So many fallacies are employed on the subject of immigration that I cannot cover the topic in depth within a short article, but I want to respond specifically to a few bad arguments in brief. This is the result of a conversation on another social network. Each quote is either directly from the conversation, or a paraphrase.

"But they're illegal immigrants!"

IDGAF. Legality does not define morality. Appeal to legality is a form of fallacious appeal to authority. Appeal to authority does not constitute a rational argument. If there is no victim, there is no crime in any rational sense. If there is no crime, the law is immoral. If the law is immoral, enforcement of the law is a crime against real victims. Stop advocating crime.

"OK, but they tuk er jerbs! They're thieves!"

Jobs are given by employers. Jobs belong to employers to give as they see fit. If you can't compete with an immigrant, your job was not stolen. It was given to someone else by the employer who owns the job and the right to employ whoever he sees fit. If you can't compete with an immigrant who can't speak the language, maybe you suck at your job. No one owes you employment. You need to earn it.

Of course, the economy is a mess, and government intervention at every level has created a lot of chaos, but blaming immigrants is incredibly misguided. Blame your congresscritters, the presidents, the faceless appointed bureaucrats, and the coproaches who protect them while enforcing their dictates.

"Well, they stole our money when they shipped it out of the country!"

The money sent elsewhere is not stolen. The money was exchanged for work. The work has value you do not see in your hasty analysis. Money is only one side of the equation. Both parties benefit in a voluntary exchange. The worker values the money over the labor. The employer values the labor over the money. Wealth was created for both parties. Nothing was stolen.

You can even go full Keynesian here and argue that the money will be circulated back to the US in exchange for more goods and services eventually. Wealth will be created again at some point when the dollars return to the US.

"But they get welfare! That means they're stealing from us!"

Welfare is theft by the government. When A robs B and gives to C, A is the thief. Not C. Whether C was born in the US, Mexico, or anywhere else is utterly irrelevant. Again, blame your congresscritters, the presidents, the faceless appointed bureaucrats, and the coproaches who protect them while enforcing their dictates.

"They do not have permission to be here. Anything they get or receive here is theft."

National borders are not analogous to property lines. Travel is not trespass. Back to point 1. Start over again, cupcake.