We know that immigration is a hot-button topic. Discourse around pathways to legalization, regularizing status and what to do about unaccompanied minors detained at the border has been vitriolic and filled with hyperbole. But President Obama's announcement of executive actions that may enable undocumented immigrants who are the parents of native-born or naturalized U.S. citizen children (and who have been here longer than five years) to be eligible for temporary legal status and work authorization for two years has really upped the ante.

And the preferred medium is the tweet. 

There are many reasons for this. Unlike Facebook, it is possible to be wholly anonymous on Twitter, or to adopt multiple personas, and thus engage in uncivil behavior relatively consequence-free. With an emphasis on relative. According to a study published in the Journal of Computer-mediated Communications,   "Uncivil comments not only polarized readers, but they often changed a participant’s interpretation of the news story itself."  

The president's changes to immigration policy announced Nov. 21 produced a bumper crop of polarizing comments: 

#ImmigrationAction Let's eliminate the anchor-baby problem. If your parents aren't US citizens when you're born here, neither are you.

— Suzy&Scout (@scout_nj) November 21, 2014

And yes I know this is to "save the families" who illegally came here then had a baby, and illegally stayed #immigrationaction #facts

— Incognito (@SilentlyL0ud) November 21, 2014

How does millions of people, who are illiterate in 2 languages & come here illegally benefit the U.S. as a whole? #ImmigrationAction

— Hockey Dad (@SafeSchoolsCzar) November 21, 2014

Obama hates white Americans and thus wants to turn USA into a Third World sewer: https://t.co/xNjqd4bA0G #noamnesty #immigrationaction

— End Cultural Marxism (@genophilia) November 21, 2014

@msnbc @MariaTeresa1 Sheriffs To March On DC To Protest Amnesty, rally scheduled for Dec 10, illegals now police targets #ImmigrationAction

— Obari (@Obarie) November 21, 2014

#ImmigrationAction five million illegal immigrants and their 20 million anchor babies/ children/ teenagers/ cousins, etc #ObamaNoMore

— Ashley Nickson (@bdishneqs) November 21, 2014

#ImmigrationAction Welcome to the New Banana Republic of the Northern Western Hemisphere #ObamaNoMore

— Carrie Anderson (@oofofpurl) November 21, 2014

Will massive levels of immigrants bring with them the failed culture from which they fled?” #tcot #ImmigrationAction #amnesty

— Janie Johnson (@jjauthor) November 21, 2014

#ImmigrationAction = illegals stealing my utility bills to prove they've been here for five years.

— FANGIRLEE (@QueMalaSHEIz) November 21, 2014

Welcome to New Kenya! #ObamaNoMore #ImmigrationAction

— Madison Watson (@WmadisonW) November 21, 2014

#ImmigrationAction will allow immigrants with basic education and skills to stay in US and take places of talented immigrants #ObamaNoMore

— Helga Douglas (@sebilunekyso) November 21, 2014

The health risks to Americans posed by #illegalimmigration: http://t.co/EOAiKS3OgL #tcot #bcot #ImmigrationAction #amnesty #immigration

— Project 21 (@Project21News) November 21, 2014

Had enough? Nope, not nearly representative enough yet. 

How #Democrats create more welfare recipients. #ImmigrationAction pic.twitter.com/GTmLjpcalb

— Franci (@LadySandersfarm) November 22, 2014

I need to hire one of those illegals to clean my bedpan #ImmigrationAction

— Pura Periculo (@1periculo) November 22, 2014

And, of course, there is this classic — which was directed at one of AL DÍA's tweets specifically:

@ALDIANews @MariaQSanchez Juan & Maria may want to stay inside away from windows Americans dont want illegal #immigration & not accepting it

— Obari (@Obarie) November 20, 2014

Fun and games. If you've had enough of fevered imaginings and "brown" bashing, go read a real assessment of what the executive action means: Who will get to stay?