn't really an issue. If someone genuinely wants to come here and assimilate it shouldn't matter which way they lean politically.

On the other hand, our own people are crazy about politics. I am pretty politically outspoken but I still have a healthy respect for opposing views. Others, not so much. They will fight any idea that comes from the other side, even a good one. Both parties are guilty and as a result nothing gets done.

Oh, and also, THANK YOU SO DAMN MUCH for keeping this a civil conversation. That doesn't happen much, and I'm glad that we could talk without the conversation delving into a downward spiral of insults and hate comments. That's very respectable.

What I meant about political opinion was the exact way of letting people into the country and improving the immigration system, not the fact that it needs to be done at all. But yeah, you're right