Blah-blah-blah. Stupid laws and borders meant to keep the rich rich and the poor poor SHOULD be lied and cheated around. Ideally, anyone would be able to live anywhere in the world without too much red tape. I wonder if, in the 80s, you thought that people who escaped from East Germany should be repatriated by force. After all, they broke the law, right?
I can’t say this as strongly as: fuck the law. Fuck the people who made the laws. Just because it’s a law doesn’t mean there’s honor in respecting it. The people are in the country. Most of them have worked productively and kept their noses free of crime. It’s a done deal — time to legalize them. Future border and immigration policy should be a matter for debate, of course.
Also, most service worker immigrants are fairly young. Why not give them a shot at permanent residence? Chances are, if they’re legal, they’ll start out low, but some of them will get an education and move on to higher-paying jobs. More money into the social security system. What we’ll pay them after age 65-70 will be a comparative pittance.
