3 ms·

Except that all four of these people were brought into the country as young children. Were you in control of your life when you were five?

sokoloff 11y ago
I was not. My kids are 4 and 6; they absolutely depend on me to make good choices on their behalf. I know that they will benefit from or suffer the consequences of many of my choices.
- kaitai 11y ago
  Yep. Isn't it great that these kids could compete in robotics competitions and work to support their families in relative safety instead of being stuck in a corrupt and dangerous country in which a drug war has torn apart civil society? Looks like their parents made a pretty rational choice!
  - sokoloff 11y ago
    Agreed. Their parents took significant risk and made a choice that, albeit illegal, worked out very well for their kids for a little over a decade. Well done and I hope that I'd have done the same for my family in analogous circumstances. That doesn't mean that, once discovered, the kids are entitled to residency or citizenship.
- MisterBastahrd 11y ago
  Suppose you made a mistake... say you were messing around with your phone while driving and ran over a family. Would you find it reasonable that your kids be prosecuted for your crime because they were in the back seat of your car? Because that's what's happening here.
  - sokoloff 11y ago
    That's not what's happening here (IMO). What is closer to happening is whether my kids should suffer the economic and loss of parenthood if I were sued civilly or incarcerated as a result of that incident. They would so suffer and that is proper. The young adults in question were born as non-US citizens and immigrated illegally (stipulated/agreed that this was not by their choice) to the US. Many years later, this is discovered. Now, the question is, "what to do about it?" None of the above facts support a claim to US citizenship nor US permanent residency under the current immigration laws (as I understand them). Whether it should is a different question. I _am_ in favor of a thoughtfully designed amnesty program for people who have lived peaceably and productively in our country for some extended period of time. I am also in favor of thoughtfully designed immigration program for people likely to live peaceably and productively in our country. A key element to my support is that these policies be thoughtfully designed by experts (ie. not by me, and not in an internet chat room) and that it be enforced (in both directions) when violations or qualifications are discovered. I believe there are some natural limits to how many people we want in the United States, and as one of the preferred nations (as measured by net immigration), we do need some policies, ie: open borders are not the default option.

sokoloff 11y ago

I was not. My kids are 4 and 6; they absolutely depend on me to make good choices on their behalf. I know that they will benefit from or suffer the consequences of many of my choices.

kaitai 11y ago
Yep. Isn't it great that these kids could compete in robotics competitions and work to support their families in relative safety instead of being stuck in a corrupt and dangerous country in which a drug war has torn apart civil society? Looks like their parents made a pretty rational choice!
- sokoloff 11y ago
  Agreed. Their parents took significant risk and made a choice that, albeit illegal, worked out very well for their kids for a little over a decade. Well done and I hope that I'd have done the same for my family in analogous circumstances. That doesn't mean that, once discovered, the kids are entitled to residency or citizenship.
MisterBastahrd 11y ago
Suppose you made a mistake... say you were messing around with your phone while driving and ran over a family. Would you find it reasonable that your kids be prosecuted for your crime because they were in the back seat of your car? Because that's what's happening here.
- sokoloff 11y ago
  That's not what's happening here (IMO). What is closer to happening is whether my kids should suffer the economic and loss of parenthood if I were sued civilly or incarcerated as a result of that incident. They would so suffer and that is proper. The young adults in question were born as non-US citizens and immigrated illegally (stipulated/agreed that this was not by their choice) to the US. Many years later, this is discovered. Now, the question is, "what to do about it?" None of the above facts support a claim to US citizenship nor US permanent residency under the current immigration laws (as I understand them). Whether it should is a different question. I _am_ in favor of a thoughtfully designed amnesty program for people who have lived peaceably and productively in our country for some extended period of time. I am also in favor of thoughtfully designed immigration program for people likely to live peaceably and productively in our country. A key element to my support is that these policies be thoughtfully designed by experts (ie. not by me, and not in an internet chat room) and that it be enforced (in both directions) when violations or qualifications are discovered. I believe there are some natural limits to how many people we want in the United States, and as one of the preferred nations (as measured by net immigration), we do need some policies, ie: open borders are not the default option.