Thursday, November 2, 2017

Welcome to America! *conditions apply

Immigrants waiting to be processed at Ellis Island, circa "long time ago".

Once again immigration is front and center in the news.  This time it arrived there after an immigrant from Uzbekistan, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, rented a truck and mowed down numerous cyclists in NYC, killing 8.  The extended controversy is that he was admitted to America on some sort of a lottery based on "diversity", meant to allow people from places who seldom immigrate here have a chance for a better life.

President Trump is dead-set against such diversity immigrants, citing numerous grievances, most of them bogus.  (The flood doors were not just opened allowing anyone access.  There was still vetting to make sure the newcomers weren't dangerous felons, etc.)  Instead he wants to limit new immigrants to those who can bring skills and talents America needs.  He calls it "merit based" admission.

This contrasts markedly with our history of welcoming the world's "tired, poor, and huddled masses, yearning to breath free."  In the 19th and early 20th Century boats docked weekly with immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Poland, Hungry, Lithuania, and elsewhere who brought with them few advanced skills.  They were, however, used to hard work, and that's how they made a place for themselves in America.  Agricultural labor, assembly line workers, and general unskilled labor were always needed.

Times have changed.  Today we have all the agricultural laborers we need available from Mexico, if only our guvment would get their shit together and establish some reasonable rules for their legal employment.  Manufacturing is moving as fast as they can to more mechanization, where one technician at a console can oversee a dozen robots doing the work that many humans used to.  And we have far too many high school dropouts as it is whose lot in life will likely be as unskilled labor forever.  In short, I doubt we need any more unskilled, general labor, which is too often what new immigrants are when they arrive here.

While I am anything but a fan of Prez Trump and the Tea Party, I find it hard to fault the idea that new immigrants need to bring with them skills and talents that will benefit both them and America.  I don't mean to suggest they all need to be doctors or IT professionals.  They can be mechanics, plumbers, electricians, construction equipment operators....we need people with those blue-collar job skills.  And to be compassionate, we could encourage businesses via tax incentives for example, or any other social non-profits/churches, to sponsor and agree to train unskilled immigrants who are willing to work hard and learn.  That would be the best possible win-win.

My head says this is reasonable, yet my heart says it's wrong to just ignore the millions of people who are stuck in lives of utter despair overseas.  We're better people than that.  What I'd like to do and what I realistically can do are not the same.  This is a serious conundrum.

What I do know is that we can't just keep kicking the can down the road.  We need a real immigration policy that is good for America, and helps as many people as possible move here and improve their lives, too.  Meanwhile Congress is being pulled in various directions by special interests who benefit from us not having a coherent immigration policy.  These Beltway puppets are the ones we need to export ASAP, if we could only find countries dumb enough to take them.

S


12 comments:

  1. Trump just wants the immigrants (legal or illegal) who he can force to do the scut work on his projects and then not pay them because he didn't think they did the work right. This country needs to get him out of the White House (and not just on weekends to play golf.)

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  2. Funny that when a Muslim immigrant runs people over we have to do something right now! When a white supremacist runs over a protestor or a white guy shoots 500 people, then we have to take our time and consider "both sides."

    And since President Doofus tweeted that the guy is an "animal" and should be put to death, it's all but impossible to have a fair trial now. Sure we know he's guilty, but where could you find an unprejudiced jury?

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    1. So you believe if President Doofus says it, every potential juror just falls in line? Statistically I believe there would be more who wouldn't believe what he says than those who would. He'll get a fair trial, no doubt in my mind. But the evidence is overwhelming, so it's really a moot point.

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    2. But the fact that trump says these kind of things with impunity shows he has little or no respect for the office he's occupying. There is a reason that President's in the past have not commented on these kind of cases except to offer condolences to the victim's families.
      As to people believing or not what trump says.....it's been tradition in the past that the person in the office has some integrity, and is, generally, truthful. Sure, there are the examples of Nixon, Clinton, but even with them the lies they told were few, not nearly every utterance coming out of their mouth on a daily basis. What trump has done is make the office of the president a shabby room in a cheap bordello.

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  3. The problem, as I see it, isn't the people who come here; its the realization that many of them, like this latest fellow, are radicalized once they're here. I also notice that Trump only comments when the shooter is anything other than white.

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    1. Point noted, Steve, but my feeling that some sort of merit based system should apply to anyone seeking to immigrate here, regardless of where they're moving here from, or their race, or their religion, or their country of origin. To me the emphasis should be on getting businesses or other groups to sponsor and train those with no skills so that the worst off could also have a chance for a better life here, too.

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  4. Today my father in law was talking about Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, and I said I'm sure they'll find a was to blame this Trump. Also, I', peeling a hangnail. I', sure that's because he doesn't take hangnails seriously!
    But people who come here, imho don't have to do particular jobs, they just need to support America. Not nurse whatever psychological grudges they have and then blow it up! They need to contribute however they can and not knock the place that took them in, and live in peace.

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  5. With all those high school dropouts around, I wonder why they had to get foreign workers for the housekeeping and cleaning jobs at Mar-a-Lago.

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