Comment by jimt1234 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jimt1234 | Hacker News Reader

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In my life I have known dozens (maybe hundreds?) of so-called illegal aliens. They all tell the same story: they came to the US to earn money to support their families. I have NEVER heard someone tell me they came to the US to vote, or they intend to vote, or they even know what voting is. So, this idea that millions of illegals are voting just doesn't align with my reality, and honestly, I don't think it aligns with any reality.

The only case I've heard of a so-called illegal alien voting was, I believe, from the 2020 election, some girl from Texas, who was brought over from Mexico when she was a baby. I believe she was in her early-30s or late-20s, spent her entire life in the US, educated and worked as a nurse. However, her US citizenship was never finalized, and she didn't realize it. She just assumed she was a citizen since she spent her entire life in the US. So, if this is what we're spending countless tax dollars to detect and prevent, well, that's just ridiculous. That money should be spent identifying people like her, and fast-tracking their citizenship.

It's not a real issue but it has the base riled up. A MAGA acquaintance told me he was a "single issue voter" based on that fear. I think he phrased it that way to sound principled but the very aspect of being a "single issue voter" shows a lack of understanding of the full impact of that vote.

What the Right has done is take the fact that there are some communities (in liberal areas) that have allowed non-citizens to vote in community issues, which is not entirely unreasonable. They then mash up that "fact" and trumpet it as an attack on our system by "illegals".

Their dishonesty knows no bounds.

> so-called illegal aliens

What's "so-called illegal aliens" mean in this context? Are they illegal aliens or are they not? Where does the ambiguity of legality come from?

Undocumented is the much broader term which doesn't carry the negative connotation that somebody living here is an "alien". They may have come here illegally, or their status may be in limbo, they could be a refugee seeking asylum, they could have overstayed their visa, they could be waiting on a ruling from an immigration court, or waiting to appear in court.

The administration could have decided to revoke their status. A judge could have put a stay in place because deportation would mean returning them to a dangerous situation. See the Abrego Garcia case. Some don't even know their status since their parents brought them here at a young age.

So you see it's not as simple as branding everyone an "illegal alien". That's political propaganda at work.

>Undocumented is the much broader term which doesn't carry the negative connotation that somebody living here is an "alien".

Undocumented migrants is like calling shoplifters unreceipted customers.

The money is being spent because Trump cannot admit that he lost at something. He knows his approval is extremely low, so he prefers chaos and say “they cheated, I didn’t lose”

Heads, I win. Tails, they cheated.

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