The U.S. Southern Border and Immigration
A reader submits:
(We) conservatives can’t understand the attitude that our borders should be open to everyone who wants to come here, whenever they wish. We consider that a country without borders is not a country at all. Given the riches in this country, it’s obvious that it would soon be completely overrun by millions of people whose countries are failures and we would be importing, to some degree, the causes of those failures into this country. This is a plan that America’s enemies relish because it will defeat us totally without a fight. Conservative types believe there are people in the world who want to see us reduced in power and influence, either out of resentment or because our insistence on individual freedom runs counter to plans for world domination and control. What Republicans do understand, regarding immigration, is that the Democratic Party depends for its survival on various “minority” voting blocks, and if illegal immigrants can be allowed to pour into the country, eventually they can be added to the voting rolls with the prospect that most will vote Democrat.
My response:
It’s possible that there are a few Americans who think no border control whatsoever is required, but at most that’s a tiny fraction of one percent. Progressives favor immigration reform that is effective, fair and humane, while not cutting America’s nose off to spite its face, driving up the cost of unskilled labor and thus the cost of everything from fruits and vegetables to eating in restaurants.
The allegation that progressives are somehow “America’s enemies who relish …. ( a certain platform, in this case open borders) because it will defeat us totally without a fight” is outrageous; if you’re honestly looking for the reason that the radical right is so profoundly reviled by most people of compassion and intelligence, you needn’t go much further. Your belief here seems to be rooted in a certain paranoia that says, “People who don’t share my views must be my country’s enemies.” Progressives simply want what’s good for everyone, and that is not the proposition of an enemy; in fact, it’s a core American value. I urge you to try to understand this.
Craig,
Obviously you belong to the school of thought that subscribes to being “a little bit pregnant”.
You either have border security or you don’t. There’s no half measure. The USA has always had a very generous and compassionate legal migration system.
Like most leftists, you are a hypocrite! On the one hand you want to benefit from cheap prices obtained by exploiting non-unionized cheap labour made possible by a flood of illegal migrants, yet on the the other hand you don’t want to admit to being responsible for the consequences of the human tragedy occurring due to inadequate border policies.
Your attitude is neither “compassionate” or “intelligent”, it’s simply weak and dishonest.
The only way to stop illegal migration is deterrence. The simplest and most effective deterrent is the certainty of failure to enter the US and even if successful will be apprehended, placed in detention and never allowed to settle in the US under any circumstances.
Illegal migration is a crime. The only way to prevent criminal behavior is the certainty of detection and the low possibility of success.
Your facile glossing over perils of the trek to the US, the suffering and other problems caused by illegal migration, just so you can enjoy some cheap vegetables and exploited restaurant cleaners, is morally reprehensible.
Now here’s a radical thought, why don’t you personally sponsor a migrant? I know it’s a ten year commitment, but hey, good gardeners and kitchen cleaners are hard to get.
Better still, why not sponsor a migrant to a better life in their own country? While you’re at it, you might try persuading Senator Dianne Feinstein and her husband to donate some of the $93 million received from dealing with the Communist Chinese to sponsoring a poor migrant or helping them in their own country?
But then Sen Feinstein would rather invest in a nice big wall of her own around her palatial estate.