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Anyone who understands this issue, really understands it, knows: 1. Congress can act tomorrow and improve immigration process/treatment. They won't because pol

Anyone who understands this issue, really understands it, knows: 1. Congress can act tomorrow and improve immigration process/treatment. They won't because politics. 2. Foreign actors have and continue to use immigration as a weapon, against the US and against the immigrants themselves. 3. Walls work. They are far from perfect and far better than nothing. 4. Immigration is actually critical US economic health. The country needs more immigrants. A combination of political manipulation, orange-man bad, and wishful thinking has turned this issue on its head; and its a corollary to the larger problem of division in this country and both sides unwillingness to build bridges with each other. Not sure how we survive if we cannot come together in spite of our strongly held differences.

kypro 6y ago
> 4. Immigration is actually critical US economic health. The country needs more immigrants. This is true in some ways and false in so many others that I hate when people say this. I can't speak directly to the USA, but I can only assume it's similar to the situation we have in the UK. Here it's true that certain demographics of immigrants are a net-positive to the UK economy. Specifically, Indian and EEA migrants are very beneficial. However this doesn't mean the vast majority of immigrants are beneficial to the UK economy. Many immigrant groups contribute less in taxes which creates a fiscal deficit which other groups need to pick up. For example, as a group non-EEA migrants added £9bn to the deficit in 2016/17. [1] Because the data is clear that non-EEA migrants are a net-negative to UK tax payers you'll often see economists and reporters try to justify non-EEA immigration by reporting the benefits in terms of GDP. To the average, economically uninformed person it sounds great that non-EEA immigrants raise GDP, but it's obviously the wrong metric to use unless you aspire to have an economy like Chinas or Indias where sheer population size makes up for low per capita GDP. And this isn't even considering all the negative effects mass-migration has on communities here in the UK or the increased job competition seen by lower skilled workers. I have an elderly relative who no longer recognises the community he grew up in. He's lived in the same tower block for over 40 years and when he moved in almost everyone was British. Today he may be the only British person left. None of his neighbours celebrates Christmas. The notices and signs in the tower block are written in Arabic. The shops in his area feature Arabic signage and sell foreign produce... While I don't have a problem with any individual culture in the UK, I am sceptical that this kind of cultural transformation which is occurring in many parts of the UK (and US) today is in the interest of the average Brit or American. So to be clear, the US & UK don't need more immigrants. What we need is more of the right kind of immigrants. We need people who want to work and integrate into our communities. We want people with skills who are able to pay more in taxes than they take out. However, the conversation around immigration has become so black and white that it's impossible to argue for sanity. [1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/741926/Final_EEA_report.PDF https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...

kypro 6y ago

> 4. Immigration is actually critical US economic health. The country needs more immigrants. This is true in some ways and false in so many others that I hate when people say this. I can't speak directly to the USA, but I can only assume it's similar to the situation we have in the UK. Here it's true that certain demographics of immigrants are a net-positive to the UK economy. Specifically, Indian and EEA migrants are very beneficial. However this doesn't mean the vast majority of immigrants are beneficial to the UK economy. Many immigrant groups contribute less in taxes which creates a fiscal deficit which other groups need to pick up. For example, as a group non-EEA migrants added £9bn to the deficit in 2016/17. [1] Because the data is clear that non-EEA migrants are a net-negative to UK tax payers you'll often see economists and reporters try to justify non-EEA immigration by reporting the benefits in terms of GDP. To the average, economically uninformed person it sounds great that non-EEA immigrants raise GDP, but it's obviously the wrong metric to use unless you aspire to have an economy like Chinas or Indias where sheer population size makes up for low per capita GDP. And this isn't even considering all the negative effects mass-migration has on communities here in the UK or the increased job competition seen by lower skilled workers. I have an elderly relative who no longer recognises the community he grew up in. He's lived in the same tower block for over 40 years and when he moved in almost everyone was British. Today he may be the only British person left. None of his neighbours celebrates Christmas. The notices and signs in the tower block are written in Arabic. The shops in his area feature Arabic signage and sell foreign produce... While I don't have a problem with any individual culture in the UK, I am sceptical that this kind of cultural transformation which is occurring in many parts of the UK (and US) today is in the interest of the average Brit or American. So to be clear, the US & UK don't need more immigrants. What we need is more of the right kind of immigrants. We need people who want to work and integrate into our communities. We want people with skills who are able to pay more in taxes than they take out. However, the conversation around immigration has become so black and white that it's impossible to argue for sanity. [1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/741926/Final_EEA_report.PDF https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...