How is your tolerance for the local enforcement, in the place you choose to live where you can have the most influence on law?

Corrupt law enforcement, by "legal authorities" is a serious crime. Whether illegals or compassionate people of any type are involved.
I would hate, especially after suffering such personal losses as you have, to live in a place where local police do not have better control of officers helping to let criminals flee.

The point is that making them legal (the argument was against illegals) will not fix the problem. Or in other words, the problem is the criminal, not the immigration status - whether legal or illegal.
I think the initial point made was that because they are hear illegally, they should be "removed".

Just conjecture, but if immigration was easier, more "middle class" immigrants would be here, and a smaller percentage of those "with nothing to lose". This might provide a better and healthier support structure overall.

But, in the case of Mexico, the ongoing War on Drugs will probably corrupt any efforts with violence and other undesirable activity.

No, there will always be crime. here is a true story:

My sister was driving her car to the store at roughly 8PM on a side road in a residential area. She crossed an intersection and was broadsided by a large SUV going about 50 mph. Her sunbird spun around 4 times, smashed into 3 other vehicles and she was pinned inside her car. The police arrived. The jaws of life were used to cut my sister from her car. The woman in the SUV spoke no English. She had no drivers license or insurance. The Hispanic police officers talked to her in Spanish. They ticketed her for driving without a license and without insurance and let her go. My sister was in the hospital for a month, suffered through 5 surgeries on her back and legs. years later, she's due for another surgery in the next few weeks. When my sisters insurance company went to contact this women to recover payment they learned from her husband (illegal) that she fled the country back to mexico. The police, sympathetic Hispanics, gave her all the time she needed. Local authorities could do nothing. The local police wouldn't even reprimand the officers. My sister walks with pain for the rest of her life.

I have more stories like this about things that happened to my mother and friends.

Regardless of other people concerns who are far away from the border the fact is illegal aliens can get away with anything if they can get away from the scene of the havoc they caused.

I have ZERO sympathy for illegal aliens and ZERO tolerance for compassionate Americans.

My view: Fedgov should control the first 15 miles of the border by placing National Guard and Air National Guard bases there. After 15 miles the State takes control of immigration enforcement.

If you cross onto a military base you get shot. You cross onto my property and I detain you, you get my house. I've volunteer to be the militia that monitors the border.. provided I have lethal authority to defend myself. That said, ,there are places here in Arizona, state parks not 60 miles from my home, where signs are placed in English telling Americans not to go there - too dangerous. In Tucson the speed signs are in Kilometers not miles per hours like everywhere else. There are entire neighborhoods here in phoenix where all signage is in Spanish and English is spoken very little.

Welcome to the reality of life on the edge of the country.

So if we make all the "illegal" aliens in Phoenix citizens (or some type of "legal" label) the problems all go away??
My guess is the label on the criminals will not change their actions significantly.
Put the criminals in jail or deport them.

I think there are many areas in the US, far away from the Mexico border, where people have exactly the same concerns and reality as yours - although the criminals have a different label (probably ethnic or economic or related to an addiction).

"State" was used in the generic sense as the central controlling authority.
In this area (immigration) the US feds should be the controlling authority is you "adhere to the laws " of the State.

Regardless, not arguing what the law is, just that the laws of the State are not necessarily moral, and do not deserve universal support.
In fact, there are many, many laws that I would say are not needed, especially those the create non-violent crime, and those that take from producers and create more looters.

"And if they are in the US without acceptable reason"
all I mean by arbitrary, is the "acceptable reasons" change over time - and are not typically based much on any direct moral values.
Currently it is impractically complex to immigrate to the US legally.

The most common thing you seem to hear/read is that people want to restrict immigration because they live in a welfare state where looters dominate.
I have no problem whatsoever restricting welfare handouts to immigrants - for a period of time, or forever. They can school, feed, and care for themselves, through charity, or their friends/culture/religious groups - or leave.

And I am not arguing what the law is, but more on how immigration should work (to anywhere).
Nor am I arguing on how the law is enforced - but basically I think we all know the enforcement is political and arbitrary and varies by state and administration, and K street lobbiests.

You are being too reasonable... :)

I have nothing against legal immigration. I do have issue with those who come here illegally - friendly or otherwise - and those Americans who want no immigration regulation and open borders.

It seems a reasonable approach to allow legal immigration commensurate with what is needed to maintain population. But, we should screen for people with desirable skills like other nations do; otherwise aren't we hurting the people that need opportunities the most?

Immigration? that's as rich as the "we are human" signs the illegals carry as they rally her in Phoenix. The issue isn't about immigration its about ILLEGALLY entering a country. The hate I feel is due to the danger all around me, the fact my daughter can't walk to school even though we're less than a quarter mile away, my kids can't play in the park unsupervised, I have to worry about leaving anything in my yard (had a trowel taken from a flower bed once). I won't even go into crime all around me.

This is not fantasy land of what "should be", this is reality. I'm immersed in it and its dangerous as hell.

We don't matter. Our birthrate is down as we kill our children for our own lifestyle. We need the illegals to make babies and hope they conform. Its insane.

I'd sooner adhere to the laws made by my State (the place where I choose to live and have the most influence over) than the federal government. We live in a world of societies, let us not escape reality.

True. It's a weak, or at least uninformative, to state illegal immigration should be illegal because it is against the law.
More useful, is why the legal barriers to entry should be so astronomical, and is it really moral, or even justifiable.
Immigration to the US has typically been a huge plus to the economy, while along the way always hated by those near where the recent group of immigrants generally grouped together.

The State should not be your moral authority. The point of a nation should be national security and protection on contracts and property rights. The completely arbitrary label of illegal alien has no moral relevance.
The State makes all sorts of laws that Gulch folks mock or disagree with, and rightly so.

When will American politicians read the constitution and fullfill the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic? Never. They are all traitors and deserve to be treated as traitors.

I live in a neighborhood that was infested with illegal Mexicans and still is to a lesser degree. I had a family (9 people in 1600 sq ft home) living right next door for 6-7 months. I can say without a doubt you are incorrect. The free market fixes that notion of "not getting their hands dirty". If no one wants to work for a wage you raise the wage. As for the seasonal workers there was this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bracero_Pro... why is this not enough anymore?