Immigration is completely out of control (1 Viewer)

[SystemShock]

A couple of days ago, one of the main US-MX border points of entry was blocked by 1000's of migrants demanding entry into the country, which caused chaos for those who lawfully cross the border on business, for work, or for delivery of goods, both ways.

Lawful border crossings are getting progressively worse across the border, and drug cartels are finding it easier to move product, as the CBP has to transfer personnel and efforts to the processing of migrants.

It's not different on MX's South border. Yesterday, ~5000 migrants stormed into Chiapas all the way to the INM building (INM is immigration) running over fences, barricades, and elements of the National Guard. They are now taking over an ecological park in Tapachula, Chiapas, which it's going to be severely affected, as it's been the case with just about everywhere migrants squat.

Unfortunately, Juan Trump (that's Donald Trump's pet name for the President of México) was bamboozled by his "friend" Donald into making MX a "lobby" for migrants trying to reach the U.S.

Many people would argue that migrants are "good for the economy", but that is not always the case. Billions of dollars leave the U.S. economy every year, because migrants send money from the U.S. to other countries to support families there. The biggest destinations are India and MX, to the tune of 100 billion dollars in 2023 alone, according to the Bank of México (kind of like the MX version of the Fed). These billions of dollars do not circulate in the U.S. economy.

Speaking of inflation, the past year, the U.S. dollar has lost ~20% of its value against the MX peso. One of the main reasons for it, is the amount of money being sent to MX from the U.S. And MX is the U.S. 2nd largest trading partner.

Gregg Abbott is a lot of things, but I don't blame him for his attempts at curbing the hordes of people demanding entry into the U.S., even the busing of migrants to other States, making some put their money where their mouth is, like the Mayor of NYC, who was so welcoming of migrants, until he he got a taste, then went crying to the federal government for more money, while the shelters were at full capacity; shelters which BTW serve the NYC poor as well.

And please, no one mention a wall. There is a wall. A wall can be climbed; a wall can be dug under.; holes can be punched through walls.

 

[SystemShock]

I just saw this-I do remember that the US was negotiating with Mexico, but didn’t realize an agreement had been reached.

Hmmm... that's not entirely accurate, to put it mildly.
Biden and AMLO have spoken about immigration, and the last talks were 12/28 with AMLO, Blinken, and Mayorkas, but they only agreed to work on an agreement later this year. About the only thing they agreed on, is that they "needed to be vigilant" to prevent border crossing closure that affect commerce between MX and the U.S.

As for any statistics about illegal crossings, as I said before, they need more context... you can't count illegal crossings you don't see. Are illegal crossings down because less people are crossing illegally, or because less people are getting arrested? Are you letting more people in without proper vetting and thus not consider them "illegal"?

What I know, the flux of migrants through the GUA-MX border has not subsided. Back in October a 7,000 people caravan crossed the border... then this past December it was 8,000.

And BTW, it's not just the caravans. There are a lot of migrants who don't participate in caravans, taking buses from one border to another.

 

[Optimus Prime]

DES MOINES — The grocery store had been her American Dream, but now Norah Innis wondered if she’d be better off bolting the doors and moving back to Liberia.


Sales were down. Rent was harder to pay. And campaign ads dominating Iowa’s screens and airwaves ahead of the first Republican showdown of 2024 seemed to paint immigrants like her as the enemy.


She worried the rhetoric could fuel violence.
“It scares me,” said Innis, 60, tying plastic bags of peanuts in her shop catering to West African transplants, the Celebrity International Store. “It scares me a lot.”

As the race for the White House officially kicks off and GOP contenders jostle for votes before next week’s Iowa caucuses, people who’ve settled here from all over the world say the intensifying spotlight on border security and caustic language lobbed by Republican candidates has filled them with dread.


The fire hose of campaign vitriol targeting “undocumented” or “illegal” migrants crushes room for nuanced debate, some say, threatening to demonize anyone who looks foreign.

Naturalized citizens fear their neighbors might lump them in the same category as “criminals” and “terrorists,” and even those who agree with cracking down on unauthorized entry are disturbed by the relentless condemnation of people they see as fleeing danger or seeking a better life……

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/01/10/iowa-immigrants-trump-republican-ads/

 

[MT15]

Trump has the very best supporters.

 

[Optimus Prime]

Trumpist Republicans are using the surge of illegal immigration at the southern border of the US, as well as a surge of migrants seeking legal asylum, to threaten a government shutdown and no added funds for Ukraine.

They’re using five lies to make their case.

1. They claim Biden doesn’t want to stem illegal immigration and has created an “open border”.

Rubbish. Since he took office, Biden has consistently asked for additional funding for border control.

Republicans have just as consistently refused. They’re voting to cut Customs and Border Protection funding in spending bills and blocking passage of Biden’s $106bn national security supplemental that includes border funding.

2. They blame the drug crisis on illegal immigration.

Last Wednesday, at the southern border in Texas, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, claimed that “America is at a breaking point with record levels of illegal immigration. We have lethal drugs that are pouring into our country at record levels.”

Rubbish. While large amounts of fentanyl and other deadly drugs have been flowing into the United States from Mexico, 90% arrives through official ports of entry, not via immigrants illegally crossing the border. In fact, research by the Cato Institute found that more than 86% of the people convicted of trafficking fentanyl across the border in 2021 were US citizens.

3. They claim that undocumented immigrants are terrorists.

Johnson also charged that “312 suspects on the terrorist watch list that have been apprehended – we have no idea how many terrorists have come into the country and set up terrorism cells across the nation.”

Baloney. America’s southern border has not been an entry point for terrorists. For almost a half century, no American has been killed or injured in a terrorist attack in the United States that involved someone who crossed the border illegally.

Johnson’s number comes from government datashowing that from October 2020 to November 2023, 312 migrants – out of more than 6.2 million who crossed the southern border during these years – matched names on the terrorist watch list.

It’s unclear how many were actual matches and whether the FBI considered them national security threats (the watch list includes family relations of terrorist suspects, many of whom are not considered to be involved in terrorist activity).

4. They say undocumented immigrants are stealing American jobs.

Nonsense. Evidence shows immigrants are not taking jobs that American workers want.

And the surge across the border is not increasing unemployment. Far from it: unemployment has been below 4% for roughly two years, far lower than the long-term average rate of 5.71%. It’s now at 3.7%.

5. They claim undocumented immigrants are responsible for more crime in the US.

More baloney. In fact, a 2020 study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, cited by the Department of Justice, showed that undocumented immigrants have “substantially” lower crime rates than native-born citizens and legal immigrants.

Similarly, a recently published study in the American Economic Journal – analyzing official data from 2008 to 2017 on immigration, homicide and victimization surveys – found “null effects” on crime from immigration.

Notwithstanding the recent surge in illegal immigration, the US homicide rate has fallen nearly 13% since 2022 – the largest decrease on record. Local law enforcement agencies are also reporting drops in violent crime.…..

Republicans make wild claims about the dangers of immigration. Here’s the truth | Robert Reich

Trump and his cronies are leaning into five splashy talking points about illegal immigration. But the actual facts are a bit different

www.theguardian.com

 

[MT15]

According to a DOJ filing, Abbott is sending armed men to the border where they are interfering with actual border agents who are trying to do their jobs.

 

[MT15]

Another POV about same filing

 

[zztop]

"Greg Abbott spending billions of taxpayer money to *weaken* border security." (and then turning around and blaming Democrats for it)

 

[SaintForLife]

Trumpist Republicans are using the surge of illegal immigration at the southern border of the US, as well as a surge of migrants seeking legal asylum, to threaten a government shutdown and no added funds for Ukraine.

They’re using five lies to make their case.

1. They claim Biden doesn’t want to stem illegal immigration and has created an “open border”.

Rubbish. Since he took office, Biden has consistently asked for additional funding for border control.

Republicans have just as consistently refused. They’re voting to cut Customs and Border Protection funding in spending bills and blocking passage of Biden’s $106bn national security supplemental that includes border funding.

2. They blame the drug crisis on illegal immigration.

Last Wednesday, at the southern border in Texas, the Republican House speaker, Mike Johnson, claimed that “America is at a breaking point with record levels of illegal immigration. We have lethal drugs that are pouring into our country at record levels.”

Rubbish. While large amounts of fentanyl and other deadly drugs have been flowing into the United States from Mexico, 90% arrives through official ports of entry, not via immigrants illegally crossing the border. In fact, research by the Cato Institute found that more than 86% of the people convicted of trafficking fentanyl across the border in 2021 were US citizens.

3. They claim that undocumented immigrants are terrorists.

Johnson also charged that “312 suspects on the terrorist watch list that have been apprehended – we have no idea how many terrorists have come into the country and set up terrorism cells across the nation.”

Baloney. America’s southern border has not been an entry point for terrorists. For almost a half century, no American has been killed or injured in a terrorist attack in the United States that involved someone who crossed the border illegally.

Johnson’s number comes from government datashowing that from October 2020 to November 2023, 312 migrants – out of more than 6.2 million who crossed the southern border during these years – matched names on the terrorist watch list.

It’s unclear how many were actual matches and whether the FBI considered them national security threats (the watch list includes family relations of terrorist suspects, many of whom are not considered to be involved in terrorist activity).

4. They say undocumented immigrants are stealing American jobs.

Nonsense. Evidence shows immigrants are not taking jobs that American workers want.

And the surge across the border is not increasing unemployment. Far from it: unemployment has been below 4% for roughly two years, far lower than the long-term average rate of 5.71%. It’s now at 3.7%.

5. They claim undocumented immigrants are responsible for more crime in the US.

More baloney. In fact, a 2020 study by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, cited by the Department of Justice, showed that undocumented immigrants have “substantially” lower crime rates than native-born citizens and legal immigrants.

Similarly, a recently published study in the American Economic Journal – analyzing official data from 2008 to 2017 on immigration, homicide and victimization surveys – found “null effects” on crime from immigration.

Notwithstanding the recent surge in illegal immigration, the US homicide rate has fallen nearly 13% since 2022 – the largest decrease on record. Local law enforcement agencies are also reporting drops in violent crime.…..

Republicans make wild claims about the dangers of immigration. Here’s the truth | Robert Reich

Trump and his cronies are leaning into five splashy talking points about illegal immigration. But the actual facts are a bit different

www.theguardian.com

They are here illegally and shouldn't be here. That's all that has to be said.

 

[SaintForLife]

 

[SaintForLife]

 

[Eeyore]

Greg Abbott Laments That Texas Can't Shoot Migrants Because Murder Is Illegal

Greg Abbott said that the Biden administration leveling murder charges against him prevents him from authorizing shooting of migrants at the border.

www.rollingstone.com

 

[Optimus Prime]

They are here illegally and shouldn't be here. That's all that has to be said.

The whole point of this article is that’s NOT all that’s being said

What IS being said is a bunch of bullshirt to demonize and dehumanize these people and stoke fear and rage in others so a rational debate can’t even happen

 

[Eeyore]

They are here illegally and shouldn't be here. That's all that has to be said.

When my great grandparents came here from Romania, Ireland , Germany, Sweden, they didn't write a letter and ask permission. They got on a boat and arrived at Ellis Island and went through the process of being admitted.

What's different?

Is this just a matter of "I got mine" and pulling up the ladder to hurt other people?

 

[MT15]

They are here illegally and shouldn't be here. That's all that has to be said.

That’s just untrue. It shows you don’t know what you’re talking about.

 

[SaintForLife]

When my great grandparents came here from Romania, Ireland , Germany, Sweden, they didn't write a letter and ask permission. They got on a boat and arrived at Ellis Island and went through the process of being admitted.

What's different?

Is this just a matter of "I got mine" and pulling up the ladder to hurt other people?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there weren't many immigration laws back then and currently we have clearly defined immigration laws.

Do you think we should follow our immigration laws or just ignore them because we feel bad for the immigrants? Should anyone who wants to come to the US be allowed in?

 

[SystemShock]

When my great grandparents came here from Romania, Ireland , Germany, Sweden, they didn't write a letter and ask permission. They got on a boat and arrived at Ellis Island and went through the process of being admitted.

What's different?

Is this just a matter of "I got mine" and pulling up the ladder to hurt other people?

What do you mean, what's different?

 

[SaintForLife]

That’s just untrue. It shows you don’t know what you’re talking about.

People who don't have legitimate asylum claims shouldn't be here. The asylum system is being manipulated and the Biden administration is enabling that manipulation.

 

[MT15]

People who don't have legitimate asylum claims shouldn't be here. The asylum system is being manipulated and the Biden administration is enabling that manipulation.

No the Biden administration is playing by the rules that Congress has dictated. I agree the asylum system is being manipulated, but it’s not the Administration’s fault. Biden has repeatedly asked for more money to help, and GOP refuses. GOP refuses to reform the asylum system as well.

You are being misled about who is responsible for what in this case.