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Why do people say illegals should go back to where they came from and is it a matter of racism? (thelemmy.club)
submitted 6 days ago by may_be@thelemmy.club to c/politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world
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So, today, I saw a sign on my school group's wall saying something about undocumented people being welcome here, which I strongly agree with. They should be welcomed as much as any citizen (I'm American so a lot of this will be in relation to my observations in the USA).

However, I have friends and family who are strongly anywhere from "illegals should be tortured" to a more reasonable (not saying it's 100% reasonable, just MORE reasonable) that the undocumented should be deported but not treated badly in the process. Some, like my dad, are right-wingers who believe in changing the border laws and don't support Trump at all (a Never Trumper I think?)

My stance is that the border laws should be changed and that the undocumented are not "illegal", they should be treated like human beings and welcome as any American should.

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[–] AA5B@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

It may help to understand who is “an illegal”. The media and right wing demonization leads us to expect a dark skinned person sneaking across the border, maybe carrying drugs, and otherwise becoming a criminal.

However

  • lots of legitimate citizens and visitors have all different skin colors and ethnicity
  • we make extensive use of documented migratory workers and other temporary visitors, especially in farm work and construction
  • most “illegals” were in the country legitimately, but overstayed their documentation. This is a civil infraction
  • many “illegals” are refugees from persecution and violence. This has usually been encouraged for humanitarian reasons.
  • even today, many of the rest are desperate people trying to find a better life. Many of these are hard working contributing members of society.

Also remember that

  • undocumented aliens may have taxes withheld from their pay but can’t file taxes - effectively donate to the rest of us
  • can not use social safety nets like Medicaid, food stamps, etc. they do not cost us anything
  • can not vote and there is no significant history of them trying
  • generally keep their heads down so they don’t attract attention - lower crime rate than the rest of us

While I also wish we had better controls on undocumented immigration, I recognize they’re people with constitutional rights, that are a net positive for our country, we need them to Maintain our population so it’s in our best interest to make the legal process easier and faster. We also need to face reality and not make living illegal: all kids deserve a good education, regardless, and stupid paperwork shouldn’t drive them underground. We shouldn’t be piling more crimes on them for simply living: that’s us being sociopaths