text: there is quite a bit of rhetoric against illegal immigrants, yet no facts or numbers to back it up. why? comments like "they're taking our jobs" or "they don't pay taxes" are repeated often. but, are they true? do illegal immigrants really hurt our country, or are they just a convenient scapegoat in an election year? i think there is a wave of xenophobia sweeping through right now and that is causing alot of it.  as for facts that back up the quotes...many of them are not compiled correctly, or promoted heavily from skinhead and other racist sources, but passed around until they aren't really connected with those sources anymore.  and much like any "facts" from those areas are very very distorted, or even just made up.  i also find it interesting that many of the people that are attacking the illegal immigrants would also probably not hesitate to say they would do anything at all for their families...and many illegals have said this was a driving force behind their decision to cross the border.  as for the groups that say they should do it legally or what not...laws change, thats just the way it is and thank god we live in a country where the laws are flexible, despite how slow and red tape filled this process can be sometimes.  so yeah during this time of the law changing some people are going to get it easier than those previous to the change, but there always seems to be people resistant to this. look at the equal rights movements, the start of unions, women's rights to vote, etc etc...there was an alarming number of people that heavily tried to resist these movements as well....and sadly some still do.  as for hurting this country, i don't really see it, illegal immigrants are not going to make or break any of the programs that are starting to buckle right now, but do make a convenient scapegoat i think as something people can point to and blame.  on the other hand, they do spend a good bit, and many local businesses depend on the money they spend(which they are charged sales tax on) so these companies would really get hit hard if they lost those customers.  apartment landlords would also really take a hit it seems, and despite the fact we have homeless people, there isn't really a shortage of housing available.