It's just so "fear of the other".

I have to agree that I think this is a main impetus. America is largely focused on an "us or them;" we set up dichotomies all the time, and want to protect some largely conceptual idea of "us" or "the way things should be/used to be" instead of focusing on how to actually solve an issue based on logic, reason, common humanity and ethics.

NOT ideologically-based morals; ethics.

America is largely focused on an "us or them;"

I'd revise that to Humans.

We like the binary. It's easy.

Yes, it's a completely unevolved way of thinking, for all beings. We're so supposedly advanced in our humaness, but we prove we're not all the damned time.

Yeah, I am not sure I am comfortable calling another poster unevolved.

why is illegal immigration a problem? 1) it's illegal.

That's a tautology.

2) in some communities it's a drain on available resources - schools, etc.

Jacoby cited a recent study of immigrants in North Carolina that reported that over the prior 10 years, Latino immigrants had cost the state $61 million in a variety of benefits — but were responsible for more than $9 billion in state economic growth. The same point was made in a 1997 National Academy of Sciences study that found "the less-educated immigrants who impose a fiscal burden are the very same immigrants who provide the economic benefit reported." A major survey of the net effects of immigration, published in 2006 in The New York Times Magazine, cited only one economist, George Borjas of Harvard, claiming a negative net effect.

[link]

3) I don't want to live in a linguistically Balkanized country. Sorry. Speak whatever you want at home, but English should be the lingua franca.

I'll leave the rest of this alone and just ask: do you think illegal immigrants the only ones (or even the majority) speaking a language other than English?

But open borders means we grow too fast.

I'm not sure how we arrived at this. I think there are a large number of options between "illegal immigration is a huge problem that needs to be solved with laws like the one in AZ" and "there should be no restriction at all on who crosses US borders."

Or if you're Britain or France, it's struggling to retain your culture in the face of a growing cohort of (in their case) largely Muslim immigrants who hate your culture and are violent.

I didn't realize you were a BNP booster.

(Gross generalization, but the riots around Paris, the burning cars, the slums - those were the result of poor handling of immigration. I don't want that here.)

The point's been made while I typed, but as you said: the problem is the handling, and not the immigration. (There's also the fact that rioting is practically a tradition in France, so... I'd say the immigrant population was assimilating quite well.)

Of course, the US has experienced riots and slums that had nothing to do with immigrants. So if you don't want that here, it's a bit late.

True, sarameg.

Ooh, I like it when my brain starts churning. It's a GOOD ache. I need to get my doctorate; I miss taking classes!

another ebay listing up.

Linguistically, no language is set; it's constantly evolving and morphing to reflect the culture.

Yeah, when I think about it, I'm not exactly beaming with pride that my mother tongue can claim "ginormous."

Fo shizzle.

As a 1st generation American, with no grandparents who were born here, I realized I just can't process anti-immigrant sentiment at all, legal or not.

Cosigned.

And again.

OTOH, we do things like pay complete strangers nice compliments. There's no reason for doing that, but to make someone feel nice.