Driver's Licenses for Illegal Immigrants...

Hmm...I don't have a solution to the problem, and I'm kind of lost among the send them home/grant them citizenship/make them pay back taxes in exchange for citizenship camps.

This is one issue I really don't have an easy answer to, and as a result, I usually keep my mouth shut about it.

But come on...think about the legal precedent you set when you issue an OFFICIALLY SANCTIONED DOCUMENT to someone who DOESN'T OFFICIALLY EXIST in this country...

Do we give concealed carry permits to felons?
Do we give passports to citizens of Burkina Faso?
Do we offer social security cards to tourists?

Sounds ridiculous, right?

"So are you calling illegal immigrants felons?"

Uh...yeah. They're disobeying federal law, so yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. I'm not saying illegal immigrants are BAD or EVIL, I'm not saying that they come over "to steal" our jobs. Those kinds of attacks are ridiculous. The few illegal immigrants I've had the pleasure of meeting have all had a working knowledge of English, a kind heart, and a pleasant demeanor. This isn't about calling them "the other". This isn't about xenophobia.

I understand that they're coming over here for opportunity and for a better life, but if they're disobeying federal law and obtaining employment and residency illegitimately, felons is what they are. It's kind of simple.

Giving OFFICIAL credentials to UNOFFICIAL residents sets the bar at a wicked cockeyed angle, especially for those overseas who LEGALLY apply for citizenship. For citizens of Eastern Europe, South Asia and West Africa, It's not as easy as walking across the desert or swimming across the Rio Grande.

"So you want to seal the borders?"

Waste of time and money. Like I said, I don't have an easy fix for this one. The only thing I can suggest is incredibly harsh penalties for employers who use illegals. Also, if they're found paying illegals LESS than minimum wage, those penalties should be even worse, because they're cheating all of us AND exploiting their employees.

This issue isn't about "getting the foriegners out." That's an ignorant bigoted viewpoint. I'm not a colonial. Most of my European ancestry came here no earlier than 1850. I'm proud to be a euro-mutt. I'm proud to have the opportunities I had growing up poor in a country of immigrant descendants.

The issue, rather, is about making illegal immigrants and the employers who use them pay their fair share of the infrastructure and government service costs. The immigrants are looking for a better life, but damn it, the employers KNOW BETTER.

When the penalties upon the employers are so high that their businesses are under threat of government seizure, maybe they'll think twice before accepting a worker without proper identification.

"Government seizure? That's kind of hypocritical coming from a libertarian."

That would be true if we actually LIVED in a libertarian society, but we don't.. All things being equal, it would be great if we could simply trust the market values--we wouldn't have to worry about working papers, illegals, OR minimum wages--but for right now, we do. As long as I have to hack off a chunk of MY paycheck and toss it to Uncle Sam's pigs, so should everyone else.

So I say go lightly on the illegal immigrants, and go harsh on their employers. Like I said the EMPLOYERS are the ones cheating BOTH the American public AND the immigrants they hire.