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>These people are americans now. No, they aren't all citizens... ...This is their home as much as it is yours or mine. I don't...look. All I want to say is: I

>These people are americans now. No, they aren't all citizens... ...This is their home as much as it is yours or mine. I don't...look. All I want to say is: I hope you're aware that you're making enemies with statements like this.

Kurtz79 9y ago
You too. Luckily most people are able to read a comment from a random person on the Internet, classify it as a different opinion from theirs and go on with their lives.
- dropit_sphere 9y ago
  I'm aware, and it makes me sad. But I think I understand why---that is, I am some form of selfish racist, ignorant and bigoted, liable to give moral cover to a return to Emmett Till-style lynchings, hiring discrimination, or perhaps unsafe working environments. I should cast aside my fear and prejudice, realize that all humans deserve dignity, and take an Econ 101 class. In other words, I think I can understand the views I'm criticizing. I do not get the sense that the same is true of the comment to which I replied. It seems to carry a level of tone-deafness that would be mystified by any pushback.
  - eli_gottlieb 9y ago
    >In other words, I think I can understand the views I'm criticizing. No, you've missed the very simplest critique of the US immigration system: that it takes years to decades of effort and incredible, Kafkaesque arbitrary hoop-jumping to get an actual Green Card, let alone an American citizenship. The system is legible neither to its owners (Congress) nor to its users (immigrants and visitors). We can talk about sending "temporary" immigrants home when we've stopped making "permanent" immigrants (those on immigrant-track visas) go through hell just to turn their visa into citizenship. Let's naturalize the people we already have living and working in the country, and then talk about reforming our system for granting further visas into a nice sensible points system.

Kurtz79 9y ago

You too. Luckily most people are able to read a comment from a random person on the Internet, classify it as a different opinion from theirs and go on with their lives.

dropit_sphere 9y ago
I'm aware, and it makes me sad. But I think I understand why---that is, I am some form of selfish racist, ignorant and bigoted, liable to give moral cover to a return to Emmett Till-style lynchings, hiring discrimination, or perhaps unsafe working environments. I should cast aside my fear and prejudice, realize that all humans deserve dignity, and take an Econ 101 class. In other words, I think I can understand the views I'm criticizing. I do not get the sense that the same is true of the comment to which I replied. It seems to carry a level of tone-deafness that would be mystified by any pushback.
- eli_gottlieb 9y ago
  >In other words, I think I can understand the views I'm criticizing. No, you've missed the very simplest critique of the US immigration system: that it takes years to decades of effort and incredible, Kafkaesque arbitrary hoop-jumping to get an actual Green Card, let alone an American citizenship. The system is legible neither to its owners (Congress) nor to its users (immigrants and visitors). We can talk about sending "temporary" immigrants home when we've stopped making "permanent" immigrants (those on immigrant-track visas) go through hell just to turn their visa into citizenship. Let's naturalize the people we already have living and working in the country, and then talk about reforming our system for granting further visas into a nice sensible points system.