What if you were desperately poor? - let's say a family member had a serious illness with insufficient insurance to cover it and you went bankrupt; then you lost your job; you lost your house; and now you and your spouse and kids are living in your minivan which you can no longer afford to drive, repair or insure. You have a sick kid, no food, no medicine, no prospects for a job, and all your welfare and unemployment benefits have run out. You have nothing. But then you hear that you can get a job in Canada. You live in a border state and you know it's easy to slip across the border, maybe just by hiking through the woods or paddling a canoe across the Rainy River. You know that if you make it to Thunder Bay you can get a job that would be sufficient to get your family back on its feet again. But if you don't find work soon your sick kid might die and the healthy ones will have nothing to eat. Under those circumstances would you go to Canada and work there illegally?

I don't think many people would say No. Making the argument as involving an American instead of a Mexican makes it more relatable, I think.

"If employers quit hiring illegals, would they still come to the US?"

The answer of course is NO. So if the GOP really wanted to stop the flow of illegal aliens, they would pass laws that had strong punishments for employers caught hiring them; stiff fines and jail time. But they aren't willing to do that. That solution never even comes up because it's not pro-business. They also know that somebody has to pick the crops, and Americans are unwilling to do such seasonal work.

She might be right - fool's gold. Everyone who voted for pResident Trumplethinskin got fooled, bigly.

I thought you might be interested in the reply that I received from the person in question who i will call Ann (not her real name) and the subsequent Facebook conversation. This is just an indication of the type of folks we are up against.

Ann: So you would have us ignore our laws, because they are hard working and basically good people. Do you not see where that would lead? Anarchy.

So if I am hungry it's okay to steal. Keep in mind Birmingham has more food kitchens for the homeless than most cities. I don't even think they check to see if those eating there are truly in need so they allow them to eat, which is a good thing. If I like something you have its okay for me to break into your home and get it because hey I wanted it. Let's see, I see you own more than one home and that home is a vacation home and you are only there a month maybe out of the year, so it's okay that I move in and live there, then when you find me you really should just give me the house because hey I moved into it and you weren't there.

Ummm hey, I see you driving a nice car, and I don't want to wait for the bus because I am going be late for work so I take your car without permission. That's okay, I have a job I work hard. Do you see the stupidity of ignoring our laws. If you can't, then you really shouldn't call the police at all when the LAW IS broken cause hey they wanted it it's okay, they are working hard....🙄

Me: Ann (who says she is a big Christian), I think that God would look more kindly on people stealing food if they have nothing to eat in an effort to preserve their life and the lives of their family members than those steal out of greed. You and I will never know what we would do if we were pushed to the very edge. No one is talking about breaking into your home, or stealing your car. In fact it is just the opposite, as I point out we had lax enforcement of our immigration laws for decades for years because allowing illegals into the country unchecked was to our selfish advantage.

All laws are not created equally. If you are asking me whether if I would cross into another country illegally if that was the only way to feed my family, you're damn right I would. If on the other hand you would obey the law and let your family starve, well, that would be your decision.

Ann: So we agree that our country failed to enforce our immigration laws, so now that we try to right a wrong that is wrong. You have to try something because those before Trump just talked talked talked now that he moves on his you are all ready to call him every name in the book and you have. Obey the law, how hard is that to understand. Let's stay focused on the immigration law, our current immigration laws are just.

Me: Well, we certainly didn't enforce our immigration laws strictly because it was not in our best interest to do so. Trump doesn't a damn about illegal immigrants one way or the other. He brought the whole subject up from the start of his campaign because he knew it would greatly appeal directly to the most bigoted people in our country. He also knew that he could frighten many others with the “the illegal immigrants are going to take your job" line, which of course is total BS and he sought to cater to the law and order crowd.

Trump didn’t express these views five years ago. He employed hundreds of illegal immigrants, built his hotels with Chinese steel, and made all of his Trump branded products in other countries. He also contributed heavily to Democratic candidates and socialized with the Clintons. Don’t you know when you are being played for a fool Ann?

And oh, by the way Ann, do you remember the last President who gave amnesty to all of the illegal immigrants in the country and even gave them a path to citizenship. His name was Ronald Reagan, who many have called the greatest conservative of all time.ll time.