In regard to Immigration policy Republicans are stuck, not even in the past, but in their own past, which is not at all the real past of immigration in the United States. Would that they abandon their own past and join us and Hillary Clinton in the present and do the right thing.
There is a pressing need to lift the burden of fear and separation from families, to unshackle workers who are chained to exploitive jobs by fear of deportation. Mrs. Clinton has shown that she understands this. But meanwhile, the Republicans are stuck in the early 2000s, still talking of border security and illegal invaders. They forget that the 11 million are on this side of the border, and have children, and roots, and jobs, and dreams, and their plight needs to be confronted. Here is a tip: When you hear candidates talking about securing the border — a border that is as secure as it’s ever going to get — that is the sign that they are not interested in a serious conversation.
And how many of the Republican presidental candidates are continually harping upon securing our borders?
Then just yesterday, also in the Times, there was this;
Open Up, Europe! Let Migrants In
by Philippe LeGrain, an economic adviser to the president of the European Commission from 2011 to 2014. He might also have had said, Open Up, America! Let the Migrants In and let our Immigrants who are here stay!
“What if Europe,” LeGrain asks, — [or, I would add, the United States]— “allowed people to come and go freely?… what would be the impact if there were a big increase in immigration, either through an open-door policy or because more foreign workers and refugees were admitted?”
His conclusion, and that of the the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, is:
“that migrants tend to be net contributors to public finances. Educated abroad, they are typically young and healthy, and unlikely to be eligible for a pension if they leave again. Far from being a threat to Europe’s [or America’s] welfare programs, increased migration could make them more sustainable. An influx of new taxpayers would also alleviate the debt burden of the existing population….
“Better still, diverse and dynamic newcomers can help spark the new ideas and businesses that would lift Europeans’ [and Americans’] living standards. In Britain, migrants are nearly twice as likely as locals to be entrepreneurs. Like starting a business, migration is a risky venture that takes hard work to make it pay off.
“The biggest benefit of all, of course, is that the Mediterranean Sea would no longer be a watery grave. [Nor would the Southwestern deserts be a dry one]. And people much poorer than ourselves could enjoy a bigger leap in living standards than any foreign aid would achieve.”
[Both America and the Republican Party, in addition to] Europe should have the courage to open up.
My own additions to Philippe Legrain’s statements, meant to extend, not to alter in any way his meaning, are placed within [brackets].
https://quatrevingtans.wordpress.com 