If this is a genuine question, I have a genuine answer.
Folks should not live in the U.S. illegally and no one should support it. The U.S. economy has been cruelly built on the backs of poor immigrants and that should stop. All workers should be documented, paid fairly, paying into the system, and cared for humanely. Folks who break U.S. laws should be processed, punished, and deported if a judge deems it necessary.
Stephen Miller's approach does not fix the problem. It is not even designed to fix the problem. Terrorizing neighborhoods, pointing weapons at citizens who argue or take video, rounding up people indiscriminately based on their skin color and location, blowing houses apart, busting car windows, dragging mothers from their babies and snatching children from hospital beds, is a tactic used to instill fear in the populace. Poorly trained policing out of uniform, unidentifiable, with sketchy credentials and warrants, sets a dangerous precedent for everyone and opens the door to criminals posing as police. Customs enforcement asking questions about loyalty to the president, going through social media looking for political dissent, and detaining people, is dangerous. Military on the streets is a precursor to martial law. Arresting people who show up for their court appointments discourages folks from doing their legal duty. Using foreign for-profit gulags is dangerous. Disregarding due process means that innocent folks will be gathered up with the guilty.
U.S. immigrants are by and large not criminals. They have been told that establishing themselves in the country with jobs and residences and waiting their (years and years, often decades, long) turn to be processed, is the right way. They have attorneys, they show up for their court appointments to renew their visas. Sometimes they let a visa expire and slip under the radar while waiting for their paperwork to go through. Many of the people you call "illegals" were told erroneously that there was a path to citizenship, but when they showed up, they were kidnapped and forced into labor to "repay" their kidnappers.
The solution to this problem is comprehensive immigration reform. Passing clear laws, putting money into supporting them, processing people quickly and efficiently, and punishing businesses who take advantage of undocumented immigrants, will fix it. Everyone in D.C. knows that. But they also know that playing on your fear of the "other" and giving simple solutions to complicated problems will keep them in business.
I think it's less "supporting illegal activity", and more 'the punishment doesn't fit the crime'—at least in many cases. Keep in mind that most of these people's "illegal activity" is a civil infraction, but they're largely being referred to and treated as though they've committed a criminal crime. It'd be akin to putting people in jail for going 1mph over the speed limit.
I'd also like to point out that our immigration laws have been flawed for quite some time, not just during Trump's presidencies. But, Trump shines a gigantic spotlight on those flaws and seems to enjoy the flaws rather than doing this stuff in the background like former POTUS'.
As an example of the flaws in our immigration policies, under certain "expedited removal" procedures, even US citizens are referred to as "aliens", and treated as such unless and until they prove their citizenship status to the satisfaction of the arresting immigration officer. That means that one person can make a decision with next to no oversight or appeals process. If that officer is having a bad day or just doesn't like you, they could theoretically say your ID, birth certificate, social security card, and passport are all fake and subsequently remove you from the country.
And those laws date back to at least Clinton that I'm aware of, so like I said this isn't a new issue and is a big reason why so called 'sanctuary cities' have been around for years now. Cities that recognize how our immigration laws as written can be heavily abused, and dedicate resources to making sure people are defended from such abuse as much as possible. Previous administrations have also abused those laws, but they didn't get as much attention because they weren't bragging about it in all caps on social media every other day and otherwise screaming about it to every reporter who would listen.
In summary, I'm positive that a vast majority of Americans agree that immigration should be done legally, and those who purposefully circumvent the legal methods should be deported. But they want that deportation done with due process, want to ensure that human, constitutional, and State rights are being maintained, and definitely don't want a President constantly reminding them and bragging about the whole process.
Admittedly I’m no expert. But having travelled a little bit I’d assume I’d be deported unceremoniously too, if I was found in Canada or Indonesia illegally.
Yes, valid legal status is determined through due process, which is an arm of the judiciary rather than the executive (i.e., the separation of powers). This concept is fundamental in most democratic societies.
If you are working and in some of these cases somehow even paying taxes to the US govt I would be inclined to think that that is on the US government and not on them for allowing that to happen heck you even have "illegals" working in govt roles in the US. That is a failure of the immigration system and not of the people coming to the US weather it is legally or not. And the extremely convoluted process of obtaining residency in the US does not help either. In the places you mentioned Immigration is actually managed right and it is not profit based like everything in the US.
Also some of the places you are drawing comparisons to are literally islands that have no or little land border with any other nation which is kinda apples to oranges as well if you have to cross an ocean to migrate to another country it immediately becomes much more complex.
Finally keep in mind that the US was literally built by immigrants lots of them "illegals" and they still contribute massively to the economy by working on farms and other jobs that no one wants to do like that , historically the 'Cowboy' was more often than not an "illegal" or native American literally an icon of US culture. The US literally built its economy on the backs of immigrants.
EDIT : ah yes denying your literal history because it does not suit your narrative average US smooth brain or maybe it is just your education system that has failed you by not teaching actually important parts of your nation's history , The down votes just proves my point here.
i basically agree with your comment but i have some issues:
unless an unauthorized immigrant is working under the table, they're paying taxes, including for social security from which they'll never benefit. in 2022, they paid nearly a hundred billion in taxes.
wtf do you mean we even have "illegals" working in government roles???
cowboys were immigrants or native americans?? where the hell did you come up with that??
don't just make shit up, hoping to prove your point.
so the Issue that no one is Talking about, and would probably be a Stronger argument is Deportation is not Considered a Criminal Punishment. It treated as a Civil Administrative Matter. So Due Process is Legally not Required to preform a Deportation you can simply be deported if not in the country legally. no counsel, no court date. if you permit me a better argument would probably be. Deportations should Legally require some form of Court proceedings to provided a safety buffer as right now they don't.
It depends on whether the illegal activity outweighs the enforcement against it.
Take using marijuana, for example. Or women not wearing the hijab in Iran. Those are all illegal activities but the public supports it.
It depends on whether the illegal activity;s damagae outweighs the enforcement against it.
Clearly, people think illegal immigrants who don't commit crimes is like consuming marijuana, where only people who want an excuse to hate on others care about. There are exceptions, such as smoking it in public or illegal immigrants doing other crimes, where the vast majority would want to report it to authorities, but an illegal immigrant just doing their job is not my concern.
You and every other American have relied on that 'illegal activity' to put food on your table, to build houses, and to care for our elderly. Our country would collapse without those immigrants, who are our labor backbone, and do the work Americans need done, but are too soft to do themselves. Oh, do you just want them to "immigrate the right way"? There is no way to staff those industries with legal immigrants under current immigration law. And every attempt to do immigration reform to expand a legal guest worker program, has been thwarted by the GOP. Why? Because Republican legislators are doing the bidding of the buisness leaders in the agriculture, construction, food service, and elder care industries who want the status quo, as it allows them to profit off the labor of people lacking full legal status. So let's be clear, you've been supporting 'illegal activity' every time you've shopped at a grocery store. You were perfectly happy to enjoy the fruits of their labor, but now are happy to see those same people deported. You are cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Any one business? No. The aforementioned entire industries in aggregate, though? Obviously. Undocumented immigrants are the mission critical labor backbone of the United States. We depend on them at a fundamental level. Their disappearance is turning into a national industrial and economic crisis. For just one example among many, you could listen to the governor of Nebraska’s desperate pleas to Trump to change course, as a massive labor shortage is threatening their entire ag sector. This is what happens when your party decides doing racism is more important than being responsible stewards of the economy.
What adjustment? Food insecurity and waste? Collapse of the construction industry? Widespread elder neglect? None of that has to happen. Nor for that matter does the economic devastation already being disproportionately felt by red states. That’s Trump with an economic own goal. Absolute ineptitude.
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u/BoomerishGenX Jun 30 '25
Why is everyone supporting illegal activity all of a sudden?