Illegal = Not Legal

From Yahoo:
"Majority of U.S. citizens say illegal immigrants should be deported"

More than half of U.S. citizens believe that most or all of the country's 11 million illegal immigrants should be deported, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday that highlights the difficulties facing lawmakers trying to reform the U.S. immigration system. The online survey shows resistance to easing immigration laws despite the biggest push for reform in Congress since 2007. Thirty percent of those polled think that most illegal immigrants, with some exceptions, should be deported, while 23 percent believe all illegal immigrants should be deported. Only 5 percent believe all illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the United States legally, and 31 percent want most illegal immigrants to stay. These results are in line with other polls in recent years, suggesting that people's views on immigration have not changed dramatically since the immigration debate reignited in Congress last month, according to Ipsos pollster Julia Clark. Polls show that most Americans back immigration reform, although they often have different ideas of what that means, with some people favoring looser immigration laws while others want to see greater border security.

  A group of eight U.S. senators are working on a bipartisan deal to enact immigration reform, the first major attempt since a similar overhaul died in Congress six years ago. The senators' proposal calls for a full path to citizenship for illegal immigrants once they pay back taxes and a fine and wait in line behind others applying to become Americans. A plan by Obama has similar provisions, but the senators want any move to relax immigration laws dependant on boosting security on the southern border.

             

 ^ The word illegal in the English language means that you are doing something that is not legal and hence are committing a crime and thus are a criminal. Being an illegal immigrant, for whatever reason, means you are breaking US law and are a criminal regardless of how long you have been in the country (raising a family, etc.) Someone who murders someone else is still considered a murderer decades later regardless if they have since changed their habits. All illegal immigrants should be deported back to their home countries and anyone who aids them should be punished as an accomplice - just like they do if someone drives the get-a-way car in a robbery. We need to booster our northern and southern borders while at the same time make it easier for LEGAL tourists and immigrants from around the world to come to the country. Right now our immigration policies are very expensive and we treat everyone applying for a visa as a criminal (they are guilty until they prove themselves innocent instead of what our motto has always been - innocent until proven guilty.) We need to become a country that welcomes those who legally want to come to the US while punishing those who illegally enter and stay. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/majority-u-citizens-illegal-immigrants-deported-010930979.html