Originally Posted by VGeorgie

Same here, though I forget the exact number of generations. On my father's side the ancestor that first settled here arrived in about 1750. He was indentured, like many of the time. Except for having to keep working to pay off his passage, he just got off the boat when it landed in Charleston Harbor (it was named something different at the time). There was no customs, Ellis Island, or birth certificates.

I'm NOT saying we need to keep this system. Obviously we live in different times, but the idea of closing the gates now that "real Americans" are here is the worst kind of nationalism. The Statue of Liberty still has the same words when it was erected, about accepting those from other countries looking to come to America for a better life. It's a founding principle of this nation, and a principle worth keeping.

The argument should not be about illegal immigration, but about illegal hiring of immigrants. If employers in the US were held accountable to the laws already in existence in every state, illegal immigration would be cut by 80-90%.

Remove the incentive for illegals to risk their lives to get here, you remove the trafficking in illegals, and much of the crime that goes along with it.