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Comment by dragontamer | Hacker News Reader

> Berlin was divided by a wall up until the 1989

Ah yes. And the Republican President of the time was well known for saying, "Mr. Gorbachev... BUILD UP THIS WALL!!"

You haven't picked exactly the best examples. In the USA, over 60% of our illegal immigrants are due to overstayed visas. The Wall does nothing for them. Another point: the #1 illegal immigrant in the USA is Canadians: a Mexian wall is on the wrong part of the country if you're most concerned about undocumented people.

The thing we need, and something I'd support, is proper enforcement of our laws. Like employers who hire undocumented workers should be better punished.

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the #1 illegal immigrant in the USA is Canadians

I don't think this is true. Or maybe I'm misinterpreting you? The quick searches I just did suggest that about half the illegal immigrants living in America are from Mexico. Here's an example: http://www.pewhispanic.org/2018/11/27/u-s-unauthorized-immig... It says that there are about 11 million "unauthorized" immigrants living in the US: 5.5 million from Mexico, 2.5 million from Central and South America, and only 500,000 (combined but not distinguished) from Europe and Canada.

  the #1 illegal immigrant in the USA is Canadians

This is a flat lie.

>> is proper enforcement of our laws

11 million illegal/undocumented in the USA, what does enforcement even mean at this point?

If you punish the employers then the immigrants have to rely on the welfare system.

> If you punish the employers then the immigrants have to rely on the welfare system.

What? An undocumented immigrant by definition is missing their passport (or other papers). How exactly are they going to collect food-stamps, medicaid, or social security without documentation?

You CAN'T collect food stamps ("SNAP" program) without a social security number. IIRC, green-card holders can apply, but you have to have all your documents in order.

Its about the employers yo. They're a big piece of the puzzle. Undocumented people are generally allergic to going into government offices (they're worried about getting deported). In any case, the welfare system is generally closed to them.

At best: some undocumented migrants rely upon their children (who may have been born in the USA, and are therefore citizens) to get food stamps. But I wouldn't necessarily call the welfare system (SNAP, Social Security, or Medicaid) open to undocumented people.

As I said earlier: if you are serious about the problem, then you need to go after the employers.

Fraud (e.g. with a stolen SSN) is another option that's used in at least some cases. Probably nowhere near the majority of illegal immigrants are using fraudulent credentials, though.

It's quite common, to evade E-Verify. Mollie Tibbetts' killer used identity theft in this way, for one example.

Great points. One of the easiest solutions - Everify (https://www.e-verify.gov/) is voluntary. How is a system that is supposed to check eligibility voluntary? That's because employers and the Chamber of Commerce fought to keep it that way.

Also, it is true, contrary to a common myth, you cannot get food stamps if you are an undocumented immigrant. See this article for more on this - https://foodstampsnow.com/can-permanent-residents-and-non-ci....

It's very hard to use fraudulent SSN to get food stamps because all the welfare programs share information check their data against other state and government database. It's not worth the risk and most undocumented immigrants know this. It's one sure way to have ICE at your door.

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