Ever since the 2016 primaries there has been a lot of talk about immigration enforcement and immigration policies. At the same time there has been an attempt to muddy the waters around the issues by playing games with the terminology used. People who entered the country without permission used to be called illegal immigrants; but, now they are said to be "undocumented workers" which is slightly misleading. Not all people entering the country illegally come as workers and many entered with documentation but stayed past their visas. Now, the term is changing again and anyone who came from another country is just referred to as an immigrant.
Before getting into why the change on how we view immigrants, we should look at the differences between different groups. A legal immigrant coming here must prove many things about their history and have a valid passport from their country of origin. They have to show they have a sponsor or are self-sufficient (through valid skills or economic assets). People who entered this country legally on a student or visitors visa and stay past their time usually have skills and economic resources. People who enter illegally usually have no skills and little if any money. In fact, people who enter the country legally usually speak English to varying degrees and those entering illegally usually do not.
Historically, since the 1930s there has been almost universal agreement that immigration should be regulated and that illegal immigration was bad for American workers as illegal immigrants would work for lower wages are received no benefits. This made them particularly attractive in the agricultural and construction industries. People such as Caesar Chavez decried and complained about illegal immigration for that reason. In fact I cannot think of a single union that supported illegal immigration. The Democratic party was historically against immigration of all types. As recently as the 1980s and up until 2014, Democrats were against illegal immigration and called for limits on legal immigration. Bill Clinton, George Bush, Obama and Hillary Clinton all called for strengthening the borders and removing illegal immigrants. In fact Obama deported more illegal immigrants than any president in history. So what changed?
What changed was the attitude of the people who own this country and this world. You can call them the .1% or the "elites" or the global establishment. These groups began seeking open borders. While some would like to believe it is "people on the left", they are sadly mistaken. Both the Koch Brothers (severely "right wing") and George Soros (severely "left wing") are in favor of open borders. Strange isn't it?
Last night at the Democratic debate, three of the ten candidates chose to make lengthy statements in Spanish. They sought to garner support of non-citizens apparently. Most on the stage talked about giving healthcare to illegal aliens and other benefits. What was sadly missing from the conversation was a discussion of giving those same benefits to the homeless in this country or even the working poor. Why? Why was there no real discussion about homelessness in this country? Why was only one candidate willing to bring up the fact that in the next few years millions of Americans will have no work because of self driving technologies and Artificial Intelligence?
Many conservatives believe the reason illegal immigration is being pushed so hard is just to get Trump out of office; but, that is not the reason. There is nothing that prevents one from talking about illegal immigration and homelessness. In fact, there are far more illegal aliens than homeless which should make it an easier problem to deal with. It is easier to help 500,000 citizens (over 100,000 of whom are veterans) than 22 million people who came here illegally.
The media asked set up questions regarding immigration; but, failed to ask the simplest and important question. If you are not for open borders, who should be kept out? If you enter this country illegally and we allow you to stay, should you have to give something back such as community service? Should you have to learn the basics of what is legal and illegal in this country? Should you have to learn English? Should you have to keep the government informed as to where you live? Should you have to renounce your foreign citizenship? Why is nobody in the media discussing these basic issues? Keep asking yourself these questions over the next two years.
