What do other countries do about illegal immigrants? I know you can't just

[patricia92243]

decide you want to live in England. Other countries must have the same situation as we are having regarding people from one country wanting to move to another country without permission.

I just wondered how they handle it, and maybe we should look at some of their ways of confronting this on-going problem.

[brmdp3123]

1. I don't believe that other countries have the numbers that we do.

[CanOfWhoopAss]

2. Aren't they called refugees in other countries? nt

[RagingInMiami]

3. Ten years ago I spent two years in Europe

I had visited England, Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, France and then spent four months in Spain when I decided I wanted to move on and live in Ireland.

I had arrived in Europe on a one-way ticket and had no problem getting in. When I flew from Paris to Dublin on another one-day ticket five months later, I was detained by their immigration department at the airport because they believed I was looking to live and work there (and they were right, but I never admitted it to them).

After 90 minutes of dealing with them, telling them that I did not buy a round-way ticket because I was not sure where my next destination was going to be, they stamped my passport with something that said I can only stay 90 days. And they kept reminding me that I would become "illegal" once those 90 days was up.

I ended up staying almost 19 months. I worked several jobs as a waiter and at one point, I even received an Irish Social Security card, although they called it something else. But it did contain my tax number which enabled me to find work anywhere, not just at places that paid under the table.

Even without the card, I visited doctors and received medical care for a nominal fee. I was never hassled about my immigration status after that time at the airport. I even received a tax refund before I left the country from money I had earned while I was there.

Here's to the Irish!

:toast: :toast:

[emmajane67]

7. I think Ireland has more going out than in so,

They're probably not too worried.

[muriel_volestrangler]

8. Not for the last 10 years

http://www.emz-berlin.de/Statistik_2/ie/ie_06.htm

Ireland has been Western Europe's fastest growing economy in the last decade.

[RagingInMiami]

9. Actually, in the 1990s, that reversed itself because Ireland

became very prosperous economically. They called it the Celtic Tiger. So they started enforcing immigration. At least at the airport.

The rest of the country was enjoying the economic boom because it was something new for them.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Many developed countries have high numbers of illegal immigrants

UK estimate: about half a million

German estimate: a million

French estimate: 200-400,000

It's a big issue in most countries. I would say that most try to get rid of them more than the USA does - I think the idea of allowing them driving licences would be a complete non-starter in the UK. I can't say there's a country which has found a good solution.

[Polemonium]

5. In Australia, they sometimes lock them up for as long as needed

France rounds up illegals regularly and flies them back to Africa (late at night while no-one is watching). Many of what people would consider the most progressive western democracies deport illegals (usually by plane). It's all rather disgusting. Few though have a border with a country full of want to be immigrants as large as the US Mexican one.

Perhaps the way to solve this, is to make people in there own countries more inclined to want to stay. I know CRAZY TALK!

[Adelante]

6. Mexico puts them out

It's quite strict about it. You can always pay fines to rectify the situation, upgrade an overstayed visa, for example, but if you don't do that, you're out. And if you come up against the wrong official, you're out anyway. This goes very much for Americans as anybody else. Illegals can stay under the radar, but if they're discovered, it's goodbye.