Should the USA Annex Mexico?

I am waiting with baited breath...

Not worth responding to. Anybody with a bank account can figure it out.

I have a bank account. Maybe you can explain it to me.

Now, that would be damn funny! Why don't you just post your SS# here for your buddies to use for employment purposes. PLEASE!

Because I am afraid you would steal my identity, CJ.

I'd love to. But I won't. I'm not a crook.

A whole lot of illegals, hey?

Maybe Mexico is trying to take back what we took from her.

Neither are my buddies...

Come to think of it, you are the only person who has made an attempt to get my SS#.

aren't we a little busy annexing the middle east right now?

ebp, are you a DJ? You sure know how to spin.

I have rarely seen such a brainless topic offered in seriousness, outside the religious loonies . . .

CJ, I have to ask. Why do you hate Mexicans so much?

What did we take?
After the Mexican - American war,they ceded most of the southwest to us.
Part of it,the Gadsden purchase,we BOUGHT from mexico...

http://www.factmonster.com/ce6/history/A0819976.html

Of course,we also paid cash for the land that Mexico ceded to us after the war...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Cession

So,what exactly did we TAKE from Mexico?

As for legal or illegal immigrants,I have very clear opinions,based on 30+ years of living on the border.

ILLEGAL immigrants are a hazard in Ca.
There are countless illegals that get hurt or killed every year,trying to cross interstate 5,south of San Diego.
The problem has become so bad that there are signs posted,warning motorists of the problem.
Also,crime along the border has increased,because the illegals commit acts of burglary,trying to find food and water after crossing the desert.

The costs to hospital emergency rooms because of treating illegals,is staggering.
Public hospitals,welfare,and other social services are being overwhelmed by illegals,resulting in massive increases in cost overruns and deficits.

LEGAL immigrants are welcome in this country,but ILLEGAL immigrants should be returned to their native countries.
Why must we reward those who knowingly and willingly violate our laws?
I can take you to University Hospital in /san Diego,where on any given day there as many illegal immigrant women in the maternity ward as there are US citizens.
Many illegal women come here just to have their babies,because they know their baby is a US citizen if its born in the US.
I personally think that if a woman comes here illegally just to have a baby,then both her AND the child should be returned to the mothers native country.

No matter how much you try to sugar coat it,ILLEGAL immigrants are a problem,and must be dealt with as a problem.

Mysteryman,

We are a nation of immigrants. Not legal immigrants, but immigrants.

What would you do with the countless Irish and Italian and Greek and German immigrants who violated the law to get here in the past 100 years? If you have Italian or Greek or Chinese blood, there is a decent chance that you were descended from someone who broke the law to get here.

Those of us whose families immigrated in the early 19th centuries faced the same arguments and same resentment that you are giving to today's immigrants.

Don't pretend they aren't race-based (this is a thread about Mexico).

It use to be the thieving Irish.

The fact is that immigrants, legal or "illegal" are human beings. Since we started restricting arresting and deporting immigrants in the 1920's people, particularly the vulnerable and poor have used whatever means, legal or illegal. to provide a better life for their families.

In my opinion, our country is far better because of it.

By the way, mysteryman, your arguments about illegal immigration might be on a bit better footing if they were in a thread about immigration, rather than in a thread about hating Mexico.

Well,from 1890 to 1954,Ellis Island was the point that European Immigrants entered the US.
So,if they entered this country legally,they came thru there.

But,you are asking about ancient history.
What happened 100 years ago has no bearing on what happens today.
I dont care where someone is from,or what nationality they are,if they are here illegally,they should be deported back to their own country.

BTW,since you are so concerneed about how things were done in the past and how that should matter today,143 years ago slavery was legal.
Does that mean it should still be,just because it was once legal?

Mysterman,

I am making three points.

1) We are a nation of immigrants.

Todays immigrants are no different than yesterdays immigrants; some are legal and some are illegal. Now you can't tell whose ancestors came legally and whose didn't.

It doesn't matter. Immigrants, Italian, Irish, Greek, Chinese, Polish both legal and illegal made America what she is today.

2) Immigrants are human beings, and they are us.

There is an attempt to dehumanize immigrants, which also isn't new. But immigrants are, as they always have been, human beings.

There is a mythology in todays debate that somehow Europeans are more noble and pure than today's brown-skinned immigrants. No one recognizes the fact that the European immigrants were once suspected, not for their skin but because they were Catholics.

But a quick look at history will tell you that we are all the same. Our immigrant forefathers did the same things to take care of your family that immigrants today do, and that you or I would.

It is easy to take on an air of self-rightousness when you are not vulnerable. But I certainly would cross a border, even breaking the law, if I had to to provide for my family.

3) There has always been, and continues to be, a subcurrent of ethnic prejudice in the anti-immigrant argument.

You can see this by the fact that the ethnic group that make up the late-comers of any decade are called "thieves".

Want an example of this? Go back and read the ethnic slurs in this thread....

Ceded my butt-we took it after we kicked their a** in the Mexican War. We gave them $15 million and took over $3 million of their debt but this was forced on them. They had no choice.

There's still a lot of bitterness in Mexico over this war and the territory they lost.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/09/international/americas/09MEXI.html?ei=5007&en=244e455af0a128d2&ex=1388984400&partner=USERLAND&pagewanted=print&position=

ebrown,
One question,and its a simple yes or no.

Should we eliminate the border patrol and the immigration authorities and allow anyone into this country to come in,with no controls?

Sorry, mysteryman... it is not a simple yes or no,

On second thought... I will give an you answer to that very specific question. No we should not eliminate the border patrol and the immigration authorities and allow anyone into this country to come in,with no controls.

But, my interest is that people (and by that I mean people) are treated with respect.

Someone who came here to work and is working for Americans, with American tacit approval and benefitting the American economy, shouldn't be forced to live in the shadows.

Furthermore the mass deportations that the anti-immigrant side is suggesting is neither humane, feasible, or even good for the US economy.

All I am asking for is a humane way for people who have been working here, learning English and US culture and contributing to our communities to come out of the shadows and become legal.

To fix the border a reasonable immigration system to meet the needs of business would go a long way to reducing the demand for the underground economony that leads to illegal entry.

But my biggest concern is the people are treated with decency.

If your only "crime" is crossing a border, you shouldn't face the harsh penalties that todays immigrants face.

Families are being broken, honor roll students who have lived nearly all of their lives in the US are being kept from going to college.

And anti-immigrant folks are trying to be even more harsh, keeping immigrants from having any sort of living by imposing government regulation of banks.

So no, you don't need to give up control of the border. You just have to treat people with common decency and respect.