What should be done about illegal immigration?

Well you could stop enabling people who are spreading lies-- particularly when similar lies have done so much damage to immigrants (both legal and illegal) over the past 100 years.

Mexico's new consul general in Dallas, Juan Carlos Cué-Vega, has an admirable and ambitious agenda for the estimated 400,000 to 500,000 Mexicans living in Dallas and other cities covered by his consular region. Cué-Vega says his compatriots here have a bad reputation, and it's time for an image makeover.

With refreshing candor, he is blunt about the problem: "Frankly, we have spoken about the issues that make us not look very good, like celebrations using guns, littering, [being] noisy in the neighborhoods, leaving the kids at home while going to work. These are social and cultural things that we need to change."

Cué-Vega says President Felipe Calderón shares his concerns. Until now, we suspect, Mexican officials have been reluctant to raise these issues publicly, not wanting to fuel the extremely harsh atmosphere in this country over illegal immigration.

But it's an important discussion to have. President Barack Obama says he wants to reintroduce comprehensive immigration reform, which means a new round of recriminations is coming. Cué-Vega acknowledges the role that Mexicans' image will play in that debate.

The vast majority of Mexican immigrants are hard workers lured here by jobs, he says, but they don't always think about the responsibilities and behavioral changes that U.S. residency involves. "We have to educate our people ... to respect the law."

That respect doesn't just start when an illegal immigrant takes up residence here. It begins at the border, and when an immigrant enters illegally, his reputation instantly becomes tainted in the eyes of many Americans, regardless of how the immigrant behaves as a resident.

That said, Cué-Vega's agenda is commendable because the illegal immigration issue isn't going away anytime soon. So the next best thing is to ensure that immigrants assimilate and abide by the laws and customs of this land.

The consul general has started his campaign by making the rounds at immigrant centers such as Casa Guanajuato in Oak Cliff. He should also consider meet-and-greet sessions with police and neighborhood code enforcement officers, who can clarify any ambiguities about what kinds of behavior are out of bounds. Churches and meetings of neighborhood associations also are a great way to get the message out.

Had Cué-Vega's predecessors launched this campaign earlier, the atmosphere against illegal immigrants might not have reached the boiling point of recent years. The message is overdue, but late is certainly better than never.

While I certainly have thoughts about what should be done about illegal immigration, I have no thoughts about what can be done to turn this thread into a meaningful dialogue about immigration, does anyone?

dyslexia wrote:

While I certainly have thoughts about what should be done about illegal immigration, I have no thoughts about what can be done to turn this thread into a meaningful dialogue about immigration, does anyone?

Doesn't seem too likely, because neither side seems willing to see things from the other's perspective. And it's not just those who harbor mindless bigotry either: Those with compassion for their fellow man are flat out refusing to give up any ground to those with meerly an irrational bias too. Making clear, logical arguments seems to help not at all. See Ebrown.

The Irish are also gearing up for the upcoming immigration debate. At pro-immigrant rallies around Boston you always see this shirt...

Well, when you pose everyone as either ". . . those with compassion for their fellow man" and with ". . . meerly an irrational bias. . ." what do you expect in the way of meaningful dialogue?

Explaining why I, an Asian American, am involved in the fight for comprehensive immigration reform (CIR) is simple enough. To break it down quickly: 63% of the AAPI community is foreign-born; immigrants from the Asian Pacific region face the longest backlogs (6 of 10 countries with the longest backlogs); 10% of the undocumented population is AAPI, etc, etc.
...

And why should JAs care about CIR " where do we fit in the debate?

Well, JAs have been involved in the fight for fair and humane immigration reform for decades. But now we’ve disassociated ourselves from the racism and xenophobia that Japanese and other Asian immigrants faced " exclusion laws against immigrating, naturalizing or owning land, as well as struggle to overcome it all (such as gaining the right to naturalize).

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it’s about remembering where we come from, and our family’s experiences. The narrative for immigrants remains the same " folks just want a better life for their family and children. And JAs now can be an example of how immigration helps shape this country with new ideas, culture, and flavor. It’s also about solidarity " recognizing that if we truly consider ourselves part of this umbrella we call the AAPI community then we must similarly take on the issues in our community. And finally, it’s about reframing the way we think about the JA community " recognizing there’s this part of our community that the larger portion generally overlooks, and including new immigrant narratives and needs into the larger community.

....

No one has really offered what seems to me the best way to reverse the immigration(both legal and illegal). If the U.S. opens manufacturing plants, home-building industry and Wal-Marts, Home Depots and Ace Hardware Stores in Latin and South America, the immigrants who are already here will return in droves, since those jobs will pay more, with less subterfuge, less lying, less danger and eliminate the need to send money home. No wall, no river, no ocean can prevent those who come here thru Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Ocean or Canada from getting through. Putting 1,500 on ships every day would take a lifetime to send the 10-20 million already here; just not practical.
Let's give money to these countries for training and education and hope some of it reaches its intended target.

Don't put the cart before the horse. First, Mexico would have to develop laws. They have no law.