Go to From The Observation Deck
- Add a comment
- Go to Immigration: I honestly never thought I would ever be discussing this!
Re:
It would appear, Utah, that this is a touchy subject for you as well, and your grievances are obviously legitimate. My sister in Texas ( also a "border state" ) has pretty much the same complaints! The immigrant situation in general is tough enough, but when you start to throw in that non-English speaking scenario into the mix, the angst is at least doubled, and that could become a whole separate blog in and of itself! What kills me is that, like with a lot of these types of issues, anything negative you say against them makes you the "bad guy," the unfeeling ugly American suppressor. I hope, at this juncture, it's not way too late to reserve the tide . . . 
posted by
JimmyA
on September 2, 2013 at 5:25 AM
| link to this | reply
Re: Jimmy
And that, Naut, a "disaster waiting for a catastrophe," is a very dangerous combination indeed! I suppose it's like anything else. Yes, there are still people who try to do things legitimately and by the book, and immigrate to this country for a better future. But their ranks are apparently few and far between, because the people "sneaking" into the country outweigh them by a long shot! And it's those people that make it difficult for everyone else, including the legitimate immigrants! An unbelievable mess indeed . . . 
posted by
JimmyA
on September 2, 2013 at 5:15 AM
| link to this | reply
Re:
Thanks, Kabu. I suppose another analogy might be if you were having a house party, and had invited as many of your friends and neighbors as you could. Your house is only so big, and can hold only so many people, and you only have so much food and refreshments to offer. Meanwhile, people keep showing up at your door! You don't want to be rude, unfriendly or unneighborly, but you have limited space and resources! What would you do? At some point, you'd just have to say "I'm very sorry, but we just can't take in anymore!" I think our country might be at that point now . . .
posted by
JimmyA
on September 2, 2013 at 5:10 AM
| link to this | reply
Re:
And I suppose, adnohr, that Ruby Dhalla is now a "four-letter word" amongst your fellow citizens. I remember a co-worker once griping because he found out that his new neighbor, an elderly man from China, who had never worked a day in his life here in the states, was already somehow receiving Social Security benefits that everyone else had been paying into! How that's possible is beyond me, and it's a little more than unfair! Yes, more citizens should equal more workers, and therefor, more tax payers. But not if you're in the country illegally! How we're going to clean up this mess is one for the ages . . .
posted by
JimmyA
on September 2, 2013 at 5:02 AM
| link to this | reply
Re:
Thus, C C T, my analogy of the restaurants and bars that have "Capacity" signs. Many people claim that the U.S. still has plenty of open space, but the people coming here aren't expecting to live in tents and eat off of the land. You've heard the expression I'm sure of "the straw that broke the camel's back." Those straws piled and piled and piled until that poor camel could hold no more and collapsed under the weight and strain. If the U.S. were a camel, we would hardly be visible because of the massive amount of straws piled overhead . . . 
posted by
JimmyA
on September 2, 2013 at 4:56 AM
| link to this | reply
Out here where we are so close to the boarder we are over run with the problem of education, of health care, of employment. My neighbor once had a very small business doing sheet rock work for a more than fair price of 15 dollars an hour pluss materials but has been underbid by more than half, he has looked for work now for more than 4 months while his family eats with food stamps. We have schools that have more than half the students who speak no English, my house taxes went up more than 400$ over last years taxes to pay for the education of Mexico and they already want more. We have high school students who can now buy heroin for less than a dollar a hit getting addicted but the clinics by law cannot help anyone under the age of 16. I spent seven hours in the emergency room waiting to get stitches in my finger while I waited for the doctors who were over run with those who spoke no English.
posted by
UtahJay
on September 1, 2013 at 4:08 PM
| link to this | reply
Jimmy
It's a HUGE topic, worthy of a whole series of posts. But for now, and in a nutshell, current Western immigration policies are a disaster waiting for a catastrophy...
posted by
Nautikos
on August 31, 2013 at 5:39 PM
| link to this | reply
not for me actually... although one must be open to accepting a few folk who are truly in need of a safe haven. But the essence of your Post makes sense to me...
posted by
Kabu
on August 31, 2013 at 5:35 PM
| link to this | reply
It seems the immigrants are to help pay our Old age pensions, because western society is not having enough children to fill the gap. Except here one of our MP's suggested paying the same stipend to the newcomers after just 3 years of residency as those who have worked all their lives, and who are worried about their amounts being reduced and the age for retirement raised. The MP's name was Ruby Dhalla.
posted by
adnohr
on August 31, 2013 at 5:30 PM
| link to this | reply
You are lucky Jimmy they pour into this country and we expect thousands more soon.
If we had more space it would not matter so much.
I suppose we used to emigrate to other countries in the past. However I don't know what one can do or what the overcrowding on a patch half the size of California will achieve.
posted by
C_C_T
on August 31, 2013 at 12:31 PM
| link to this | reply
Re:
No one is, lustor. The answer isn't simple at all, even my suggestion of closing our borders for a year! Sure, it's not fair to those that come here legally for a better life, but my gosh, I think we're a bit overwhelmed at this point! It might be time for someone to blow that whistle and shout "Alright, everybody out of the pool!"
posted by
JimmyA
on August 31, 2013 at 10:46 AM
| link to this | reply
Re:
Very valid points yourself, Justi. Yes, I too am tired of the U.S. being the "police" of the world, and having our soldiers die for citizens of other countries who, deep down, don't really seem to be appreciating it! Like I've always said, if your house was on fire and your neighbor's house was on fire, you should put out your own fire first before helping your neighbor! And we have plenty of fires right here to contend with! And I'm glad to see that someone else agrees that we need to close our borders, even for just a little while! We have a lot of problems to address and the constant influx of illegals isn't helping matters . . .
posted by
JimmyA
on August 31, 2013 at 10:44 AM
| link to this | reply
Re:
Thanks, Dr JPT. I don't pretend to have all the answers, and perhaps isolationism, even a temporary one, may not necessarily work. All I know is we had better "stem the tide" soon, or there won't be much of a country left for anyone. Think of an 8-slice pizza being presented at a party of 20 people! Someone is going to go hungry . . .
posted by
JimmyA
on August 31, 2013 at 10:37 AM
| link to this | reply
Re:
Thanks, FSI. As I wrote, this is not anything disparaging against anyone from any country! But I tend to think of it as if our country were your home that was frequented by many guests from time to time. If your home begins to deteriorate and is badly in need of clean up, repairs or restorations, wouldn't you stop inviting guests until those tasks were completed? And we need repairs badly . . .
posted by
JimmyA
on August 31, 2013 at 10:33 AM
| link to this | reply
Re:
It sounds, Annicita, as though you are trying to make a case for those immigrants who would like to come to this country and become citizens legally and by the book, and I understand completely. But it also sounds like your father went through this transition some time ago, long before another odd 11 million showed illegally! I still say that much needs to be done within our own borders before we let any more in . . .
posted by
JimmyA
on August 31, 2013 at 10:30 AM
| link to this | reply
you brought up some interesting points I am not quit sure what we should do
posted by
Lanetay
on August 31, 2013 at 7:53 AM
| link to this | reply
Very nice post. Yes we should close our borders totally now. We should bring our military home, let the world settle their own problems. Yes the immigrants of the past built this country, now we are paying social security to people who just moved here and never paid into it, we are paying out too much to take care of the people coming in now. We are going down the tubes and they keep coming.
posted by
Justi
on August 30, 2013 at 10:53 PM
| link to this | reply
Valid points and always exceptions to the rule. I fthink no matter what there is that segment of people who take more, waste more and expect others to do the sacrificing. This I think will be a problem forever and that each need to operate in their niche and do the best they can. It sounds like the utopian society. Good post for thought. 
posted by
Dr_JPT
on August 30, 2013 at 6:47 PM
| link to this | reply
I do not feel that it is wrong to feel that way...You bring up many valid points.
posted by
FormerStudentIntern
on August 30, 2013 at 6:12 PM
| link to this | reply
My father was an illegal who married my mom...and they had 6 kids...we had a family business that has employed 1000s over the years. My father was afraid that being part lebanese would prevent him from getting his citizenship 20 years later. He paid taxes and did all the things legal citizens did. He didn't believe in gov't handouts. It's never easy to make that decision. And as the saying goes...there but for the grace of god ...
posted by
Annicita
on August 30, 2013 at 11:12 AM
| link to this | reply