Alright, here we have what might be the new third rail of politics, at least on web forums.
Roughly speaking (and I fully expect to have people disagree with me on both ends), you've got a spectrum anchored by two sides. On one side are the Open Border advocates, which more and more Democrats (especially Progressive-types) are going toward, who want to basically say "Anyone can move into the US!" They want to dissolve ICE completely (and let's be honest, half of them want to send the agency's members to the Hague) and allow anyone who wants to enter the country to come in, and regard the very idea of an "illegal" immigrant as a violation of basic human rights and decency.
On the other end of the spectrum you've got something of a mini-spectrum, ranging from "keep them all out" types to "rigorously enforce the border but maintain an immigration system for the most fitting". Controlling one's borders, and having the broad right to refuse entry to foreign citizens if desired, is something seen as integral to the modern Nation-State's sovereignty. If people enter anyway, they should be arrested and sent back. Anyone who wants to enter must do so legally even if it takes them twenty years to gain that legal entry.
And of course there's the routine failure to do much to punish American businesses that make use of UDA labor. They usually get a fine, if anything at all, and the recent chicken planet issue in Mississippi (wasn't it Tyson?) even had the added reports that ICE was called in after the company lost a worker-filed lawsuit about various misdeeds like sexual harassment. In short, the company turned on its workers to avoid having to pay a dime in damages.
And together with all that, now we've got a nice new explosive additive to the mixture with the migrant detention camps and Trump's crackdown. The issue has brought us the reports of actual US citizens of Latino background being arbitrarily picked up by ICE and their documents called into question, the camps becoming cesspools of disease with inadequate facilities and supplies, children being lost or dying, and whether or not Trump and subordinates are deliberately making the camps horrible pour encourager les autres (or, perhaps more accurately, pour décourager les autres). The comparisons to concentration camps have been pushed particularly hard by the Democrats and other forces on the left and we've even had violence from leftists against ICE now by those with such beliefs. (And I'll even credit them the willingness to go to the mat for their beliefs.) That some of the migrants were filing for asylum legitimately and are still being thrown into the camps to be treated like prisoners gives the entire policy a negative light.
There is also the matter of the argument of any problems being related to a lack of funding from Congress (and Trump, given his positions, being unwilling to "find the money" as he has done with his border wall).
Now, personally, I believe in America's right to control its borders. But, I'm not sold on the camp policy as it's being executed. Trump's losing hearts and minds with these reports. Americans may be worried about jobs and other matters about immigrants, but with all of our other old sins like reservations and Japanese internment camps as part of our national memory, poking at that tender memory of hypocrisy against our creed is going to hurt. And the camps have the potential to do just that. And on top of all that, last but certainly not least... these migrants are Human beings. They have the same natural rights as we do, the rights we claim to cherish, and legalism aside, we have a moral and ethical obligation to at least see to their health while we decide their fate and then give them a fair hearing (And I don't mean marching a four year old into court). Whatever our legal requirements or obligations concerning immigrants and our own citizens, this must be addressed, or it's going to be another stain on our national history.
Also some immigration reform wouldn't hurt, but we'd have to decide if we're going for "keep people out" or "be lenient about letting them in", which is a debate I don't see being settled for a time.
Alright everyone. I can't wait to see you tell me what I missed or got wrong. I so love being told I'm wrong.
Roughly speaking (and I fully expect to have people disagree with me on both ends), you've got a spectrum anchored by two sides. On one side are the Open Border advocates, which more and more Democrats (especially Progressive-types) are going toward, who want to basically say "Anyone can move into the US!" They want to dissolve ICE completely (and let's be honest, half of them want to send the agency's members to the Hague) and allow anyone who wants to enter the country to come in, and regard the very idea of an "illegal" immigrant as a violation of basic human rights and decency.
On the other end of the spectrum you've got something of a mini-spectrum, ranging from "keep them all out" types to "rigorously enforce the border but maintain an immigration system for the most fitting". Controlling one's borders, and having the broad right to refuse entry to foreign citizens if desired, is something seen as integral to the modern Nation-State's sovereignty. If people enter anyway, they should be arrested and sent back. Anyone who wants to enter must do so legally even if it takes them twenty years to gain that legal entry.
And of course there's the routine failure to do much to punish American businesses that make use of UDA labor. They usually get a fine, if anything at all, and the recent chicken planet issue in Mississippi (wasn't it Tyson?) even had the added reports that ICE was called in after the company lost a worker-filed lawsuit about various misdeeds like sexual harassment. In short, the company turned on its workers to avoid having to pay a dime in damages.
And together with all that, now we've got a nice new explosive additive to the mixture with the migrant detention camps and Trump's crackdown. The issue has brought us the reports of actual US citizens of Latino background being arbitrarily picked up by ICE and their documents called into question, the camps becoming cesspools of disease with inadequate facilities and supplies, children being lost or dying, and whether or not Trump and subordinates are deliberately making the camps horrible pour encourager les autres (or, perhaps more accurately, pour décourager les autres). The comparisons to concentration camps have been pushed particularly hard by the Democrats and other forces on the left and we've even had violence from leftists against ICE now by those with such beliefs. (And I'll even credit them the willingness to go to the mat for their beliefs.) That some of the migrants were filing for asylum legitimately and are still being thrown into the camps to be treated like prisoners gives the entire policy a negative light.
There is also the matter of the argument of any problems being related to a lack of funding from Congress (and Trump, given his positions, being unwilling to "find the money" as he has done with his border wall).
Now, personally, I believe in America's right to control its borders. But, I'm not sold on the camp policy as it's being executed. Trump's losing hearts and minds with these reports. Americans may be worried about jobs and other matters about immigrants, but with all of our other old sins like reservations and Japanese internment camps as part of our national memory, poking at that tender memory of hypocrisy against our creed is going to hurt. And the camps have the potential to do just that. And on top of all that, last but certainly not least... these migrants are Human beings. They have the same natural rights as we do, the rights we claim to cherish, and legalism aside, we have a moral and ethical obligation to at least see to their health while we decide their fate and then give them a fair hearing (And I don't mean marching a four year old into court). Whatever our legal requirements or obligations concerning immigrants and our own citizens, this must be addressed, or it's going to be another stain on our national history.
Also some immigration reform wouldn't hurt, but we'd have to decide if we're going for "keep people out" or "be lenient about letting them in", which is a debate I don't see being settled for a time.
Alright everyone. I can't wait to see you tell me what I missed or got wrong. I so love being told I'm wrong.