Thoughts on this Weeks Readings

After going through the assigned readings for this weak, I honestly don't know how I feel about immigration. I'm definately not against them coming into our country, illegal or not they're contributing to our economy, and most likely they're native country's economy while taking up jobs that most American workers porbably wouldn't take.
I think it's sad that the Mexican Minitry of Foreign Relations felt the need to issue a pamphlet guiding their citizens to cross the Mexican-American border illegally. It's good that they're addressing the issue instead of looking the other way, but sad that fatality rates are so high and that pathways are so dangerous that the need for such a pamphlet exists. It may seem like these things are common sense to some, but it's not like everyone goes illegally crossing borders everyday now, and I'm sure there were many issues that come up that never previously occured to the immigrants.
After reading "When Guest Workers Opt Not to Go Home" I'm not sure how I feel about a guest worker plan. In a way I feel like we have no other choice if we want to have any control over the people coming in and out of the country but after observing the Germany/Turkish example it doesn't appear that this method was successful. It should be pointed out that Germany spent no money or any effort in assimilating the Turks and other immigrants into German society whereas in order to gain American citizenship immigrants must possess a thorough knowledge of American History and government. In the end I think this is our only option but whether the large influx of permanent immigrants benefits us overall is yet to be determined.