Karen Ford
“I recognize the fact that we export the American dream. So many people are coming here in hopes that they will reach the American dream, but I also know that those immigrants are also causing a huge problem with the federal government in terms of housing and health care. So my feelings are conflicted right now. But I don’t agree that they should be rounded up and deported. I don’t believe in that.”
Aneeka Henderson
” In terms of immigration reform, employers are starting to ask workers to work 12-hour days, and they are the people who are causing the change in America. The claim that Americans don’t or will not work at certain jobs is incorrect. I don’t understand how someone can demand rights from a country they were not born in. No one wants to see families separated, but we are American citizens. I can’t move to some other country and demand the same rights as those native to that country. Why should America be any different? Why aren’t the immigrant’s countries trying to solve their economic problems so people can make a livable wage so they would not want to leave? The American government has allowed this problem to get out of hand, and now it is difficult to solve the problem without hurting people.”
Kevin Jeffries
“One of the problems I see is that illegal workers help to lower wages because employers can pay lower wages, and American citizens are caught in the middle. Things like health care are greatly impacted because immigrants do not have health insurance. We American taxpayers must pay for that. We have families, and we want the best for our children too. I’m not against anyone, but there is a procedure for becoming a citizen that should be followed like other immigrants have done for years. If I were to sneak into Mexico, Guatemala or Korea demanding the rights of those countries, I would probably be deported or locked up. If I took my son to Japan, do you think he would be afforded the same opportunities as a Japanese child? I don’t think so. I see employers being the real problem. They should be fined if they hire illegal people.”
Althea Hawkins
“I don’t think anything about it. It’s like any other reform; it’s bogus in its content. The administration that is in office right now gives less than a darn about anything but themselves. They sent all the jobs overseas. I guess they’re upset because people aren’t staying over there working them; they’re still trying to get to this land of plenty. This nation was founded by immigrants. We African Americans were the first, and I’m unsatisfied how I’ve been treated. I’m unsatisfied how they’re trying to do these people from Mexico and any other countries. It’s awful ironic that a European immigrant can come in without a problem. And they are flooding the east coast because their population is down to zero. They’re not producing kids. They want to overthrow Roe vs. Wade so white women can have some babies. The Spanish is having kids. The African Americans are having kids; everybody is having kids but them, so they’re not complaining about Europeans coming in on the east coast. But everybody else of color got a problem. George Bush is always saying God is on his side. I don’t believe that either and I know that he’s wrong about immigration.”
Paul Messian
“I think the ones that are already here; I think they’re fine to stay here without any kind of reform. The ones that are here with their families, I don’t want to disrupt the family. I think there might be a little exception that way, but no more. Now you get in line like everybody else.”
Andre Harwell & Debbie Schwartz:
“(Harwell) Well, I think illegal immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to just freely come into the country and have the same rights as those of use who are citizens of the United States, without going through the same procedures we have to go through. I have no problem with them coming into the country, but I think there should be more stringent rules that apply for them coming into the country. (Schwartz) There is a process in place to have people come into the country legally. I think that they should have to use it. For example, if I wanted to move to France I would have to go through all kinds of customs and paperwork to become a citizen there. I think that people coming into this country should have to use that same process.” (Note: Harwell/Schwartz were visiting from Milwaukee, my hometown.
