> Natural-born American citizens have *no idea* of the hassle and rigmarole that visitors coming to the States for extended periods have to go through.

Wow. You're right.

That argument for protectionist policies on *workers* was crazy. I can't see how letting people come here to work and improving our quality of education are at all opposed to each other. If anything, the competition from the best and brightest who choose to work here would encourage us natives to try harder.

Regarding the broader immigration issue, I was brought up on the "anyone can become an American" perspective. (My family hosted an awesome exchange student from Japan, and he fit in at school better than I did.) Immigration as an issue isn't talked about by many political candidates except Buchanan, so it's hard to figure out who best to vote for in that area. Change is likely to be slow. Apart from the betterment of the economy and being more fair to the immigrants, I also like immigration because those who come are often really great people.

gab"Met a missionary from Venezuela to here"by