David:
While building the infrastructure for a secure Southern border is the first priority for dealing with our immigration chaos, some plan needs to come together for dealing with the millions of immigrants who are already here.
While "amnesty" has become a four-letter word, some practical answer needs to be found. By some estimates, it might cost hundreds of billions of dollars to identify and round up all of the illegal immigrants who are here. In a time of huge debt, this is not a suitable solution.
Doug:
That never sounds like a solution I would support! And I don't I buy your "first priority". But continue...
David:
Let's see if we can come up with a bipartisan, brotherly answer to the problem.
Doug:
Ok, great! Ah, wait... what problem are we attempting to solve?
David:
Perhaps you don't believe that millions of people who have no legal status is a problem. Perhaps you would prefer to have a president that can wave a magic wand and suddenly, everyone who has ever entered the country illegally is now a citizen. However, our laws don't work that way. And, I suppose I need to remind you that we are a nation of law.
Doug:
I guess I don't know how to prioritize this "problem." About the only indication of the problem that I see is that there is a steady supply of low-paid workers that do most of the jobs that we don't want to do, such as house cleaning or day labor.
David:
Along with drug dealers, gang members, possible terrorists, and an occasional murderer or rapist. Trouble is, we aren't keeping tabs on any of them.
Doug:
I would like a president with a magic wand! That would be cool.
David:
Like President Trump?
Doug:
He has a magic wand? Trump for President!
David:
If he had a magic wand, I think you would be turned into a newt right about now.
I would think you would be opposed to him (or some other Republican) being all powerful. I'd prefer to follow the Constitution with it's checks and balances.
If your house is flooding, you don't run to the store to buy more buckets. First, you turn off the water, then you decide how to manage all of the water that's there. Therefore, you control the entry of illegal immigrants first, then you can deal with all of the folks who are already here.
Doug:
What in the analogy is the buckets? Is the country flooding with illegal immigrants?
David:
Yes. And right now, we send some back, but they come right back through the open border. Felony convictions or not.
So back to the discussion.
There needs to be a mechanism in place for those who are here illegally to begin a process to work towards becoming a citizen, assuming they wish to stay. Children born here are citizens by birth (anchor babies), but their parents are not. Suggestions are to have them pay a fine, learn English, and wait a certain period of time to become citizens.
Doug:
So, you are supportive of birth-right citizenship? That is good to hear, as that appears to be a target for many Republicrats this year.
You do realize that our great-grandfather, Paul Peter Blank, was an "anchor baby"? He also grew up to fight in the civil war, for the Union. I don't believe that his parents (George and Marie) paid a fine, and they probably never learned to speak English... they spoke German. George was just about exactly your age when they arrived here in the US. If they weren't allowed to stay, chances are you and I wouldn't be here today.
David:
We know our ancestors came into the country legally. They were documented and we can still examine the paperwork. We have a copy of that paperwork with their signatures. That's how it should be. Legal. No one in the family was an "anchor baby". That term describes a situation where an illegal immigrant uses their American-born child to try to gain residence in the country, bypassing legal pathways. While the children are US citizens by birth, the parents are not, and can still be deported. Unless we reform the laws in some way to provide them with a legal pathway to citizenship.
Doug:
Your imagined idea of "anchor baby" is hysterical! I imagine this conversation:
David:
That would be a good start, requiring all of them to "check in". And back in those days, you had to have a medical exam, to ensure you had no signs of communicable diseases. If you did, you were denied entry.
The President himself has used immigrants' children's citizenship as the single basis for not deporting their family members, bypassing legal pathways.
All I'm looking for is the same security at the border, for people that are entering the country, that we have at our airports, for anyone to board a plane. More people fly each day than cross the border, but somehow we can't seem to screen them…at all…because some people just don't want to. Why is that?
Doug:
Because it would cost too much time and money, no one really cares, and it would cut down on the stream of low-wage workers? Seriously, I have no idea.
David:
Immigration may become one of the biggest issues of the upcoming election. Even Hillary has weighed in that "sanctuary cities" that don't turn over illegal immigrants to the Feds is wrong. Apparently you are the only one who doesn't care.
Doug:
You are comparing me with the Presidential nominees? Why thank you! Unfortunately, just because the politicos are hopped-up on immigration issues doesn't mean that anyone else is. There are important immigration issues that affect millions of people, but few have to do with the security of the border.
David:
But to get an immigration reform bill passed to address those other issues, border security will need to be implemented first.
And you might ask all of the unemployed young people in the country right now if they care about the influx of workers that are being paid low wages under the table for entry-level jobs.
Doug:
There are lots of jobs available, but many do not pay enough to survive on. What exactly do you want to ask them?
David:
Apparently, millions of illegal immigrants are surviving on those wages, year after year, and sending some money back home to their relatives as well.
Nice segue to another blog: Should there be a National minimum wage? The correct answer to that is, "Of course not!!" I'll start writing it now.
Well, so much for trying to work together to find a solution to a problem…..
Doug:
Just to recap this discussion. Problem: we all want to find a path to citizenship for immigrants. Solution: build a wall between Mexico and the U.S. Perhaps we need a different strategy to find real solutions…
While building the infrastructure for a secure Southern border is the first priority for dealing with our immigration chaos, some plan needs to come together for dealing with the millions of immigrants who are already here.
While "amnesty" has become a four-letter word, some practical answer needs to be found. By some estimates, it might cost hundreds of billions of dollars to identify and round up all of the illegal immigrants who are here. In a time of huge debt, this is not a suitable solution.
Doug:
That never sounds like a solution I would support! And I don't I buy your "first priority". But continue...
David:
Let's see if we can come up with a bipartisan, brotherly answer to the problem.
Doug:
Ok, great! Ah, wait... what problem are we attempting to solve?
David:
Perhaps you don't believe that millions of people who have no legal status is a problem. Perhaps you would prefer to have a president that can wave a magic wand and suddenly, everyone who has ever entered the country illegally is now a citizen. However, our laws don't work that way. And, I suppose I need to remind you that we are a nation of law.
Doug:
I guess I don't know how to prioritize this "problem." About the only indication of the problem that I see is that there is a steady supply of low-paid workers that do most of the jobs that we don't want to do, such as house cleaning or day labor.
David:
Along with drug dealers, gang members, possible terrorists, and an occasional murderer or rapist. Trouble is, we aren't keeping tabs on any of them.
Doug:
I would like a president with a magic wand! That would be cool.
David:
Like President Trump?
Doug:
He has a magic wand? Trump for President!
David:
If he had a magic wand, I think you would be turned into a newt right about now.
I would think you would be opposed to him (or some other Republican) being all powerful. I'd prefer to follow the Constitution with it's checks and balances.
If your house is flooding, you don't run to the store to buy more buckets. First, you turn off the water, then you decide how to manage all of the water that's there. Therefore, you control the entry of illegal immigrants first, then you can deal with all of the folks who are already here.
Doug:
What in the analogy is the buckets? Is the country flooding with illegal immigrants?
David:
Yes. And right now, we send some back, but they come right back through the open border. Felony convictions or not.
So back to the discussion.
There needs to be a mechanism in place for those who are here illegally to begin a process to work towards becoming a citizen, assuming they wish to stay. Children born here are citizens by birth (anchor babies), but their parents are not. Suggestions are to have them pay a fine, learn English, and wait a certain period of time to become citizens.
Doug:
So, you are supportive of birth-right citizenship? That is good to hear, as that appears to be a target for many Republicrats this year.
You do realize that our great-grandfather, Paul Peter Blank, was an "anchor baby"? He also grew up to fight in the civil war, for the Union. I don't believe that his parents (George and Marie) paid a fine, and they probably never learned to speak English... they spoke German. George was just about exactly your age when they arrived here in the US. If they weren't allowed to stay, chances are you and I wouldn't be here today.
David:
We know our ancestors came into the country legally. They were documented and we can still examine the paperwork. We have a copy of that paperwork with their signatures. That's how it should be. Legal. No one in the family was an "anchor baby". That term describes a situation where an illegal immigrant uses their American-born child to try to gain residence in the country, bypassing legal pathways. While the children are US citizens by birth, the parents are not, and can still be deported. Unless we reform the laws in some way to provide them with a legal pathway to citizenship.
Doug:
Your imagined idea of "anchor baby" is hysterical! I imagine this conversation:
Stranger: My, you have a beautiful baby!
Mother: Oh, that's not just a regular baby, that's our "anchor baby." You see, we didn't have a baby because we were in love, wanting to start a family in our new home, we had this baby so that we could live here bypassing legal pathways.
Stranger: Oh! I'm glad you told me... otherwise I wouldn't have known. She looks like a regular baby. I stand corrected: you have a beautiful anchor baby!As far as George and Marie Blank entering the country "legally," as far as I know there was nothing to stop them. They simply arrived, checked in, and started their new life. Perhaps that is the solution to your problem.
David:
That would be a good start, requiring all of them to "check in". And back in those days, you had to have a medical exam, to ensure you had no signs of communicable diseases. If you did, you were denied entry.
The President himself has used immigrants' children's citizenship as the single basis for not deporting their family members, bypassing legal pathways.
All I'm looking for is the same security at the border, for people that are entering the country, that we have at our airports, for anyone to board a plane. More people fly each day than cross the border, but somehow we can't seem to screen them…at all…because some people just don't want to. Why is that?
Doug:
Because it would cost too much time and money, no one really cares, and it would cut down on the stream of low-wage workers? Seriously, I have no idea.
David:
Immigration may become one of the biggest issues of the upcoming election. Even Hillary has weighed in that "sanctuary cities" that don't turn over illegal immigrants to the Feds is wrong. Apparently you are the only one who doesn't care.
Doug:
You are comparing me with the Presidential nominees? Why thank you! Unfortunately, just because the politicos are hopped-up on immigration issues doesn't mean that anyone else is. There are important immigration issues that affect millions of people, but few have to do with the security of the border.
David:
But to get an immigration reform bill passed to address those other issues, border security will need to be implemented first.
And you might ask all of the unemployed young people in the country right now if they care about the influx of workers that are being paid low wages under the table for entry-level jobs.
Doug:
There are lots of jobs available, but many do not pay enough to survive on. What exactly do you want to ask them?
David:
Apparently, millions of illegal immigrants are surviving on those wages, year after year, and sending some money back home to their relatives as well.
Nice segue to another blog: Should there be a National minimum wage? The correct answer to that is, "Of course not!!" I'll start writing it now.
Well, so much for trying to work together to find a solution to a problem…..
Doug:
Just to recap this discussion. Problem: we all want to find a path to citizenship for immigrants. Solution: build a wall between Mexico and the U.S. Perhaps we need a different strategy to find real solutions…
The European Union was established with the idea of free borders within the EU. Now, faced with a huge number of refugees, that idea has passed, and several members are now talking about building walls to create a manageable way to process those coming in to their countries. Sounds familiar…..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/world/europe-migrant-crisis/index.html
It does sound familiar: a few people want to wall-off their country. But that is not the majority view.
ReplyDeleteAu Contraire:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newsmax.com/US/Illegal-Immigration-trump-wall-mexico/2015/08/19/id/670859/
The majority of Americans want a wall built.