For an upcoming show (hopefully the next one, but 9/11 remembrance events may take over) I'd like to explore perspectives on immigration policies and attitudes among people around the world.

Immigration is one of those issues almost everyone's got an opinion on - and I want to know yours. Please post your thoughts to this thread, PM me, or call in on the live show and tell me your thoughts on immigration. Do you think your country's government is too soft or hard on immigrants? Should immigrants assimilate to local cultures? How should your country handle illegal immigrants? Do you have a personal story you'd like to share?

Everyone is welcome to participate, even non- members. If you're not a member you can contact me here.

I'd love to hear your take on immigration issues, so share your ideas. Thanks!

Or what might be the question most pertinent to this whole issue: Should we make every reasonable attempt to secure the border, before loosening our immigration/guest-worker requirements, and especially before granting any kind of legal status to people who are here illegally? Is there even any real excuse not to proceed with border security first?

Although different people may have different ideas as to what constitutes "reasonable attempts" to secure the border, nearly everyone who's anyone in Washington today, Democrat or Republican, claims to agree that the level of border security we have now is insufficient. So it becomes a question of whether or not we should tackle that problem first, before moving on to the other things I described. Personally, I can't understand why reasonable people who agree that border security needs to be increased would be opposed to making it the first course of action, and yet so many in Washington are. I posted a thread here asking that question, and no one showed up to defend this irrational stance of most federal politicians.

You could also add continental streamlining and integration of all three countries into the discussion. This applies to security, trade and yes, immigration. You could then move the arguement into comparisons of the north american continent and call on european ADers to voice their thoughts on what's similar and what's not. This might give you the international flair you've been considering. You could then (if you had time) address immigration concerns as a function of social distress and the effect media can flame both public discord and by proxy, immigration.. sorry I am just brainstorming here, take what you wish and discard the rest.

Just some thoughts and keep up the good work,

Trouble!

It's only a three hour show.

I would like to leave this open to the listeners on the direction of the segment, with immigration being the very basic theme. Of course, I've not heard from a lot of people so maybe we should leave this open for another week.

I look forward to your call on this, Trouble.