US Immigration and Border Security Thread

[spmetla]

It has nothing to do with political correctness. It's a matter of (dis)respecting people on the basis of race. And that's not a matter of wordplay or ass-covering, it's life or death.

I agree with you completely there. His base however will assume that his comments are the norm and that he's just brave for voicing it instead of seeing the awfulness of what he said.

I think you would be hard-pressed to find many in the Democratic party who wants that. What you might have noticed is that the Left (as opposed to Democratic politicians in power) is increasingly unwilling to harshly punish people who actually do make it in for the mere fact of lacking authorization to be here.

Also, ICE is a flat-out scary organization.

Perhaps not democrats but there is a strong open-border group within this country that see free immigration as a right for anyhow who wants to. The same people think that refugees have right to flee to which ever country they choose. The US can handle a lot of immigration and integrate those people effectively but to do so beyond what the economy can support or need means slums and poverty here.

The same conservative wellspring could then suggest the argument: 'We're importing educated people to the detriment of their homelands, educated people who will edge out our own high-skilled labor, whose education likely cost much more compared to the immigrants'. These skilled and educated immigrants will furthermore have at best a mercenary attitude toward this country, being here to maximize their own profit, and finding it difficult to shift over their extended family networks from their home country toward permanent resettlement and integration.

People at that income level though can at the very least afford to relocate or retrain if necessary. The bottom end of society is stuck with whatever work is within reach of where they can travel and what they can afford. For a lot of employers in rural areas like mine not having a car equals unreliable prospective employee and therefore a non-hire.

There's are reason that once people slip into the pit of poverty or homelessness that climbing out becomes harder and harder.

The point of immigration shouldn't be to make money for millionaires and international elites. Whether you believe in the brotherhood of mankind, an American exceptionalist legacy, or our overall social and economic health from a narrow national perspective, we need a wide spectrum of permanent immigration in the long term.

I agree whole-heartedly but the quantity is what needs to be restricted. Too much immigration during economic down turns keeps wages, too depressed. Too little during boom times raises wages too quickly and makes those companies less competitive.
The amount of immigration should be adjusted according to the state of the economy.

Of the dozens of Afghan interpreters I worked with about ten wanted me to sponsor their immigration to the US of those I only helped three apply for a special immigration visa. Only one of them was accepted. For those that I didn't help at all I explained to them that life in the US isn't as easy as they think. You can't just own a car and then be a taxi. Having something to sell doesn't mean you can just sell it. A former teacher in Afghanistan doesn't have the certificates to teach in the US. Someone who operated heavy equipment in Afghanistan is not allowed to do the same in the US without the right equipment licenses. Western society has a lot of regulations, bureaucracy and red tape to work through not to mention the cost of living in insane. Merit and skill set based immigration would allow people that can integrate to come in and be directed toward employment.
The gap in how people live, work, and learn in the "West" and the rest of the world has broadened a lot in the last 100 years. There's far more needed to successfully integrate nowadays than merely a willingness to learn the language and hard work. The path from unskilled laborer to relative success and the "American Dream" is no longer as straight as it was for my great great grandfather in 1907.