Hey, Ron:

A discussion about politics is fine around a kitchen table. There aren't many "discussions" about politics in here. It's a rapid-fire interchange of people who already know all the answers.

My own theory about politics is that it's ultimately the wallet that drives people... wealthy or poor. Morality rarely gets in the way of political decisions. And to me, even that is understandable. When it comes to immigration, one's attitude will be determined by many things that have nothing to do with philosphy or morality. For starters, it depends on where you live. If you live in a small town in Minnesota, the effect of illegal immigrants is most likely different than if you live in one of the border states, or a large city. It also depends on your level of education. If you are a manual laborer in an area where jobs are scarce and you have an influx of illegal immigrants willing to work for less money than you can live on, you're bound to have a different attitude than a computer programmer in Boston. If you are a business man and you can make a far greater profit hiring illegal immigrants, you're at least going to be tempted to look the other way when workers are hired. It may just mean that dream home in Aruba and sending your kids to Harvard. If you're poor but there is very little influx of illegal immigrants that threaten your job secvurity, and you can buy a product or service at a lowere price because someone is hiring illegal immigrants, you aren't likely to complain. There are probably another half a dozen scenarios where your attitude is driven by the impact illegal immigrants have on your life... among those, the effect on social services.

There was a time when illegal immigrants congregated mostly in ghettos in large cities. That's not so true anymore. Wherever there's a need for cheap manual labor, you'll find illegal immigrants no matter what the size of the town.

My opinion on the topic? (and it's just an opinion, formed in part because illegal immigrants aren't a major presence here in Derby, Ct.) I can't see the practicality, let alone the moral foundation for sending everyone back to where they came from. And here's where it gets fuzzy. If they've been here five years and have a steady job and are being responsible citizens, then I'd think it was fair to let them apply for citizenship. If they came yesterday, I'd send them back and make them apply for citizenship. Giving them green cards for a limited aount of time to work in this country isn't a bad idea. If they do it for Europeans, why not Mexicans?   This seems like a problem that calls for measured compromise.

I don't know what the answer is... these are just some of my thoughts. As for our Canadian and European friends, they'll have a different perspective. Europeans aren't concerned about Mexicans sneaking across their borders on a moon-less night. They get a flood of refugees from the middle East that create similar problems, financial and social. I'd be interested in getting their perspective.

Jerry