Comments on: Review of Penn and Teller: Bullshit! Immigration

By: Will L G

Will L G — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:18:02 +0000

It’s pretty wild that many of the same folks who are against a wall between Mexico and the US are completely supporting of building a wall to separate East/West Jerusalem?!?!

As for the idea of a hard working illegal coming here, supporting the idea of ‘Americanism’? Well that’s a different story. I can go to East Kansas City and few, if any, have a job! But they are getting welfare, WIC, MedicAid, etc. not to mention sending they’re children to school here… TAX FREE!

By: Hart

Hart — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:47:21 +0000

When someone talkes about immigration, almost everyone thinks about illegal immigration. What about all the legal immigrants who are on a temporary visa and like to stay in this country permanent? Because of the tough requirements it is almost impossible to switch from a temporary visa to a green card! As soon as the Visa expires and can not get extended these legal immigrants become illegal if they stay. On the other side the immigration system supported many of those who came illegal in this country with a Green Card.That’s what I call bullshit. Do it the legal way and you are screwed-do it the illegal way and you get rewarded. Wow, what a system.

By: Alex

Alex — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 20:09:42 +0000

This whole “breaking the law” argument is a big “cop out.” When prohibition made it “illegal” to drink booze, so many people flagrantly violated the law that it led to a burgeoning black market, a corruption of our law enforcement institutions, and the eventual repeal of the 18th amendment.

Laws do not exist in a vacuum! They are a reflection of the will and morals of our citizenry. To say that illegals should remain illegals because they are illegal is to advance a circular argument.

Whether you are for or against changing our immigration laws, propose an argument that truly engages the substance of the debate. The starting point of the debate is not whether illegals are breaking the law. That has already been established. The real question is why should we change the law or why should we not change the law.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 23:12:12 +0000

Deport welfare moms, not jose!

By: Maven

Maven — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:56:15 +0000

Dear lying asshole: please show me any evidence that “most Americans are against immigration”. In point of fact, what most Americans oppose is MEXICAN CITIZENS BREAKING OUR LAWS. Maybe you can explain why a Mexican citizen should be able to come here and work Tax-Free, when legal citizens from all over the world, INCLUDING MEXICO, have to follow the rules and help support the nation through income tax?

See, that’s the real issue. I note that NOBODY else seems to have a problem getting citizenship in America… only the illegal Mexican workers. Gee, it’ couldn’t possibly be because they (and the scumbags who employ them) don’t want the tax burden, now could it?

By: dan

dan — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 19:42:43 +0000

forget building a 60 bill 700 mile fence and place 700 snipers a mile apart with some high powerd rifels and good vanteg points and the second
someone steps on our soil with out a green card blow off there toes after a while theyl see we dont want you here your problems ar your fault not ours pissoff.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 23 May 2007 22:23:24 +0000

I think you are mistaken that most Americans are opposed to immigration. Most Americans are in favor of immigration. They are opposed to illegal immigration. Managed, regulated immigration is a good thing. What we have now is not.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 09 May 2007 00:21:52 +0000

I haven’t seen the P&T show but I do not agree with your sentiment. You say we have people mooching off the system? Yes, I agree. So let put them to work. Who are these people mooching off the system? Try prisoners. How much do you think it cost to house, feed ,cloth, and provide medical care for one inmate for a year? Now multiply that number by the amount of inmates. Instead of these inmates shanking one another and having so much time on their hands that they don’t know what to do, how about we stop letting the inmates run the system and start putting them to work. If they worked, they would be too tired to mess with all the gang stuff. My school, Texas A&M was partially built by prisoners. Yes, one of the biggest state colleges in the US was partially built by Texas prisoners. And the buildings they built 100 years ago are still in use. Lets bring back the chain gang and force these “moochers” to work, earn a little money while in jail, and develop a skill. That way, when they get out, they will have developed a work ethic, have a little cash to start over again, and will be less likely to return to jail and cost us more money. Those are the Americans that people claim won’t do the work illegals will do so lets force them to do it. By the way, you might ask how can you force them? Tell them if they don’t do it, then they don’t eat. Now, can you think of a better idea than that?

By: EJ

EJ — Wed, 02 May 2007 03:17:34 +0000

Worst bullshit! ever. P&T decide to set up a series of straw men and attack it with glee. The whole bit about being afraid of different “customs” for example. Can P&T offer any substantial evidence that Italian, German or Irish immigrants believed they were occupying territory that rightfully belonged to their nation of origin? Perhaps they didn’t check the Zogby poll in which 56% of Mexican immigrants expressed this belief. Perhaps they didn’t notice that this sentiment is more than evinced in organizations like MECHA and La Raza. Can P&T give evidence that there was any substantial sentiment that other groups ever express the desire to uproot Europeans and send them back to Europe? Perhaps they haven’t heard these cries from within the “immigration movement.” What they’ve done is ignore all the troubling evidence entirely and simply portray the whole issue as one of being afraid of outsiders. Very poorly done.

By: ed

ed — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 14:17:05 +0000

“Yet someone has the balls to tell him that he can’t work here?”

Not someone… the law. And it sounds like you’re breaking the law, too.

Look, nobody’s saying most illegals aren’t “nice” or “work hard” or don’t have a really great reason for coming over here (who wouldn’t?). And anyone who’s anti-immigrant is an asshole. Period. Immigration is a big part of what makes this country great. It’s the fact that ILLEGAL immigrants, by definition, are breaking the law. No matter the reason.

It’s an undeniable fact that illegals compete with low-class Americans for work by offering to do it for less. They also increase the burden on our already strained social services systems, decreasing both availability and quality for our citizens: the very people these programs were designed for.

And if “understandability” is the basis of your argument, why not include the cheating businesses that blatantly hire these illegals? After all, they just want to increase their profit margins (again, who wouldn’t?). But if you think they’re passing on the saving to you, think again. What’s more, they make it almost impossible for law-abiding businesses to compete. And then when these law-abiding businesses complain, they get an earful from the like of you.

As for the wall… of course you can get around, or over, or even through pretty much anything if you put in the time and effort. But the fact remains that if you want to just waltz into this country, you can. Easily. And that understandably unnerves a lot of people. Perhaps a wall isn’t the answer. But I have yet to hear a better one.

Yes, if the Bobs of the world weren’t mowing your lawn you would be paying more to have you lawn mowed. But tough. That’s life. We are all paying slightly, and artificially low prices for certain things. But it would not be much of an effort to readjust, despite the armchair economists’ cries of “wolf!”. And all the arguments about the dollar, and the North American Union are incredibly naive. Do you really think we can compete with China? A slave state? Even if we open the borders and import all the sweatshop labor we can handle, we don’t stand a chance. We can only wait for China, India, et all to catch up to us, and allow the eventuality of global flattening of prices to set in.

In the meantime, we absolutely need to fix our immigration policies. There is no reason that coming to this country legally should be such a nightmare, for skilled and unskilled alike. Although, we should all be reminded that even with our tangled inefficient system America still lets in more immigrants and temporary workers each year than most other countries combined. We are not anti-immigrant. Not even close. But we absolutely should insist that coming here include certain responsibilities, and respect. And that includes coming here the right way, regardless of how annoying it is, and obeying our laws.

It’s really not a lot to ask.