#in other words im not assuming anything of anyones particular mindset only addressing common ideologies brought up in the conversation

[noctomania]

Immigration

Someone for some reason cared what I think regarding “unsustainable” and “illegal” immigration. Rather than tuck away a limited thought in the notes of a random post, I thought I’d take the opportunity to be productive on my weekend.

So, for you @deborahthejudge5777 , per request, my perspective on something that hardly affects me at all.

I will note, hailing from Texas, immigration has been a bug in my ear since I was little so I’ve had quite a bit of time to mull it over and hear some folks talking about it. And now living on a popular coast, immigration still is a hot topic, though it being approached more humanely. So your question was this:

On this post:

I would like to first address the word “unsustainable”. Then “illegal”. Because it seems to me that these both only matter when it comes to brown or black people or poor people or refugees and if they are all three, well, might as well build a wall that costs an absurd amount of money to keep them from reaching any of your absurd amount of money!

I figure the “unsustainability” you are referring to is the theory that because undocumented workers are being paid less that it affects everyone else’s wages. Without even looking to see whether or not that is true, I can tell you right now that perspective is the exact wrong approach to the matter of immigration and wages in general. Pay people reasonable wages, what a concept.

People do not leave their homes like we do just to get away. Many people come here, sometimes as refugees, and if you have ever looked into how much it costs and the process it takes to become “legal”, you should have some clue as to why many people wind up “illegal”, or rather undocumented. That does not even take into account rules changing that can, on a whim, change people’s residential status.

What would make things more sustainable would be to put more into making education more accessible so that people can earn skills they need to earn a reasonable wage. Or just fucking pay them what they should be making instead of taking advantage of their status so that one can make a profit while they still pay taxes. There is a huge barrier caused by the european idealization of education. People are smart whether they speak like you or act like you. It doesn’t take a bachelor’s degree to type up data or to recognize patterns, we do this naturally as part of our processing.

The only unsustainable thing in the matter is the greed of the American people. To be willing to invest ALL THAT MONEY (which would be cut from medicare no doubt) in a wall as if immigrants don’t know how to use: boats, planes, fucking ladders. Quit trying to fight the inevitable.

I work a high school level education job that pays enough for me to afford my life and save some. It does not even require high school level education. Most police departments don’t require over high school level education. There is the army, though I don’t personally advise it unless someone truly desires that path. There are places for these people, they are not unsustainable. What is, is that mindset that we don’t have enough room or enough money when what the real issue seems to be to me is we don’t have enough humanity.

Americans claim immigrants are a financial burden, but we are the ones throwing them in jail on petty crimes and billing ourselves, we are the ones paying taxes to put up legislation to try and fruitlessly keep people out. We are the ones who pay money to attack their countries, or rescind money to punish and patronize their countries, then refuse to take many -if any- in. We are a nation, deborah, gilded with the lure of “freedom, liberty, and pursuit of happiness” and “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free”. But when people show up at our door there is the small print that hidden fees are involved and if you just subscribe to this temporary renewable pass until you can afford the long term pass, and you have to walk and talk like a duck or else you’re an eel, and if you are at all out of line or don’t swallow the conditioning we expect you to assimilate to then you do not qualify. We say we have to work for the ameircan dream but others much work harder. Why? Because of where they were born? If we’re so great, or capable of being great, we should be capable of upholding our promises and standing by our nationalist advertisements of freedom and the american dream.

So what I think?

I think we need to cut military budget and invest more in accessible education in school and out of school (libraries, social services, etc).

I think we need to utilize our resources appropriately and quit jerking off big corporations/CEOs that profit off of labor abuse, including the labor abuse of born citizens but especially of those undocumented who fall through the cracks.

I think we need to stop seeing any people as others and see them as one of our own in a crisis.

I think we need to infuse compassion in America for the first time ever, I think we need to abolish the paranoia that divides us and seek a more balanced realistic perspective of one another- because that costs money too.

I think we need to end the TSA program and revert back to more simplified though better educated security for our all our mass transit systems nationally, as well as other hubs of central importance. That is both in terms of danger detection, but primarily in non-violent crisis prevention/aversion.

HOUSING IS A BIG ISSUE THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED as it is not only a problem for low-income undocumented people, but even for born citizens it’s outrageous.

And imagine if instead of cutting medicaid, we maintained the expansion so those undocumented people being shirked by their employer can at least avoid missing out on work bc they were able to prevent illness or at least wouldn’t end up in a debt rut because of a medical bill that could have been handled by insurance. “Why should I have to  pay taxes for non-citizens” well why should I have to pay for your greedy ass, whoever would ask that question.

Maybe because we all still work in and pay into the same system, and if you don’t seem to like that system there are plenty others in the world for you to experience I’m sure. Or you can go build a house in a field somewhere and be entirely self-sufficient and we’ll send someone to make sure you aren’t dead every once in a while.

I assure you, CEOs of various institutions you pay into are likely taking a lot more from you than anyone coming here and getting a below minimum wage job.