Tag: Immigration Debate

Waiting On A ‘Gold Card’

This is not the same thing as your Visa gold card….this is in reference to the US visa that the Trump Administration is selling….you are surely heard the term ‘green card’…..well this is a visa that rich people can pay to enter the US.

President Trump teased a new visa program Tuesday with something “like a green card,” but his favorite color: gold. Trump said the gold card, with “a higher level of sophistication,” would offer “very high-level people” a new “route to citizenship”—for the cost of $5 million, per the New York Times. “Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card” and receiving “green card privileges,” said Trump, who spoke to reporters while signing various executive orders, per CNN.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said “the Trump gold card” would replace the EB-5 visa program, under which investors and their families can receive permanent residence if they make a significant investment in a US business that creates or preserves 10 permanent full-time jobs for US workers. Trump said the wealthy foreigners buying gold cards would be “people that create jobs,” without giving details, per the Times.

“They’ll have to go through vetting, of course,” Lutnick said, per CNN, “to make sure they’re wonderful world-class global citizens.” Asked if a Russian oligarch would be eligible, Trump replied, “Yeah, possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are nice people.” “I think they can afford $5 million,” he continued. He predicted the government would be able to sell a million or more gold cards starting in about two weeks. “If you add up the numbers, they’re pretty good,” he said.

A new way for the rich to come here and become a parasite on the American system.

The precedes would go to pay off the national debt….

President Donald Trump believes he can pay off America’s $36 trillion national debt by charging rich immigrants $5 million for a gold card—which has green card privileges “plus a route to citizenship.”

President Trump made the impromptu announcement in the Oval Office yesterday, telling reporters: “Remember the words gold card.”

The president said he had planned to make the announcement next week but seized the opportunity to share the news while signing executive orders on Tuesday.

As a result, details of what the gold card will entail are still sparse, but the Republican politician said: “Wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card. They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people.

They will come and pay lots of taxes……who believes that fairy tale?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The H-1B Debate Erupts.

Today is National Bacon Day and what better time to post on the pigs that will be running this country?

A minor buckle in the MAGA loyalists over a special visa for those ‘elite workers’…..it seems some of Trumpies picks for high position are not natural Americans and got where they are by this special visa and this set off a heated debate.

A “civil war” of sorts broke out over the weekend in MAGA world, pitting far-right Trump supporters against the billionaire tech-bro contingent. The fight started Sunday when President-elect Trump announced he’d chosen venture capitalist and India native Sriram Krishnan as a senior policy adviser on artificial intelligence. That “triggered an anti-Indian backlash,” per Axios, which notes that part of the pushback against Krishnan has centered on his advocacy for lifting caps on H-1B visas. More:

  • H-1B: CNN notes that this specific visa program allows 65,000 “highly skilled” workers into the US annually, with another 20,000 granted the paperwork if they obtained an advanced degree in the US. The tech sector especially makes use of this visa—including Trump ally Elon Musk, who first came to the US as a foreign student and then worked here on an H-1B visa.
  • Ready, set, fight: Newsweek has a timeline, starting with a series of disparaging tweets from Trump loyalist Laura Loomer. On Monday, she called the selection of Krishnan “deeply disturbing,” adding that his views are “in direct opposition” to Trump’s “America First” agenda. In a follow-up tweet on Christmas Eve, she noted “our country was built by white Europeans, actually. Not third world invaders from India.”
  • Musk: The new Trump BFF weighed in next in support of drawing highly skilled workers from other countries, writing on Christmas: “The number of people who are super talented engineers AND super motivated in the USA is far too low. Think of this like a pro sports team: if you want your TEAM to win the championship, you need to recruit top talent wherever they may be. That enables the whole TEAM to win.”
  • Ramaswamy: Vivek Ramaswamy’s comments came Thursday, spurring accusations of “elitist rhetoric,” per the Times of India. In a lengthy tweet, Ramaswamy accused American culture of fostering “mediocrity.” “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” he wrote. “More movies like Whiplash, fewer reruns of Friends. More math tutoring, fewer sleepovers. More weekend science competitions, fewer Saturday morning cartoons.”
  • More reaction: Other big names in the GOP sphere pushed back at Musk and Ramaswamy. “There is nothing wrong with American workers or American culture,” posted former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. “We should be investing and prioritizing in Americans, not foreign workers.” Ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz weighed in on the “tech bros”: “We did not ask them to engineer an immigration policy.”
  • Musk turns on Loomer: When Loomer insinuated that a rift was growing between Trump and his Silicon Valley pals, and that DOGE is a “vanity project,” Musk called her a “troll,” per the New Republic. Loomer also insisted Friday that Musk was retaliating by taking away her blue check and subscriptions on X, the social media platform he owns.
  • Trump’s take: The former and future commander in chief slammed restricted H-1B visas somewhat during his first term. However, in a podcast this past June, Trump appeared to have softened his stance, noting that he believed any foreign national who graduated from an American college should be eligible for permanent residency.
  • What’s next? Per Axios, this “tense MAGA vs. DOGE moment” will “potentially settle a looming conflict over who has the most influence in Trump 2.0—his historic base or his newfound techno-libertarian allies.” “It’s a sign of future conflicts,” warns Samuel Hammond, senior economist at the Foundation for American Innovation, per the Washington Post. “This is like the pregame.”

Damn foreigners!

This minor ‘civil war’ will be fascinating to watch and see how dear Donald handles this….

Damn I love this stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Big Immigration Crackdown

According to the promise of our new fearless leader there will be a massive crackdown on immigration….farmers are trying to head this off at the pass….but this ‘promise’ is nothing new…..it happened back in the mid to late 19th century and it was the Chinese that was the anger of the people.

That’s right yet another opportunity for me to drop some history and maybe some knowledge of things to come.

This is a detail look at what transpired around what became known as the “Chinese Exclusion Act”…..

This 1882 law is now popularly known as “the Chinese Exclusion Act.” It banned both skilled and unskilled Chinese laborers from immigrating to the US for ten years. Symbolically and politically, this bill was a big deal: it was the first significant crackdown on immigration in American history, a message that the federal government opposed Chinese immigration, and a reaffirmation that Chinese immigrants already in America could never become citizens.

However, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was just one in a series of federal laws against Chinese immigrants — and, as Beth Lew-Williams makes clear in The Chinese Must Go, this 1882 law was actually quite ineffective. Basically, President Arthur and Congress threw a bone to the insurgent anti-Chinese movement, but they provided few resources for federal enforcement against Chinese immigration and introduced a bunch of loopholes that allowed Chinese immigrants to continue coming in.

In the years after the Act’s passage, West Coast newspapers and populist agitators grew angry that Chinese immigrants were still entering the country and demanded that the government do more. This was the beginning of what you might call the national fight against “illegal immigration” — because before this virtually all immigration to the United States was legal.

Historians have found that the economies of towns suffered after they kicked out their Chinese residents.

So, if there’s a lesson from Qian’s study, it’s that, yes, maybe immigration restrictions and expulsions or deportations can actually help some native workers. But, really, the cost is tremendous — not just for the immigrants themselves but also for almost everyone else.

https://www.npr.org/sections/planet-money/2024/11/26/g-s1-35805/chinese-expulsion-act-railroads-immigration-crackdown

Please read the entire article…..there was a huge cost to this crackdown as there will be if another one takes place.

If you worry about the economy then maybe Trump’s big idea will not play well as it did in the 19th century.

Class dismissed!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden On Immigration–2024

The GOP has been hammering Biden on his lack of substance on immigration……now that the election is just months away he will try and silence some of the criticism with the use of the Executive Order process.

Plus this should provide a much needed diversion from is limp wrist policies toward Israel.

President Biden, under increasing heat to stem the number of migrants crossing the border, is expected to unveil his most aggressive move yet Tuesday in the form of an executive order. The New York Times reports that the order would essentially seal the Mexican border when the number of migrants reaches a certain threshold by prohibiting anyone who crossed the border illegally from claiming asylum. Instead, border officials would be allowed to quickly deport the migrants back to Mexico or their home country, per the Wall Street Journal.

Biden is expected to sign the measure at the White House in the company of mayors from border towns, per the AP. However, whether such an order can withstand a legal challenge is uncertain. The Journal notes that then-President Trump attempted to enforce a “nearly identical ban” back in 2018, but a federal court blocked him on the grounds that it violated longstanding asylum laws allowing anyone to seek asylum no matter how they entered the country.

Immigration has emerged as a top issue in the presidential campaign, with Trump and Republicans criticizing Biden as too soft on the issue. CNN reports that the White House is pushing to put something in place before the first Trump-Biden debate on June 27. While details remain under wraps, the Times calls the broad strokes of the plan “the single most restrictive border policy instituted by Mr. Biden, or any modern Democrat.”

This will do little to solve any problems we have at our borders or to silence that constant nagging by the GOP….it may give him a short burst of support before the election.

This will not solve any problems or help the criticisms….it will make the MSM happy for there will be yet another news story for them to blow out of proportion.

Will this satisfy the armchair geniuses?

Doubtful!

Onward and upward….as they say….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Will I Be Deported?

That is probably the main question on immigrants minds these days.

But should it be on the minds of citizens?

It appears that Trump made a comment about deporting American citizens during one of his recent campaign stops…..

Donald Trump hosted back-to-back rallies in two states on Tuesday, using his time to attack President Joe Biden’s immigration policies and make some extreme promises in regard to his own agenda for the U.S.-Mexico border. That included claiming he’d deport U.S. citizens if undocumented migrants were found “invading” their homes.

“If your constitutional rights have been violated, we will defend you. If you have illegal aliens invading your home, we will deport you,” Trump said during an event in Wisconsin, his second stop of the night.

The claim, which is alarmingly similar to the policies of another far-right leader who punished civilians for hiding Jews in their homes, could be a direct attack on a controversial program announced last month by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s administration. Whitmer’s new policy offers $500 subsidies for households that volunteered to shelter refugees.

Or, if the phrasing was just another verbal gaffe, it would add to a mountain of evidence that Trump is losing his grip. Over the last several months, Trump has claimed that there were “millions of people” arriving from “places unknown” speaking no language and that he would stop banks from “debanking” Americans; he has mixed up former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and described his plan for America’s missile defense system by going, “Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.… Boom. OK. Missile launch. Woosh. Boom.”

https://newrepublic.com/post/180380/trump-immigration-threat-wonder-all-there

I think Trump had a brain fart but knowing his attitude and hard core BS I would put nothing past this ‘person’ if he were to be elected president.

Would you?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Senate Border Deal

The biggest story so far this year has been the crisis on our Southern border and this problem is giving the GOP lots of false support in the upcoming election cycle.

A Senate committee has come together giving a bi-partisan approach to this situation….a deal, in my opinion, stinks.

Senators on Sunday released a highly anticipated $118 billion package that pairs border enforcement policy with wartime aid for Ukraine, Israel, and other US allies, setting off a long-shot effort to push the bill through heavy skepticism from Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, the AP reports. The proposal could be the best chance for President Joe Biden to resupply Ukraine with wartime aid—a major foreign policy goal that is shared with both the Senate’s top Democrat, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and top Republican, Sen. Mitch McConnell. It is still unclear if the bill will pass in the Senate, which is expected this week to hold a key test vote on the legislation, but it faces a wall of opposition from conservatives.

With Congress stalled on approving $60 billion in Ukraine aid, the US has halted shipments of ammunition and missiles to Kyiv, leaving Ukrainian soldiers outgunned as they try to beat back Russia’s invasion. Biden said in a statement that the Senate proposal “allows the United States to continue our vital work, together with partners all around the world, to stand up for Ukraine’s freedom and support its ability to defend itself against Russia’s aggression.” And on the border, Biden said that the immigration system has been broken for too long, and it’s time to fix it. “It will make our country safer, make our border more secure, treat people fairly and humanely while preserving legal immigration, consistent with our values as a nation,” Biden said.

The new bill would also invest in US defense manufacturing, send $14 billion in military aid to Israel, steer nearly $5 billion to allies in the Asia-Pacific, and provide humanitarian assistance to civilians caught in conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. In a call with reporters after releasing the legislation, Schumer said he has never worked so closely with McConnell. He called the bill a “monumental step” toward strengthening national security at home and abroad. McConnell said in a statement that the Senate must be “prepared to act.” In a bid to overcome opposition from House Republicans, McConnell had insisted last year that border policy changes be included in the national security funding package. More on those changes, resistance to the bill on both sides, plus a potential House bill some senators prefer, here.

The Senate bill would authorize $60 billion to spend on the proxy war in Ukraine and $4.8 billion to “support key regional partners in the Indo-Pacific,” a portion of which will go toward replenishing arms sent to Taiwan.

The bill also provides $2.44 billion to US Central Command and to “address combat expenditures related to the conflict in the Red Sea,” where US naval forces have been bombing Yemen and downing Houthi drones and missiles. Since January 12, the US has bombed Yemen at least 16 times, and the situation in the region continues to escalate as the Houthis are not backing down.

I think this bill is dead on arrival in the House….but that is not why I think it sucks.

The bill should be about the situation on the border and none of it should be trying to sneak cash in for these proxy wars we keep fighting.

Those situations should be handled by a stand alone bill not masked by some perceived problem elsewhere.

If our Congress cannot find the cash for these wars then it is time to say f*ck it and move on to other situations that need attention.

But we have not heard the last of the border or the blood money for Israel and Ukraine.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Damn Open Borders

I am sick of these ‘people’ that keep harping on the Biden policy of open borders…..it is total fantasy.

In reality there is very little difference between Biden’s policies and that of his opponent, Trump, when he was president.

But no one wants to look at the stats it is so much easier to whine about the borders and believe the total manure spread by conservatives and ignorant Dems.

Here is something the conservs and their butt buddies will not tell you….

According to new data published last month, the Biden Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has removed a higher percentage of arrested border crossers in its first two years than the Trump DHS did over its last two years. Moreover, migrants were more likely to be released after a border arrest under President Trump than under President Biden.

In absolute terms, the Biden DHS is removing 3.5 times as many people per month as the Trump DHS did. These figures are important for understanding how each administration has carried out border enforcement

During the Trump administration, DHS made 1.4 million arrests—what it calls “encounters”—in fiscal years 2019 and 2020 (24 months). Of those people arrested, only 47 percent were removed as of December 31, 2021, which includes people arrested by Trump and removed by Biden, and 52 percent were released into the United States.

Under Biden, DHS made over 5 million arrests in its first 26.3 months, and it removed nearly 2.6 million—51 percent—while releasing only 49 percent. In other words, the Trump DHS removed a minority of those arrested while the Biden DHS removed a majority. Biden managed to increase the removal share while also increasing the total removals by a factor of 3.5

https://www.cato.org/blog/new-data-show-migrants-were-more-likely-be-released-trump-biden

But instead of looking at the figures they had rather want you to watch a video of all the detainees with those flimsy blankets and tell us that they all are getting EBT cards and such….it is manure!

“Open Borders’ means that people can just walk in and get a handshake and move on….that is not so….yes they sneak in but they are caught detained and sent packing.

“Open Borders” is just a dog whistle for racists and haters.

You will hear a lot of bullshit from the right wing media and dullard bloggers but there is not much truth in the crap….

Debunking the Top Myths about Immigration in the United States

If that is tool cerebral then how about this one….

https://www.carnegie.org/our-work/article/15-myths-about-immigration-debunked/

Do not listen or believe the rantings of liars, con men and haters.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

DACA Saved! (For Now)

We all know how much the Trumpian thugs hate immigrants and has been trying to end the DACA program….and their latest attack on immigrants has gone down in defeat….as it should…..

Looks like DACA was wrongly suspended this summer because the acting Homeland Security chief didn’t belong there—at least not in the eyes of the law, NBC News reports. Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled Saturday that Chad Wolf, acting Homeland Security secretary, “was not lawfully serving” in the role when he suspended the so-called “Dream Act” in July. The Obama-era program protects migrants brought illegally to the US as children. The Garaufis ruling means “the effort in the Wolf memo to gut the DACA program is overturned,” said a lawyer involved in the case. “This is really a hopeful day for a lot of young people across the country.”

Garaufis explained that when former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stepped down, she was replaced by Kevin McAleenan even though he wasn’t authorized to do so, per Law & Crime. That means McAleenan’s delegation of the position to Wolf was not “authorized” and Wolf’s suspension of DACA “was not an exercise of legal authority,” the judge said. Wolf made the move after the US Supreme Court blocked a Trump administration effort to terminate the program. CBS News reports that the ruling affects hundreds of thousands of people who can be shielded from deportation by DACA. CNN reports that the US government can appeal the ruling.

You realize that they use that immigrants are a drain on our resources and country…..well that may not be true at all….

The administration has said that refugees – those forced to leave their country to escape war or persecution – do not benefit the U.S. economy. It has portrayed refugees as a drain on resources and argued that a lower number of refugees is required to prioritize the well-being of Americans.

This feeds into the perception among some Americans that immigrants come to this country and either take their jobs or do not work at all and live off of welfare. Both those ideas are false.

In my research, I have found that refugees are far from an economic drain. They are quick to integrate into local economies. And nationally they have high labor force participation rates, which includes people who are employed or looking for employment.

https://theconversation.com/refugees-dont-undermine-the-us-economy-they-energize-it-147146

There is a reason the Trump and the gang do not like facts and figures……those prove them wrong every time.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

All Those Immigration Promises

I am sure that as the 2020 general kicks off then immigration will be more in the news than now…..so let’s look at the topic.

2016 election had Trump promising to end immigration and he had so many plans that he promised he would get on on day one (damn I hate that statement)…..

Does anyone remember all the promises? (Wait here for thought and an answer…..Hahahaha….like that will happen)

How many have been kept?

Yes I know he has started building a wall we do not need……but what abut the others?

Luckily you do not have to use your intellect or Google…..I have the answer ………

President Donald Trump has promised to make big changes on immigration since he was a candidate.

“The truth is our immigration system is worse than anybody ever realized,” the president said.

Among them, build a southern border wall, remove undocumented immigrants, cancel funding for sanctuary cities and other sanctuary jurisdictions, suspend immigration from certain countries, limit legal immigration, and end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

We’ll cover the border wall and DACA in separate stories, but here’s a closer look at some of these other promises.

“There are vast numbers of additional criminal illegal immigrants who have fled, but their days have run out in this country. The crime will stop. They’re going to be gone. It will be over,” the president said.

On the campaign trail, President Trump said he’d remove all undocumented immigrants from the U.S., especially those who had committed crimes. Pew Research estimated there were about 10.5 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. in 2017.

https://www.newsy.com/stories/trump-has-had-a-lot-of-immigration-plans-here-s-where-they-are/

In Trump’s defense….he is NOT the only president to promise and fail to deliver…..most times it was just a way to convince people to vote for them and they never had any intention of carrying the promises forward.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Oops! (The Border Wall)

Remember that “wonderful” border wall that is now being built?

If not let me refresh your memory on what the president has said about the wall…..

“Now, the wall still, obviously, has a ways to go, but we’re building it at a breakneck speed. I wanted them to show you the interior of parts of the wall and what’s inside of each individual slat. And you’ll see it’s a combination of steel, concrete, and — as one of the folks just said — it really is virtually impenetrable. Any walls that were put up would get knocked down very quickly, very easily. This wall is not something that can be really knocked down. I guess anything can, but this is very tough.

And it goes down six feet. It’s three and four feet wide. The concrete — you see it right here; it’s exposed. And I might ask General Semonite to say a few words about it.

And I’d like to bring them right up — look at the inner tube — to see what happens. Because after the wall is up, we pour concrete, and concrete goes into the tube. And in addition to that, we have rebar. So if you think you’re going to cut it with a blowtorch, that doesn’t work because you hit concrete. And then if you think you’re going to go through the concrete, that doesn’t work because we have very powerful rebar inside.

So it’s a very powerful, very powerful wall — the likes of which, probably, to this extent, has not been built before.”

(Pres. Trump Sep 2019)

I refresh your memory because I want to explain the title of “Oops!”…….

A newly installed section of border wall toppled over onto the Mexican side amid high winds Wednesday. Steel barriers had been erected between Mexicali and Calexico, Calif., but a concrete base had not yet cured when the 30-foot-high panels fell onto trees lining a parallel street, reports the Guardian. “Luckily, Mexican authorities responded quickly and were able to divert traffic from the nearby street,” Border Patrol agent Carlos Pitones tells the Los Angeles Times. “We are grateful there was no property damage or injuries,” he adds, per CNN, which notes wind gusts in the area reached as high as 37mph on Wednesday.

The section of wall, part of an effort to replace 11 miles of existing barrier, has since been re-erected. Customs and Border Protection “will work with the construction contractor to mitigate the impact of high winds as construction continues,” Pitones tells the Times. The outlet reports “the barrier is constructed of steel bollards filled with concrete and rebar, then topped with metal plates.”

If a bit of wind toppled it how can we expect it to hold up to determined violators of our immigration laws?

More money that has been pissed away…..

How fucking sad!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”