Politics 2016 – Why Donald Trump is dead wrong on immigration

 

Right off the bat, let me start with what may be inconvenient truths for Donald Trump supporters. We are NOT going to build a big, tall, beautiful, impenetrable wall along the U.S. Southern border.  We are not going to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. Mexico will not be paying for said fictional wall, Illegal immigrants are not stealing our jobs, The Mexican Government doe’s not have a program to send their drug dealers, criminals, and rapists to the United States.

If you don’t believe that these truths are self evident, obviously, you are part of the minority who believe all the lies right in front of you. I would suggest that you stop reading right now, go away, and pretend that that this never existed. For everyone else, let’s discuss the actual reality. Let me break this down point by point.

 

Building a Big, Tall, Beautiful, Impenetrable Wall – We already have the most secure Southern border that we have ever had, EVER! In 2016,  we also have the lowest rate of illegal immigration in decades. As a matter of fact we now have ~200,000 undocumented immigrants leaving the United States every year for various reasons.

The President of the United States doe’s not control the purse strings of the budget. That is the constitutional job of Congress. (I am not insinuating that Congress doe’s their job by any means, obviously, they don’t).  It would cost billions of dollars to build a  big tall, beautiful, impenetrable wall.

Donald Trump has stated repeatedly stated that “He is going to build the wall, and Mexico is going to pay for it” Seriously Donald? Both the current and former President’s of Mexico have stated unequivocally that they are not going to pay for any fucking wall. That’s pretty definitive. And frankly why should they?.

Donald Trump stated that he was going to seize a portion of the remittances that Mexicans living in The United States send home to support their families back home to support their families. First of all this would take an act of Congress that would certainly be challenged in the U.S. courts as well as international courts for years. Not to mention how could you even determine these remittances were from undocumented immigrants living in the United States? Is Donald Trump going to seize a portion of a remittance from me to a family in Mexico? I think not Donald.

So, This begs the question, where is the money going to come from? Would Congress even consider such a nonsense multi-billion dollar expenditure? Where would the money come from? Social programs? Defense? Infrastructure? Congress won’t even approve funds for natural disasters in the United States without demanding offsets for other already budgeted programs. Gimme a frigging break. It’s not going to happen and we all know it.

Not to mention, What do you think the majority of the American public is going to think of this multi billion dollar big, tall, beautiful, impenetrable wall, boondoggle? I believe that this will be the biggest political blunder in decades for anyone who would even seriously consider this. Also, since when did our Southern neighbor, and one of our largest North American trading partners become the enemy? Seriously, I think I have made my point.

So what is Donald Trump proposing? Is he advocating a trade war with Mexico who is currently our 3rd largest goods trading partner with $531 billion in total (two way) goods trade during 2015? This would certainly not help American jobs. This would be devastating.

 

We are not going to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants – Lets do some simple math. To deport an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants from The United States would cost billions and billions of dollars. It would take ~1,500 buses per day, 24 hours per day, for two years to accomplish this fools task.

Not to mention the world press documenting “live” families being torn apart, crying, screaming, children being separated from their parents, Aunts, Uncles, Grand Parents, Nieces, Nephews, etc. The United States would have to abandon our core values, and we would certainly become a pariah among industrialized nations. Try to explain that to your children and grand children how we could be so callous and cruel. I have far more faith in the American Public’s values of right and wrong to believe that this scenario could ever actually happen.

If this were to happen, I would mourn the death of the America that was built upon the sacrifices of immigrants that ultimately made The United States the country we have today. This would mean that we are no longer the great republic that our founders envisioned.

Donald Trump says that on day one, he would create a Deportation Task Force (DTF) that would immediately start rounding up two million criminal Mexican illegal Aliens who have committed crimes.  This statement has several issues that conflict with reality.

First of all, congress would have to approve funds and laws to  create such a DTF. Where is the money going to come from? Also why do we need this we already have The Border Patrol and The Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) which already perform these functions.

Any undocumented illegal immigrant who commits serious crimes are already subject to the judicial system and subject to deportation upon release from jail. Any fugitive criminals are subject to capture by U.S. Marshall’s just like any other criminal.

Secondly, Donald Trump constantly cites two million undocumented criminals which he would deport immediately, this is ludicrous. There are considerably less then 200,000.00 illegal undocumented aliens in the country (already in the various steps of the judicial system). This criminal rate is far lower then naturalized American citizens. In order for Donald Trumps two million illegal undocumented aliens to be valid he would have to count not only every criminal case, but every DUI, civil case, parking tickets, and jay walking offences. Really Donald? Were going to deport people for jaywalking and parking tickets?

What about minor children who were born in America and are thus American citizens, are you going to deport American citizens too? Who is going to care for them if you deport their parents? How about people who have been here for so long they don’t speak the language or have any place else to go? I could keep going on and on.

 

Illegal immigrants are not stealing our jobs – The vast majority of undocumented immigrants work in jobs such as; landscaping, housekeepers, day labor, meat packing, construction labor, and agriculture.  All are low paying jobs.

Donald Trump says that freeing up jobs in these areas would make them available to uneducated Americans. He actually said this. Seriously? Let’s take agriculture. There are literally thousands and thousands of farms and ranches in the United States. This is transitory backbreaking work that pays an average of $9.00 per hour. These workers perform back breaking labor intensive work and follow the work from job to job. These workers are transients which follow the work depending on the season or the crop  from Florida, to North Carolina, to Texas, to Georgia, etc.

Farmers and Ranchers have always said that they have always tried to fill these jobs with American citizens but if they do hire one they last for maybe one day, if that and most never show up for the next. Meat packing plants are dangerous and nobody wants to work there for long.

Something tells me that these are not the type of “good” jobs that Donald Trumps uneducated supporters are envisioning.

Many farmers, ranchers and meat packers have already said that if they lose their work forces they would be forced to close and the entire American economy would suffer. Not to worry, Mexico or Canada would be happy to supply us with fruits, vegetables, and meats at a far higher cost with no American jobs created.

Now Donald Trump says that he wants to only bring immigrants into the country that are “highly skilled”. I am fairly certain that this will not make the skilled American workers very happy to hear this. So now we have to compete with foreigh workers who are willing to work for less.

Both Donald Trump and his Daughter Ivanka  are already taking advantage of loopholes in the guest workers visa programs to bring in foreign workers under the H1-B visa program. Donald Trump uses it for workers at his Mira-Lago resort in Florida, and Ivanka Trump for her jewelry business. Guest foreign workers under the H1-B visa program work for a lower rate then American citizens.

Both Donald & Ivanka Trump should be ashamed for putting profits above the needs of American citizens. They are both lairs & hypocrites for saying anything otherwise.

Virtually all main stream economists agree that undocumented immigrants pay far more in benefits to the economy then they receive. They pay taxes, buy goods and services, etc.  Donald trump falsely claims that they receive Social Security benefits, Obamacare hearth insurance, food stamps, and disability. This is a blatant lie.

 

The Mexican Government doe’s not have a program to send their drug dealers, criminals, and rapists to the United States – Seriously Donald?  There has never been any evidence, or proof, or even a suspicion, or allegation that the Mexican Government haa anything to do with Mexican citizens crossing the border into The United States. Most if not all undocumented Mexican immigrants come to The United States either to be with family, or to create a better life for themselves, and their families.  No one actually believes this lie except for you’re uneducated wing-nut supporters.

 

So what is the solution? – It’s a fairly straight forward answer. Pass sensible immigration reform with a pathway to legal work permits,  permanent residency or citizenship for undocumented immigrants  who have a job, have not committed and serious crimes, and finally bring them out of the shadows for good. Only then can we truly make America into the image that the founding fathers envisioned.

 

As Always,

I am Tom Dye, The Safety Guy

09/01/2016