The retroactive aspect of the law was struck down by the courts, years ago.

Here is the immigration problem, as I see it:

I live in a really nice house, which I inherited from my parents. They, in turn, inherited it from theirs. Probably several generations back, they did something which looks not quite correct to us now, but through the lens that they were using, it was no worse than what their contemporaries were doing. Much the same, in fact.

Some families living in the next city have an awful city. There is poverty, crime, unemployment and lack of medical care. They want to come to my city and my house, and live there in my house because it is nicer here. They want what my parents and I have worked to achieve, but they want to move in and force me to share.

This, to me, is the problem. It IS nicer here, but that doesn't automatically give someone a free pass to move here rather than remain where they are and solve their own problems. I don't see this country as responsible for the world.

This law is used to deport LEGAL immigrants who did all of the right things (barring one crime). Addressing illegal immigration is a separate matter, and I certainly don't share Fuzzy's perspective on that issue.

http://poundpuplegacy.org/node/17402 This is a story of a man that attended the same elementary, middle, and high school as me. He was a legal immigrant who was adopted by a family in my hometown from Brazil at 8. He was deported after serving time for selling 7 ounces of marijuana to an undercover officer. He no longer spoke Portuguese and knew no one in Brazil to help him. He was killed in 2004 in Brazil.

"This law is used to deport LEGAL immigrants who did all of the right things (barring one crime)."

which is of course applied selectively. Pasty white, blond, blue-eyed legal residents like me are significantly less likely to be deported for such minor infractions.

dear americans
please stop exploiting the world and creating suffering everywhere else, and then we will stop immigrating in your country.

love
the rest of the world

Since this video is about legal immigrants, I find myself wondering, yet again, why so many people seem to read "illegal" in the word "immigrant".
My husband is a *legal* immigrant, so I know from experience that getting a green card is a long, difficult and expensive process - it should mean something.
As for illegal immigration, my main concern is the opportunity it gives employers to get around laws designed to protect workers, and, in general, that it means not only having people in the country who lack the responsibilities of citizenship, but also the rights. Of course, the solution to this doesn't have to involve mass deportation.