Americans need educated on this immigration thing.
It is not the fault of the immigrants who are longtime residents here. They are here because our gov't had an open door policy that chose to ignore the illegality and in fact offered entrance with full amenities, therefore many of our illegal immigrants have lived here for twenty or thirty years.
It would be pretty callous of
a bunch of "cowboys" who savaged the natives and pushed them into worthless reservations, to now pretend that it truly belongs to us and not to the Indians of the Americas who used to tread freely throughout the continent.
We took the United States the same way we took Iraq.

I'm from South Texas and I know from experience that most illegal aliens work as contract labor for cash. They don't pay the taxes that the Times article alleges. I am very progressive on every issue and I'm progressive about this one also...I am blue collar and I want less competition for my job so my employer will have to pay me and the rest of the workforce more money. If "the man" complains that he is not making enough money then let him do the work himself or shut down, don't let him bring in a ringer. Unfortunately, there is an unlimited pool of unskilled laborers waiting to come take our jobs and that will do nothing but ruin the gains for better pay made by past generations of U.S. workers. If you argue for open borders and cheap, ignorant labor then you are playing right into the Chamber's hands. There is nothing wrong with progressives embracing an anti-illegal immigrant, blue collar, citizen first attitude and most working-class progressives in places overrun with illegals have exactly the same attitude as I do.

It's a shame that many Americans like this person from Iowa and the man from Texas don't seem to understand the messages and pictures that corporate media portrays about illegal immigration. First only an idiot would think that knowing only one language is suffice in this multi-cultural world where just north of Iowa Canadians speak two languages. Secondly, everyone pays taxes in America regardless if you work under the table or not-e.g.sales tax. The issue is not so much that these brown people come here illegally that is a problem, it is the policies of the current administration that keeps Mexico and other South American countries from competing in the so called global economy. If you understand how NAFTA works, you will understand what the government does. Secondly, the jobs that brown people do take while they are here illegally are most often jobs that Americans feel aren't worth doing. Can you imagine Americans from Iowa and Texas picking fruit and vegetables? How about them doing dishes in local restaurants? As a country, we Americans blame the victim here because Mexicans are like everyone else-they want to have a life too, however American Corporations have taken most of the jobs that Americans used to do elsewhere (China and a host of others) so that they can make more money. Why can't we bring these jobs back to America so that we can again become a producing economy instead of a service economy? As far as illegal immigration goes, most of the folks who hire illegals are American employers who can easily say no to illegals and hire someone local, but they don't.

It's a proven fact Americans will do any job if the pay is enough. When people say there are jobs Americans won't do, they are just simply mistaken. We live in a world economy, many jobs are gone, get over it. That's life and move on, there are jobs for Americans if they desire to work. Illegals are just that, they are in the country illegally. The laws on the books should simply be enforced and most of the problems would not be a big deal. Locate officals are the place to start, city and state. The same guy that complains about jobs overseas, will buy imported goods to save money....

To say there are no illegal immigrants in Iowa is beyond incorrect, its just plain ignorant. I work in law enforcement and there are a lot of illegal immigrants in Iowa, just like in many other states. The meat packing plants and other sources of employment bring them here, and many are traveling through the state routinely from Texas and up to Minnesota. Are we the same as Texas or California? Of course not, but they are here, and there are always the loud-mouthed few that make the rest of us look like back country farmers with straw in our mouth and pitchforks in our hands.

John, Canadian here.

Canadians do not speak two languages and if they do it is likely a Chinese dialect or Hindi. The French/English official bilingualism has reinforced and institutionalized the French/Anglo differences in the country and virtually ensured that Canada will eventually split into several different countries.

Immigration is fine. People just want to make a good life and chill. However, moving towards an officially recognized dual language system is nothing more than stabbing the fabric of the country in the heart.

The immigrants will learn English because they benefit from it. Relax, don't encourage them to only keep Spanish and all will be ok.

Also, you liberal Americans need to stop referencing Canada when you know nothing about it. It is beyond obnoxious.

W. Ned - "most illegal aliens work as contract labor for cash. They don't pay the taxes that the Times article alleges"

Then isn't their employer breaking the law. Let's lock them up. Then it illegals will have less incentive to come here. And we won't need to spend millions of dollars on a wall. (We cheered when the Berlin wall came down; and cheered when the American wall started going up. How ridiculous is that?)

But that isn't likely to happen is it? I know that here in Georgia several localities passed laws making it illegal to rent a residence to an illegal, but when the question of employing illegals came up it was quickly shut down. I guess land-lords don't have as much political clout as employers.

A big difference between the Berlin and the "American Wall", as you call it is the Communists built it to keep their people in. For the border fence to be like that, Mexico should be building it. As it is the Mexican government encourages and abets illegal immigration since the money the illegals send back from El Norte fuels a big chunk of their economy.

No (or even, not many) illegal immigrants in Iowa, eh? What an idiotic and incorrect assertion. I'm from the mid-west, Kansas to be exact, a working cattle ranch was home. I hold a Master's Degree in literature. I'm 4th generation white person, male, mid-westerner. I've stood in Iowa. There are plenty of illegal immigrants there. They're also all over Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas. I've lived in Paris, New York, Los Angeles and Miami. I've worked in Europe and Asia and Germany. I speak more than one language. I'm a world-recognized advertising creative director. I've written and sold feature film screenplays to Universal and Sony Studios. I've written and produced my first international feature film. I've worked with and been trained by Army Special Forces at DARC. I'm as hip, white, male, mid-western and "cool" as it gets. I ruin the stereotypical mold of the "fly-over state" citizen. I'm world traveled. And I hate illegal immigration with all my guts. My wife is Slovak, and it took us five years and roughly $15,000 in legal fees to get her paperwork done and done legally and right. She is native fluent in six languages, by the way and holds a world record in helicopter circumnavigation of the earth. She also is represented by Ford Models in Paris; further ruination of that moronic, mid-western stereotype the press so loves. We stood in lines behind wetback criminals who saw our laws and borders as so much bull to trod upon. And it's true, Washington D.C., Incorporated, oppresses Mexico and South America to keep the steady stream of cheap, slave labor incoming. I know this, because I've been there myself, in person and watched it happen. Illegal immigration makes me sick. I grew up doing "the jobs Americans won't do". I hauled hay, I built fence, I delivered calves in blizzards at 40-below zero at midnight. And I still hate illegal immigration. Oh, one other thing, I vote. This country takes in more LEGAL immigrants than any other on earth. We have an open-door policy. If you want in, if you want to learn English and be a part of America, there is a way to do it, legally. I know, I watched my wife (before we were married) do it. If you want to creep in like a roach, you are not welcome, you are not the right fabric to become a true American. Any candidate who does not hate equally as I do, illegal immigration, is no American in this mid-western jetsetter's eyes, but a traitorous scoundrel worthy of nothing but scorn and disgust.

Jim:

"This country takes in more LEGAL immigrants than any other on earth"

Actually, you are wrong on this. Per capita, Canada has the highest immigration rate in the world.

"If you want to creep in like a roach, you are not welcome, you are not the right fabric to become a true American."

I wonder how many Anglo-Saxon Americans came to this country "legally"...

And finally:
"There are plenty of illegal immigrants there."

How do you know this? Did you conduct an investigation? Did you do a background check on all of the Hispanics you saw? Or when you see Hispanics, do you assume that they are illegal?

P.S. Thank you for posting your resume here; big thumbs up for all of your degrees, world travels, and employment position.

The question for Americans is this: Is the rule of law more important than diversity or is diversity more important than the rule of law?

I'm on team Rule of Law. Fix the rules.

Wow! Try living in Southern California. Go to an emergency room, go to a class room, watch them run across streets in front of traffic, try going into a neighborhood with a large immigrant population at night, look who commits most of our crimes. We can't turn back the clock and change history, but we can salvage our country for our grand children. The only thing the vast majority of these illegals is looking for, is a free ride! P.S. Try being the victim of identity theft!!!! It's a thrill a minute.

Oh please, we can't change history. Look at all the african americans still upset about slavery. Would they truly like to be raising their families in Africa? NO! The illegals should simply come in legally, remove the illegals with their children and allow them to apply to return legally. Problem solved