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Should immigrants have a path to citizenship?

Should law abiding immigrants be given citizenship?

  • Total voters
    101
There is a confliction in the terms used as a heading for this thread. One is should there be a path to citizenship the other is should they be given citizenship. If they are here legally they have a path to citizenship. If they came illegally, but have lived, worked and paid taxes here, and they have shown that they want to be a part of America, under those circumstances I feel they deserve also to be afforded a path to citizenship.
 
Sabre said:
Yes, the first humans and their children and their children and their children, etc., over time all immigrated throughout the world. But as you well know, that is not how the term is being used in this case.
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"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."

I guess we aren't that country anymore. That's a real shame.
 
BabaVoss said:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
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Yeah not the human traffickers or drug dealers we don't need those
BabaVoss said:
I guess we aren't that country anymore. That's a real shame.
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Sure we are. Somebody got the idea that drug dealers in human traffickers are the huddled masses store they like to pretend they don't know that that's what this is about
 
Lursa said:
That sounds like amnesty, as long as they dont have criminal records. Then my vote would be no.

They should start with "the path to enter the country legally". And then apply for citizenship while here legally.

A lot of the workers that come here dont want to be citizens. They are proud to be Mexican. I'm not sure why so many believe they want to be Americans. They are here looking for a better way to support their families. IMO this relationship can be and is mutually beneficial.
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The path to citizenship OR a Green Card should be easy to understand, reasonable, rational and routine if the applicants are law abiding and with a clean record.
I understand the need for quotas, but aside from quotas, (REALISTIC ONES, mind you) the process should be a normal one and should remain rock solid instead of changing with political whims.

That's not how it has EVER been in the USA since Ellis Island closed down.
 
Last but not least, if an immigrant enlists in the military, serves honorably and maintains a clean record upon leaving the service, a routine path to citizenship should be presented TO them upon discharge. Instead we are even allowing ICE to deport immigrant veterans.
 
Allan said:
Trump has recognized that undocumented immigrants are important for several industries and has backed off arresting and deporting them. I would argue that there are a lot more industries that need these workers to operate effectively.

Those immigrants who haven't committed crimes and are productively employed - should they be allowed to remain and given a path to citizenship?
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Yes.

All legal immigrants have such a path already.

Illegal immigrants, or those who lie to, get asylum should not.
 
Allan said:
Trump has recognized that undocumented immigrants are important for several industries and has backed off arresting and deporting them. I would argue that there are a lot more industries that need these workers to operate effectively.

Those immigrants who haven't committed crimes and are productively employed - should they be allowed to remain and given a path to citizenship?
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No. They already have a path. And its a legal path.
 
MamboDervish said:
So what? Trump has no problem with them breaking the law, as long as they are cleaning his hotel rooms, cooking in his kitchens, and picking strawberries.

?? Why ask me? That's a question for the OP.
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Well, I think the distinction is very important. Do you?
 
Fearandloathing said:
A week or two ago saw an on line item speculating that homo sapien arrived here a lot sooner than thought. That early explorers sailed to the Americas from Polynesia 1,000's of years before the land bridge idea
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It's possible.
 
Lord of Planar said:
Well, the distinction is very important in my viewpoint.
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OK - back it up and start over again. What exactly are you asking me? Certainly it is not what the OP intended, because that is a question for them.

Right?

Or what am I missing?
 
MamboDervish said:
OK - back it up and start over again. What exactly are you asking me? Certainly it is not what the OP intended, because that is a question for them.

Right?

Or what am I missing?
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I used your post to throw out that distinction between legal and illegal.
 
Should law abiding immigrants be given citizenship?
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If we're talking about immigrants writ large: It depends.
If we're talking specifically about *illegal* immigrants: It still depends.

Plenty of visas are only for a few years, and that's fine. I think having some temporary worker programs are good...they don't necessarily all need a path to citizenship. The big problem is when meritocratic entries (e.g. student visas and H1B visas) don't have any path to citizenship. We should fix that by letting them get green cards when their temporary visa expires.

As for illegal immigrants...generally I'd say that amnesty for some of them is a better goal than a path to citizenship. Amnesty which lets them continue to live and work here, and which can be revoked if they break the law. But for the ones who get amnesty, it should come with the ability to apply for green cards for which they are qualified, such as being married to a US citizen. So it wouldn't reward them with a path to citizenship just for being an illegal immigrant, but it would grant them the same paths to citizenship open to applicants who aren't illegal immigrants.

I would support amnesty for illegal immigrants who can pass a background check and who have been here since, say, 2022, if they meet any one of the following criteria:
  • They are married to a US citizen.
  • They are the parent of an over-21 US citizen.
  • They have a bachelor's degree.
  • They served honorably in the US military.
  • They can prove they entered the US before they were 18.
  • They can prove they have lived in the US for 10+ years.
 
Allan said:
Trump has recognized that undocumented immigrants are important for several industries and has backed off arresting and deporting them. I would argue that there are a lot more industries that need these workers to operate effectively.

Those immigrants who haven't committed crimes and are productively employed - should they be allowed to remain and given a path to citizenship?
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What would be any reason NOT to have a path to citizenship?
 
Gatsby said:
If we're talking about immigrants writ large: It depends.
If we're talking specifically about *illegal* immigrants: It still depends.

Plenty of visas are only for a few years, and that's fine. I think having some temporary worker programs are good...they don't necessarily all need a path to citizenship. The big problem is when meritocratic entries (e.g. student visas and H1B visas) don't have any path to citizenship. We should fix that by letting them get green cards when their temporary visa expires.

As for illegal immigrants...generally I'd say that amnesty for some of them is a better goal than a path to citizenship. Amnesty which lets them continue to live and work here, and which can be revoked if they break the law. But for the ones who get amnesty, it should come with the ability to apply for green cards for which they are qualified, such as being married to a US citizen. So it wouldn't reward them with a path to citizenship just for being an illegal immigrant, but it would grant them the same paths to citizenship open to applicants who aren't illegal immigrants.

I would support amnesty for illegal immigrants who can pass a background check and who have been here since, say, 2022, if they meet any one of the following criteria:
  • They are married to a US citizen.
  • They are the parent of an over-21 US citizen.
  • They have a bachelor's degree.
  • They served honorably in the US military.
  • They can prove they entered the US before they were 18.
  • They can prove they have lived in the US for 10+ years.
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I think I follow your reasoning with the exception of the bachelor's degree. Where does that come from, and what do you think it signifies?
 
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