Not so much
That the two parties are prostiuting themselves to the same groups. They're not. They're prostituting themselves to two different groups who both benefit from the current system.
For the Dems, it's ethnically-motivated citizens who have family members who are or were illegal immigrants. Remember, illegal immigrants can't vote, but they have freinds and relatives who are citizens, and they can, and do. Also, ethnic identity plays a role here. Somebody offering to help out people who look like you and share your cultural heritage is likely going to get your support.
For the Repubs, it's the businesses, as well as an ideology that simply despises workers. The anti-union ideology is a huge part of this... there is a segment of the Republican establishment that would like nothing better than to turn the socio-economic legal clock back to about 1885. Nothing in the world is more threatening to this viewpoint than workers with the ability to equalize the power relationship between themselves and their employers.
Two different groups being pandered to, for totally opposite reasons, with the same outcome.
Of course, if you don't want to feel like we're all doomed, a look at history will reassure. Within 50 years, every single one of these illegal immigrant families will be fully integrated. Right now, today, 3rd-generation American citizens of Mexican extraction speak Spanish at about the same rate as the general population, which is to say, not at all.
Hysteria aside, if we did nothing, this problem would correct itself in my lifetime. Which isn't to say we shouldn't do anything... but keeping the long-term trends in mind is likely to lead to better solutions. In fact, as the US housing market implodes, you'll see a reduction in immigration numbers, especially in the Southwest. Southern California and Arizona homebuilders and their subcontractors have been employing huge numbers of cheap illegal workers. As they slow down building, there'll be fewer jobs, and a lot of those guys will go back to the farm... where the money they've sent home will go a lot farther than it would have had they kept it here.
I'm opposed to illegal immigration not because I'm afraid for our culture... the whole history of American immigration shows such fears to be nonsense. I'm opposed because an unending supply of cheap, unregulated labor tends to enrich large corporations at the expense of working folks. Look at the meat-packing industry to see the long-term results. I want American workers to be the highest paid workers in the world, with the best benefits, because I think that's best for our nation. Looked at another way, I see 20,000 people making 50K a year as better for America than 1 person making 1 billion dollars, even though the money's the same. FYI, those numbers were picked to make the math easy, but you can see the point.
--Shannon
unions. An you wonder why they hire illegals?
