View Full Version : What to do with all those children who have crossed the border illegally?
This is such a mess......something like 47,000 children have crossed the border illegally fairly recently. It's causing so many problems. What do you feel needs to be done with them?
I can't imagine keeping them here..........what to do with all of them? On the other hand, you can't just turn all those kids around and ship them back. What a horrible situation!
gimmethesimplelife
6-10-14, 11:05am
We are getting a number of them here in Arizona - they are being dropped off in Phoenix at the bus station and also right at the border in Nogales, Arizona. Governor Brewer is less than happy about it and one thing that has really turned me off is that these kids need food and the federal government has not done anything about that but the state of Arizona has managed to get some food together for these kids. It will be interesting to see how these kids are handled as it will show the world exactly how humane are we as a society? Me thinks we will fail the test somehow - but the state here is making sure that these kids eat and I have to be fair and give Arizona credit for being humane here. Rob
PS I realize I really didn't address the point of your post - what do we do with these kids? I honestly don't know. Do we send them back to poverty and violence that many of them faced on a higher level than most in America face, or do we keep them and how do we get them to integrate, how do we get them educated, functioning in English, fed, housed, and educated, and on whose dime in a country 17 plus trillion dollars in debt? Like with so many other issues, there don't seem to be any easy answers on this one. And if we make things easy for these kids, more will come - this is only human nature. No easy answers. Rob
We must send them back. IMHO.
Of course we must send them back, but in the meantime we've now opened three military installations to house them. http://news.yahoo.com/u-open-third-military-illegal-child-immigrants-200234608.html
I heard they were from 3 different central American countries. Contact their governments.
So Alan are you saying they should be sent back without opening these places for them? I'm not necessarily disagreeing......just wanting to understand what you said.
I imagine it's pretty hard to keep a cold/hard position on this, if you're there with them.
I'm sure glad it's not up to me to handle.
I just don't want groups to start chiming up "We need to find homes and schools for all these kids here in the U.S."
It's a tragic situation any way you look at it.
How can we prevent this? Seriously. What's wrong with a guarded wall? It would probably have cost about as much as these children will cost.
Send them back, and the ones that were born here too by illegal immigrants.
Oh wait, but then who would work the fast-food jobs that no one wants at minimum wage?
Send them back, and the ones that were born here too by illegal immigrants.
Oh wait, but then who would work the fast-food jobs that no one wants at minimum wage?
That's what I mean about things being all Topsy-Turvy. We can't make some reasonable choices with things like immigration reform, because it will step on various toes.
So Alan are you saying they should be sent back without opening these places for them? I'm not necessarily disagreeing......just wanting to understand what you said.
Once we take them into custody we obviously need to do something with them and we have an obligation to take care of them in the meantime. The question is, what should we do. If they were American citizens, we'd return them to their parents. As illegal immigrants, it appears that we'll simply house them, possibly until their parents can join them.
Surely not Alan. Who would put up with that?
Like I suggested, our government should contact the governments of those central American countries and say.........here they come.......take care of them.
And how did these children get from Central American countries? Just seems like with all our various skills in this country, we should be able to keep our border secure, so we don't have to deal with situations like this.
And I'm sure it's very easy from a distance in the U.S. to think "oh, it would be so inhumane to not keep them and take care of them."
See, what I'm feeling is that we have an unreasonable need to think we have to constantly be so humane, when the consequences can lead to a crappy life for many. I'm also referring to the "humane-ness" of not having a death penalty.
I may appear confusing to some, because I have some beliefs like conservatives, and some like liberals........which I think is true for alot of people.
How do we find out where these children belong if they are unaccompanied?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/A_Modest_Proposal_1729_Cover.jpg
ApatheticNoMore
6-10-14, 7:02pm
Send them back, and the ones that were born here too by illegal immigrants.
Oh wait, but then who would work the fast-food jobs that no one wants at minimum wage?
Fast food jobs aren't the one's they have trouble filling. In the best case scenario: teenagers and that would indicate a booming economy (when they have to resort to teenagers to flip burgers because adults have better options). But in reality it's often adults and usually legal. It's agriculture and the like they import illegals for.
Surely not Alan. Who would put up with that?
Like I suggested, our government should contact the governments of those central American countries and say.........here they come.......take care of them.
And how did these children get from Central American countries? Just seems like with all our various skills in this country, we should be able to keep our border secure, so we don't have to deal with situations like this.
And I'm sure it's very easy from a distance in the U.S. to think "oh, it would be so inhumane to not keep them and take care of them."
See, what I'm feeling is that we have an unreasonable need to think we have to constantly be so humane, when the consequences can lead to a crappy life for many. I'm also referring to the "humane-ness" of not having a death penalty.
I may appear confusing to some, because I have some beliefs like conservatives, and some like liberals........which I think is true for alot of people.
In many cases you'd just be sending them off to die. But we've made choices like that before - we probably killed at least this many children in Iraq and displaced many, many times more than 47.000.
If 47,000 made it to the US, I wonder how many didn't? Traveling through multiple countries, I would think only a fraction could make it this far.
Its hard to believe they made it on their own. I wonder if they were transported to close to the border?
iris lilies
6-10-14, 8:46pm
Feeding them is inexpensive, that's the least of it.
This is such a mess......something like 47,000 children have crossed the border illegally fairly recently. It's causing so many problems. What do you feel needs to be done with them?
I can't imagine keeping them here..........what to do with all of them? On the other hand, you can't just turn all those kids around and ship them back. What a horrible situation!Well I'm not sure what "should" be done with them but I think what "will" be done is what we've usually done with orphaned or unaccompanied children who are here illegally and that is deport them back to their home country (repatriate them) into the arms of either an orphanage or relief agency or their government - all who are suppose to find relatives. Thois is what we did when we picked up illegals who were children when I was in the CG - an especially common thing with Haitians, but also with Cubans and many from Mexico, So. and Central American Countries. We would often take them first to a refugee facility (usually Gitmo - Guantanamo Bay) or directly back to their country of origin after feeding them and providing basic medical care. Either escorting their vessel if it was sailable, or taking them onboard our ship, sinking theirs and then docking in their country to off load them. It was very sad as you never knew what the plight of the children would be ((or the adults for that matter) after they were removed from our ship. So I imagine a similar thing will happen - probably by plane.
Isn't it a federal law that no child may be denied a public education regardless of their citizenship? That is one of the downsides of letting them stay I think. The public schools (here at least) have a high percentage of undocumented students who require bilingual teachers, free lunch, etc. Our school taxes are already ridiculously high considering that many US children are now being sent to private schools. A real conundrum for sure.
Definitely deport all, via their embassies, non-profit agency, or whatever. Word is that the influx is due to a widespread belief and rumor in Central America that children, with or without their mothers, will not be deported by the U.S. If indeed we demonstrate that is true, 47,000 will seem like a drop in the bucket. We cannot get medical care to our own veterans in a timely manner, and cannot feed and house all of our own citizens, much less the rest of the world's. I am indeed sorry that poverty and violence exist in many places (including our own country), but those problems wouldn't be solved even if we took in all the world's children.
Good points befree. I wonder........who will have the ultimate decision about this?..........and when?
Good points befree. I wonder........who will have the ultimate decision about this?..........and when?Unless the Pres. changes it's immigration policy asap, the children will be deported - possibly after a lawyer/s review their situation. That has been the policy up to now for minor children. While the influx of so many minors at one time is new, there have generally been thousands that come across the border every year - most are deported. However, because a lot of Latin American's believe that the US has changed it's immigration policies for children (as someone said above, probably a misinterpretation of the Dream Act), I expect the inflow of minors into the uS to continue to increase. Here's a little news article from a few years ago about how unaccompanied minors were dealt with by DHS. http://www.latintimes.com/deportation-unaccompanied-minors-us-border-patrol-was-over-13000-2012-says-mexico-129601
If 47,000 made it to the US, I wonder how many didn't? Traveling through multiple countries, I would think only a fraction could make it this far.I also wonder how many made it across without being detected? If the same statistics are true for children illegally crossing the border as it is for adults, then for everyone who is apprehended, a dozen more get thru. However, I agree that most were probably dropped at the border by Coyotes or family who believed that new immigration laws meant they could stay.
Many countries in Europe have been facing similar immigration issues from place like Syria, and other war-torn areas of Africa. Often times turning away people or dealing with them harshly.
Does anyone on this forum feel that the children should be allowed to stay? What would your plan be?
I have a question.........if they can find 2 billion to take care of these kids for awhile (which I have heard)........why couldn't they have come up with that money to improve border patrol/fence, etc?
Unless the Pres. changes it's immigration policy asap, the children will be deported - possibly after a lawyer/s review their situation. That has been the policy up to now for minor children. While the influx of so many minors at one time is new, there have generally been thousands that come across the border every year - most are deported. However, because a lot of Latin American's believe that the US has changed it's immigration policies for children (as someone said above, probably a misinterpretation of the Dream Act), I expect the inflow of minors into the uS to continue to increase. Here's a little news article from a few years ago about how unaccompanied minors were dealt with by DHS. http://www.latintimes.com/deportation-unaccompanied-minors-us-border-patrol-was-over-13000-2012-says-mexico-129601
Actually, illegal immigrants are not entitled to a lawyer at their hearing. Unless the family manages to pay for one, you're on your own.
Does anyone on this forum feel that the children should be allowed to stay? What would your plan be?
I have a question.........if they can find 2 billion to take care of these kids for awhile (which I have heard)........why couldn't they have come up with that money to improve border patrol/fence, etc?
I can't help but think of that ship of Jews fleeing from Nazi Germany - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_St._Louis and no country wanted to take them in, including the U.S. The ship was forced to return to Europe.
Imagine how horrible your life must be that you feel your only choice is to put your 10 year old on the road for a journey of 1,000 miles to save his or her life. And you can only pray that along the way the child doesn't get beaten, starves, or is robbed, raped, kidnapped or killed. At this point I think it is a humanitarian crisis and we owe them decent care.
And yes, under our current immigration laws, they will be deported. Until then, they are human beings in need.
Actually, illegal immigrants are not entitled to a lawyer at their hearing. Unless the family manages to pay for one, you're on your own.I know that's true for adults unless there are criminal charges (illegal immigration issues aren't criminal so no lawyer). But I believe that unaccompanied children mush have a lawyer or legal counsel to speak on their behalf (like a Guardian Ad Litum) before deportation precedeedings can happen. But I may be wrong about that. There is, or use to be, a dept of the US gov. that dealt with this issue called the UAC that dealt with refuge children. I'll see if I can find a link; OK neither may apply since they are for asylum seekers but interesting to read anyway.
http://www.rcusa.org/index.php?page=uac
http://www.cis.org/NoChildLeftBehind-RefugeeChildren
They show a lot of gumption. Let them stay, but make them pay their way, if they can't take care of themselfs when they are of age, send them back. On that thought maybe we should send some of our youths down there for a while.
They show really young kids, but one news report said some of the youngest ones are 13. Hmmm? I wonder if alot of them are older teens?
Some news reports here are saying unaccompanied children as young as 5. 5 years old, kindegarden age. Unimaginable.
This is the newest think I saw on the news today - detention centers set up in the US for illegal immigrant families:
http://news.msn.com/us/us-to-open-immigrant-family-detention-centers
Oh man.........250 million to help those countries deal with all their problems.
Let's just fix the border so we don't have to do this!
It really makes me mad that our taxes are given away so freely and easily. It would be different if our country's citizens were all taken care of first.
I know that might sound heartless...........but no country should have to constantly take care of so many others.
Oh man.........250 million to help those countries deal with all their problems.
Let's just fix the border so we don't have to do this!
It really makes me mad that our taxes are given away so freely and easily. It would be different if our country's citizens were all taken care of first.
I know that might sound heartless...........but no country should have to constantly take care of so many others.
There's a really good article at Stonekettle Station about this situation.
http://www.stonekettle.com/ "Mother of Exiles"
See what you think.
Interesting, Cecilia. Thanks.
Does anyone have a news source that covers things going on in Mexico and Central America? It always seems I can find information on why people are fleeing Syria or Iraq or the Gaza, but not much about what is going on right next to us.
I have spent the majority of my 59 years in Texas and this has always been an issue but for some reason the media has snatched on to it and won't let go. ICE planes have been "delivering" undocumented adults and children to detention centers scattered around the southwest for years or even back to their countries - and it's not cheap. More often though, the immigrants just disappear scattering across the US where other relatives or communites are. The article above states "We can welcome these children, we can give them refuge, we can feed them and heal them and educate them and give them a future. We can give them hope." Down here, we have been doing that for decades and yet their general culture never changes. With a little experience and insider advice, an undocumented individual can find a job, get housing, healthcare and food assistance, educate their children, and on and on. A few lucky ones break the mold. I don't think we should turn children away but there is so much more to this story.
We seriously need to stop this flow. We can't even seem to take care of the citizens who are here now. What a strain this puts on our society. If an individual family kept excepting more and more and more children in, the quality of life for all of them would no doubt deteriorate. It's a very tough issue. But no matter if it's adults or children, we need to fix the influx.
I've been watching the news about this (and who knows if it's accurate or not!?!)......but why does everyone look so well dressed, clean and healthy when they arrive here?
I guess it's a real money-making scam by smugglers in S. America........promising people a wonderful life in the U.S., for $6-7,000.
I think here in the U.S., we've had it so good that we have a rather naive attitude about accepting everyone else in the world here.
And as far as the quote about "give me your poor, your tired......."...............that was long ago. It's really naive to think we can take everyone else in the world in.
It's sort of like a life boat...........yes, everyone wants to be saved.......but what happens when too many people get into the boat?
These children are refugees. As someone suggested "They should claim to be Cubans, and we would welcome them with open arms."
And it's worth noting that, at least while they're in custody after their warm welcome from the spittle-jawed throwbacks bused into Murrieta, they're not being shot at. Which is why their parents scraped the money together to send them here to begin with.
We have all the money in the world, apparently, to kill children and other innocents in the Middle East--I don't see lengthy screeds written decrying that--but humanitarian work is too expensive for this, the richest country in the world. Maybe the time for borders is over, both for ingress and egress.
I think this is a very difficult situation. We are a nation built by immigrants and we welcome people from other countries to our shores each and every day. Of course, it's important to put controls on that in the form of requiring that we aren't over-run, the immigrants don't put an undue strain on our social programs and that they add value to society. That is the crux of our immigration laws.
The current political meme is "immigration reform", although to be honest, I don't know what that means. Is it that we should increase the number of legal immigrants we'll accept each year, or give special preference to immigrants from certain countries, or is it really just a phrase meant to encourage us to place illegal immigrants to the front of the line? I really don't know.
As a country, we're certainly not unique in our immigration laws which are comparable or even more lax than other countries, but it seems that our southern border is being over-run with illegal immigrants and many expect us to consider it as no big deal. Well, it is a big deal and our political system is seemingly designed in such a way that the problem will never be resolved due to political gamesmanship. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats will fix the problem, each preferring to use it as a wedge issue to work up their respective bases to help their re-election prospects while ignoring the common sense actions which need to be taken.
I'm disgusted with the entire situation. Like all laws, our immigration laws must be enforced or repealed. We can't have it both ways and we shouldn't support politicians who use the issue to their advantage.
ApatheticNoMore
7-13-14, 2:53pm
Yea it's a difficult issue, one I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
I have spent the majority of my 59 years in Texas and this has always been an issue but for some reason the media has snatched on to it and won't let go. ICE planes have been "delivering" undocumented adults and children to detention centers scattered around the southwest for years or even back to their countries - and it's not cheap.
interesting point , to what extent is the problem really worse, and to what extent is it merely different coverage.
We have all the money in the world, apparently, to kill children and other innocents in the Middle East--I don't see lengthy screeds written decrying that--but humanitarian work is too expensive for this, the richest country in the world.
I think the point people are making is we also have no money for Detroit either. Maintaining it's cities is too expensive for the so called richest country in the world, which the U.S. is not anyway. By what measure could the u.s. even be considered the richest country? Not even per capita income anymore - it's 6th, which I suppose is not to shabby. But much less things like median income. It's like 19th. Does anyone who thinks this is a rich country even live here, because it's hard to maintain that illusion between passing 10 homeless people on the drive to work.
Maybe the time for borders is over, both for ingress and egress.
I don't see how that leads to anything in actually existing reality than a global migrant dirt poor exploited labor force, without recourse (imagine there's no countries ...). Which is part of immigration reform as well (certainly the push for more high skilled immigrants is to reduce wages). But borders are problematic in their own right, it's basically already pretty heavily militarized and the immigration "reform" bills we get contain provisions to make it more so.
Earlier I said that 250 million was being spent on keeping these people fed, housed, etc.........but now the president is asking Congress to okay 4 BILLION.
So.......we're the richest country in the world, but it's all borrowed, right?
Earlier I said that 250 million was being spent on keeping these people fed, housed, etc.........but now the president is asking Congress to okay 4 BILLION.
So.......we're the richest country in the world, but it's all borrowed, right?
A new Gerald Ford-class aircraft carrier costs $12-14 billion, and I think that's before you put the aircraft on it. It carries 75 aircraft, an F-18E runs about $60 million, so I'm thinking the aircraft complement doubles the cost.
That'd feed a lot of little kids, don't you think?
The fruitless Iraq war cost, by some estimates*, one trillion dollars (or one thousand billion)--not to mention all the money disappeared by war profiteers. And that's just one of our wars. It would be nice if we could have spent that more profitably. On infrastructure maybe, or humanitarian efforts. And a lot of lives would have been saved.
*NBC news answer desk
And none of it's real money anyway. The federal reserve can just crank up the printing press any time they choose. They've been printing $1 trillion a year to bail out Wall Street. Surely $4 billion to feed a bunch of desperate kids is money better spent.
Maybe it would benefit us to take in a few thousand youngsters, since--like Europe--we're an aging population and not replacing ourselves fast enough. If it weren't for immigrants (probably including undocumented ones) we'd be in decline. This is an ongoing problem for developed countries, one we're going to have to address sooner or later. (And most youngsters grow up to be the productive, tax-paying citizens we could always use more of.)
But Jane........what's wrong with a declining population? I would think we would welcome that!
But Jane........what's wrong with a declining population? I would think we would welcome that!
It's handy to have younger folk around to change your bedpan as you age.
It's problematic from the standpoint of providing workers and tax revenues. Europe is struggling with a dwindling population already. It's interesting that when women have a choice in the matter, they generally have few children. That's why I believe the world's population will eventually deflate--not a bad thing at all, by my standards. I expect we'll adjust.
Here's a Forbes article on the subject, complete with obligatory swipes at President Obama, European values, and the Green movement: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2011/09/15/declining-birthrates-expanded-bureaucracy-is-u-s-going-european/
ApatheticNoMore
7-14-14, 2:47pm
But Jane........what's wrong with a declining population? I would think we would welcome that!
+1000
I scanned this thread so I hope I am not being repetitive. Watching the news coverage and I am not well versed on the topic, but it strikes me that the women and children, or just children are traveling alone. Where is the man of the family? If there is a mother and child, there is a father. What kind of conditions are we talking about in Central America, that a father and husband would watch his wife and child go off crossing Mexico into USA. I am sympathetic to people seeking a better life for themselves, but I sense that there is a sympathy factor in all this. Who would be so heartless as to return a mother and child who traveled so far? Does anyone think it wasn't planned as such? To play on the sympathy of our kindness. I am not saying they are not seriously facing hardship in this choice. But, I wonder where are the men, how did it come to this decision? Where did the idea come from in the first place? What does it cost to be taken from Central America to the USA border?
But Jane........what's wrong with a declining population? I would think we would welcome that!
It's also, as was indirectly pointed out by Jane, a problem for social security. As the baby boomers retire en masse we'll end up with fewer and fewer worker social security contributions supporting more and more retirees (since currently collected social security revenue is paid out to current retirees rather than stored in some sort of annuity type account until the worker retires). We've held steady at a little over 3 workers per retiree for decades but that is projected to fall over time. More young workers would help keep the system solvent and buy us time to figure out a better system. (or for the pessimists among us, it would at least buy us more time until the eventual unavoidable collapse of the system.)
http://mercatus.org/publication/how-many-workers-support-one-social-security-retiree
Or maybe it would force us into thinking of a different way of living?....a different plan?
I agree that the current path we're on in unsustainable in the long run. But I've not yet read of a viable alternative that has any likelihood of being supported. I fully expect that the current system will have to implode under it's own weight before a new one will happen. (Yes, I admit it, I'm a pessimist.).
I agree with you jp1. Look at the environment, yet barely any changes are being made. Guess we're all just slow-learners......
A new Gerald Ford-class aircraft carrier costs $12-14 billion, and I think that's before you put the aircraft on it. It carries 75 aircraft, an F-18E runs about $60 million, so I'm thinking the aircraft complement doubles the cost.
That'd feed a lot of little kids, don't you think?
yep!
The fruitless Iraq war cost, by some estimates*, one trillion dollars (or one thousand billion)--not to mention all the money disappeared by war profiteers. And that's just one of our wars. It would be nice if we could have spent that more profitably. On infrastructure maybe, or humanitarian efforts. And a lot of lives would have been saved.
*NBC news answer desk
another yes!
first of all, the border is pretty secure in that we are getting these kids at the border. i'm guessing no one is advocating going a few miles into mexico and shooting on sight!
i really feel for these families. i can not imagine the horrors they must be facing to hand their children over to strangers, smugglers (and yes i'm sure the parents hold no illusions as to these characters) to carry them so far away knowing they very well may never see their kids again. i think sometimes some people have difficulty thinking of others as being as caring, and loving their children as much as they do. parents in guatemala love their kids as much as we do. i guarantee you it tears them up to be separated as much as it would us, or the lucky few who managed to get their kids out of europe before/during the war.
whatever the future brings in reforms/border/immigration, etc...the only thing we need to concentrate on now is food, shelter and safety for these kids. today, now. it just sickens me to see adults spitting on and yelling at these kids.
can we now stop with that.."we're a christian nation" BS?
so....after we provide food, shelter, safety, medical care, education and clothing for 52,000 minors now, do we find foster homes for them all, and accept responsibility for meeting all needs until they turn 18? And all the millions who would follow after they hear these perks are guaranteed? Seriously....when would it end? How can we possibly imagine we can successfully do this, when we can't find adequate foster homes, etc, for many U.S. children?
ApatheticNoMore
7-16-14, 1:07am
so....after we provide food, shelter, safety, medical care, education and clothing for 52,000 minors now, do we find foster homes for them all, and accept responsibility for meeting all needs until they turn 18? And all the millions who would follow after they hear these perks are guaranteed? Seriously....when would it end? How can we possibly imagine we can successfully do this, when we can't find adequate foster homes, etc, for many U.S. children?
why I say I wouldn't wish this problem on my worst enemy (or on Obama, but I repeat myself :laff: ).
I scanned this thread so I hope I am not being repetitive. Watching the news coverage and I am not well versed on the topic, but it strikes me that the women and children, or just children are traveling alone. Where is the man of the family? If there is a mother and child, there is a father. What kind of conditions are we talking about in Central America, that a father and husband would watch his wife and child go off crossing Mexico into USA. I am sympathetic to people seeking a better life for themselves, but I sense that there is a sympathy factor in all this. Who would be so heartless as to return a mother and child who traveled so far? Does anyone think it wasn't planned as such? To play on the sympathy of our kindness. I am not saying they are not seriously facing hardship in this choice. But, I wonder where are the men, how did it come to this decision? Where did the idea come from in the first place? What does it cost to be taken from Central America to the USA border?Many of the men - husbands and fathers - are already living and working illegally here in the USA. Many send money back home to care for their families and often times they may send enough to pay for their wives and kids to join them (illegally of course). So it's not so much that the men aren't being responsible, it more that they come here long before (as do many of the mothers) in an attempt to earn a better living here and provide for their families back home.
They may be in armed combat--or dead. One article I read noted that aside from rampant drug violence in some of these countries, there is also an undeclared civil war going on. These parents are desperate, and have really nothing to lose trying to escape. Children are being kidnapped and force to work for the gangs, and often killed in the process. Murder rates in these countries have skyrocketed. They're leaving a hellhole caused by an insatiable market for drugs and questionable drug policies.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/09/central-america-child-migrants-us-border-crisis
http://www.albany.com/imho/the-new-colossus.jpg
http://opinion-forum.com/index/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Statue-of-liberty.jpg
http://www.albany.com/imho/the-new-colossus.jpg
*some restrictions may apply.
http://opinion-forum.com/index/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Statue-of-liberty.jpg
There. Fixed it.
Many of the men - husbands and fathers - are already living and working illegally here in the USA. Many send money back home to care for their families and often times they may send enough to pay for their wives and kids to join them (illegally of course). So it's not so much that the men aren't being responsible, it more that they come here long before (as do many of the mothers) in an attempt to earn a better living here and provide for their families back home.
While politicians rail against illegal immigrants, there is a real wink and nod, look the other way thing that has gone on for a very long time which allows large numbers of people illegally entering this country to be employed. I think the real "crisis" at work here is that increasing numbers of children and other refugees are now entering the same way and the government can't figure out how to stop the children while continuing to allow the cheap labor to come through.
Perhaps we could just help our neighbors to the south address some of the problems these good people are trying to run away from. Guessing most people would rather stay home if home didn't suck. As it is now they're basically just moving from the land of the drug lords to the land of the drug users. Plenty to address there on both ends. Of course there are other problems, too...
ApatheticNoMore
7-17-14, 5:44pm
Perhaps we could just help our neighbors to the south address some of the problems these good people are trying to run away from. Guessing most people would rather stay home if home didn't suck. As it is now they're basically just moving from the land of the drug lords to the land of the drug users. Plenty to address there on both ends. Of course there are other problems, too...
That's the root cause. But I'm hesitant to even think of any U.S. based solutions to that, because they usually tend to be military, quasi-military, intellegence agencies etc. and the U.S. governments record on this long term yea, but especially recent history is of destroying country after country leaving nothing but pure chaos afterward. It can't make things better it seems only worse. It's like "just stop doing things, you aren't helping, just please stop" (and we wonder why the rest of the world considers the U.S. government the biggest threat to world peace). Of course some of the countries people are emigrating from probably have long histories of lots of U.S. involvement anyway, it's Latin America afterall ... sigh ...
I happen to think the US drug problem is the root of several evils, but fixing that would require us to be introspective which in the end isn't good for business. How about this thought... Why is our border closed anyway? Why don't we just open every border from Panama to Canada and let everyone flood around and end up where they may until we reach equilibrium? Free access and free trade throughout all of North America. Do away with NAFTA and all the other similar agreements that constrict movement of people and goods and let the markets (aka the people) decide what works best. I know a few choice spots in Nicaragua that I would return to in a NY minute and there's probably someone there who would be willing to house swap with me for a few months. Win/win.
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