[Prophasi]

I disagree with both GP and the immigration laws affecting these people, but the term "illegals" to describe them strikes me as an innocuous shorthand for "people of illegal immigration status." It carries no implicit judgment of the people or the laws; it just states the relationship of the former to the latter.

This trend of casual libel against others, claiming intent and meaning that you can't possibly know, is worrying.

[pistle]

The shorthand is a politically-charged term that was designed to frame, for the listener, the target being described and to remove sympathy for them as a human. It's not libel when the person's words can be proven, nor to describe the utterance of said words. It's an opinion upon words that were said, thus not libelous.

Prior to the 1880's, the US used to be a nation that accepted the many who would become the hands that raised America to its place on the world stage. Somehow, the spawn of those earlier waves think that they are the reason the US is great and seek to limit entrance of the minds and labor of others who come seeking that old dream of meritocracy.

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

[prodigal_erik]

"Undocumented workforce" is just as slanted. Their problem is not lost paperwork. It obscures the lack of steady demand for their labor, and their willful defiance of our efforts to guard our home.

Prior to the late 1800s, we still had an untapped frontier, and immigration was in our interest. It was never a principle we committed to at all costs, despite what one poet might have thought. Now our own huddled masses are splitting a pie that isn't growing, and immigration is not so beneficial that it makes up for the overpopulation it causes (because few people have been emigrating).

[pistle]

The pie. The pie... about that pie. Recognizing immigrants increases the tax base. Recognizing immigrants ensures better wages and changes the entire narrative. Come, work, share in our bounty and our responsibility to each other.

Increase in population relate to increases in infrastructure, housing, services, global workforce competitiveness, military capabilities, and a myriad of other indirect and direct supporting features of societies that fare well historically. Do more with more instead of thinking you can always do more with less.

Increases in demand for food, services, schools, etc grows the pie. Sure, at some point, demand needs to be able to keep pace. But the US is not at that point.

It's easier to use the steamroller of global goodwill described by the statue poem than it is to simply sharpen the blades of dominance. Eventually, there's no metal left to sharpen and nations of billions will route a nation of millions.

[tsotha]

>Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

You know that's just a poem on a statue, right, and not actually codified in law?

[PhantomGremlin]

1880 US Census: population 50,189,209

2010 US Census: population 308,745,538

The population increased 9.7% between 2000 and 2010.

Eventually a country must limit immigration. The alternative is the squalor of places like Haiti and Bangladesh.