The issue of illegal aliens is essentially an enormous financial siphon and legal black hole that is fenced off from public criticism by the (false) pretext of racism. Many different groups use this siphon and legal black hole to their advantage. Naturally such a thing attracts all sorts of characters ranging from economic refugees to mafia drug lords to corrupt bureaucrats. It certainly does not benefit Americans at all. When you calculate cost to tax base, they don't even offer cheap labor. -jmz On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 4:00 PM, JD Austin wrote: > > > On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 15:45, Eric Cope wrote: > >> The problem isn't illegal immigration. Its that immigration is illegal. >> > > Sorry maybe you didn't know about this but... immigration is not illegal! > Foreign born citizens become legal American citizens every single day. > > Its just that these particular people choose not to go through the process > to become legal American citizens. The other possibility is that they're > not eligible or don't want fulfill the requirements. > Generally, to be eligible for naturalization you must: > > - Be age 18 or older; > - Be a permanent resident for a certain amount of time (usually 5 years > but less for some individuals); > - Be a person of good moral character; > - Have a basic knowledge of U.S. history and government; > - Have a period of continuous residence and physical presence in the > United States; and > - Be able to read, write, and speak basic English. There are exceptions > to this rule for someone who: > - Is 55 years old and has been a permanent resident for at least 15 > years; or Is 50 years old and has been a permanent resident for at least 20 > years; or > - Has a permanent physical or mental impairment that makes the > individual unable to fulfill these requirements. > > > Lots of documents/videos/etc here that explain it all: > http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis > http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/B3en.pdf > >