Well, the Iron Curtain has come to America.
uch:. I cannot believe so many in America want this! We cheered when Ronald Reagan said "Mr. Gorbechev, Tear down this wall." When the Berlin wall fell, people danced and cheered. Yet here we are, building a wall. It does not matter what the stated purpose is. If a wall can keep people out, it can also keep people in. Can't people see this? What next; travel papers?
The Berlin Wall was to keep people IN, keeping people the communist wanted and needed to stay but were leaving in droves. If a similarity was being made, it would have to be MEXICO wanting to build the wall in order to keep IN its doctors, engineers, etc. (and it has resisted ANY attempts on the part of the USA to acknowledge the border). I don't know if extending and improving the wall/fence will do much good.... I believe the problem can only be addressed by eliminating what draws them - jobs.
But just as those in Europe also acknowledge, there is no reason to have a border if it means nothing (a few countries - Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Japan for example - have oceans for boarders!). As one who lives in California, the many who are here illegally ARE an enormous draw on the state (to which the Federal government does NOT reimburse us even though it is responsable for the borders). My wife teaches second grade in a public school.... although it's illegal to ask about the citizenship or status of students, the school estimates 25% are the kids of people here illegally. Who pays for the education of those kids? Not Mexico... not the federal government. I have a friend who works at a local ER and estimates HALF of those treated at the ER are here illegally Who pays for their medical treatments? Not Mexico, not the Federal government. College students also are not allowed to be asked about their citizenship or status in this state, only if they regard themselves as "residents" here. I had several tell me - willingly disclose - they were in California illegally (one girl told me she was here for one reason - to attend a UC at the much, much lower resident tuition, a much better school than where she could have attended in Mexico). Trump made a horrible comment about these illegals being criminals - and surely most are not - but I've read many a Newspaper article about how there is a pretty direct correlation between the percentage of illegal residents in a jurisdiction and what the crime rate is there.
I'm quite in favor of immigration. It is what made America great. But unless we are willing to cease being a soveriegn state and just terminate all our borders, then I think it is good to have some say in who comes and who does not.... we need some voice in this, the rule of law should prevail (unless again the USA decides to cease being a country, cease having borders). There should be a process - fair and right - to which ALL are to abide. We need to know WHO is coming into our nation and have some control over that. Otherwise, why have borders? Why have citizenship? Why have a country? My ancestors came here - but they did it legally, going through Ellis Island, submitting to the Rule of Law, doing all this nation required to become a legal citizen: EXACTLY what Mexico requires (those who enter that country without permission are AT LEAST rounded up and sent back to their home country because Mexico believes that boarders should MEAN something and it has every right and need to keep people out, to protect its borders).
What's next you ask, travel papers?
Hello.... I can't go to Mexico without travel papers.... I can't go to the UK or Germany or France or Spain without travel papers, without the written formal official PERMISSION of that country for me to do so. Even Canada, I don't need a Visa but I do need a legal passport and I MUST register at the border and have permission from the border patrol to enter Canada - it is illegal under Canadian law for me to just drive across the border: I need PAPERS.
I was in Germany once and got sick. I had to go to a doctor. I was in the country LEGALLY, with official and formal PERMISSION from the German national government, but was I given free health care. Nope, I had to pay 100 Euros for that doctor to see me and prescribe medication (I had a really bad eye infection) which I also had to pay for because I was not GERMAN even though in the nation with the official, formal, legal, written permission of that soverign nation.
Come on.... I don't think anything here is being suggested that is not already the law in every other country on the planet. It's not unreasonable or unusual. Unless again, the USA just ceases to be a country. Again, I don't know if building a better and more extensive wall/fence is the best way to address our nearly complete impotence regarding our borders, but I don't think trying to finally act like a soverign nation that actually has borders is a bad thing.... it's about time. I didn't vote for Trump, I'm not happy that he is our president, and I dislike a lot of what he's about.... but I do have a part of me that rejoices that, for the first time in decades, we might have a president with the
guts and ability to actually DO something.
- Josiah
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