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Does anybody else see the irony in the contrast between this story and the current US-Mex border situation? We expend so much time and effort to harass people

by nugget 12y ago

Does anybody else see the irony in the contrast between this story and the current US-Mex border situation? We expend so much time and effort to harass people who fly in, while every day thousands of other people simply walk over the border without permission and are then relocated within the US with very little threat of deportation[1], and eventual amnesty in the cards. I'm not for a border fence or massive forced deportations, but the imbalance here sticks out to me like a sore thumb. [1] http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-deportations-20140402-story.html#page=1 http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-obama-deportations-20140...

john_b 12y ago
What source(s) do you have for the "no threat of deportation" claim? I have known some immigrants who feared this every day of their lives, and the worry and stress it causes them is tremendous. I find it hard to believe that someone who walks over the border with no paperwork does not feel that pressure.
maxerickson 12y ago
There's plenty of time and effort spent harassing people coming in over the land border too. I expect there would be more people coming in that way without that effort. I don't think I agree with the current U.S. border policy, but I don't see how we get from where we are to not having one. There is also probably some sense in aligning enforcement with stated policy. (I'm not sure that last bit is clear, but I mean if the rule says you have to have a visa, it makes sense for the guards/agents/whatever to just enforce that, not try to decide if the visa is really needed in each different situation)
- nugget 12y ago
  The United States is a nation of immigrants and as a US citizen I have no problem welcoming more people in. One of my all-time favorite poems is The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, made famous by its association with the Statue of Liberty, where it is now stamped on the base of the granite pedestal: "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" At the same time, I work twenty feet from an extremely talented British product manager who wants nothing more than to qualify for a green card and become a US permanent resident. I've watched him jump through hoop after hoop for years, spending thousands of dollars in the process, afraid to travel overseas for a family funeral because of re-entry concerns. Meanwhile he watches hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants cross the border, settle, and start vocally advocating for their rights. My heart breaks sometimes for him and his family. Our system is totally broken and I don't know what the answer is either.
  - T-hawk 12y ago
    Tell him he's looking at selection bias. The immigrants he sees here represent a very small fraction of those who have tried to enter the US. Those are the few that succeeded in either satisfying or dodging the process, not the bulk that get rejected by it or sit on waiting lists. He should be comparing himself to the typical outcome of a would-be immigrant (never passing the border at all), not to outliers cherrypicked to only be observed after they have already succeeded.

by nugget 12y ago

john_b 12y ago

What source(s) do you have for the "no threat of deportation" claim? I have known some immigrants who feared this every day of their lives, and the worry and stress it causes them is tremendous. I find it hard to believe that someone who walks over the border with no paperwork does not feel that pressure.

maxerickson 12y ago

There's plenty of time and effort spent harassing people coming in over the land border too. I expect there would be more people coming in that way without that effort. I don't think I agree with the current U.S. border policy, but I don't see how we get from where we are to not having one. There is also probably some sense in aligning enforcement with stated policy. (I'm not sure that last bit is clear, but I mean if the rule says you have to have a visa, it makes sense for the guards/agents/whatever to just enforce that, not try to decide if the visa is really needed in each different situation)

nugget 12y ago
The United States is a nation of immigrants and as a US citizen I have no problem welcoming more people in. One of my all-time favorite poems is The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus, made famous by its association with the Statue of Liberty, where it is now stamped on the base of the granite pedestal: "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" At the same time, I work twenty feet from an extremely talented British product manager who wants nothing more than to qualify for a green card and become a US permanent resident. I've watched him jump through hoop after hoop for years, spending thousands of dollars in the process, afraid to travel overseas for a family funeral because of re-entry concerns. Meanwhile he watches hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants cross the border, settle, and start vocally advocating for their rights. My heart breaks sometimes for him and his family. Our system is totally broken and I don't know what the answer is either.
- T-hawk 12y ago
  Tell him he's looking at selection bias. The immigrants he sees here represent a very small fraction of those who have tried to enter the US. Those are the few that succeeded in either satisfying or dodging the process, not the bulk that get rejected by it or sit on waiting lists. He should be comparing himself to the typical outcome of a would-be immigrant (never passing the border at all), not to outliers cherrypicked to only be observed after they have already succeeded.