IMMIGRATION

(Photo courtesy of WikiMedia.)

OUR SOUTHERN BORDER IN CRISIS

(OR IS IT OUR BELIEFS THAT ARE IN CRISIS?)

I don't presume to know the answers to what's happening in Texas. I do feel confident that when nearly 60,000 kids show up and turn themselves in to border control agents, something unusual is going on. Unlike the illegal immigrants we've come to expect who will do everything they can to avoid crossing paths with a border control agent, these kids are darn near calling, "Yoo hoo! Will you come take me in now, por favor?"

I began to look at the issue of immigration and tried to identify what is sending all these kids north. What I found was that these children are running away from hometowns with the world's worst murder rates, the world's most dangerous streets and the world's most deadly environments. They seek a better life and their parents so desperately want the kids to have one that many are sent away from their families on a long, arduous, dangerous journey to the U.S. by themselves.

Though I can't personally get behind the decision to send your kids off to another country on their own, I can accept that, under the circumstances faced at home, tens of thousands of parents made the decision out of desperation.

So, let's talk about immigration. To apply for an immigration visa, a U.S. citizen can submit a petition for a spouse, a child, a parent or a brother or sister. A U.S. "lawful citizen" -- one who possesses a green card -- can file an immigration petition for a spouse or unmarried son or daughter. This is considered sponsorship of an immigrant and is only available to immediate family members, as noted (Dept. of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs).

Within a year of an immigrant's arrival in the U.S., their sponsor must apply for a visa or petition. If an undocumented family member has been in the U.S. for more than a year, they are considered illegal citizens and they must leave the U.S. for up to 10 years before re-applying for a visa. According to many sources I researched, it is common for illegal adult citizens to never begin the process. They fear providing personal information because they may be deported if they lose their case.

Despite what the Dept. of State website indicates (above), other sources I researched indicate that siblings from Mexico and the Philippines may wait for 12 to 17 years before a visa is issued. Mexico and the Philippines, in fact, have the longest waiting periods for all visa types of any country. As a result, many are critical of the extended wait for approval of family visas.

Work visas are another route to U.S. citizenship. However, these are limited in number and few are allocated for unskilled or uneducated workers.

Asylum is another route toward legal immigration. Asylum applications must be filed within one year of arrival in the U.S. Currently, only two reasons are viewed as valid for seeking asylum: (1) Persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political views, gender or orientation, or membership in a particular social group that is subject to persecution, and (2) fear of persecution for the listed reasons.

Immigration advocates are trying to gain inclusion for a third type of group, based on being part of a social group defined as teens or children who are likely to be recruited and/or coerced by gangs. It is thought that this potential group would help many of the kids amassing at our southern border. It should be noted that the U.S. Executive Office for Immigration Review does not presently track the number of asylum-seekers who could be included in this proposed group.

The immigration argument centers around issues like: 

• Validity of the circumstances claimed by those who wish to become U.S. citizens;
• cost to the U.S.; and
• lately, diseases like the Ebola virus.

Additionally, anti-immigration groups assert that:

• The system is too lenient in granting citizenship;
• hopeful immigrants are lying about the conditions back home, reporting persecution when their reasons are economic;
• these young people are here to take our jobs, and
• to form a Democratic voting block in accordance with President Obama's diabolical plot.

Such groups protest that these poor children will undermine our freedoms and values, which implies that our values include locking kids up like dogs and offering them no assistance or access to the very laws meant to address immigration issues like these. The fact that former-President Bush signed into law the applicable legislation is ignored in favor of blaming Obama.

Claims like these by self-proclaimed patriots have no weight behind them. Have they traveled to Honduras? Have they given polygraphs to the kids? Have they researched or studied economics in South America or the effects of the U.S. War On Drugs that has wrought havoc in so many places to the south of us? No, they have not. These arguments serve only to emphasize the bigotry of some Americans toward those who are less fortunate.

A more legitimate claim (at least on the surface) is that the influx of immigrants would be a burden on schools, the health care system, transportation, water and other municipal services.

The least valid claim is being made by Michele Bachmann, Louie Gohmert and their ilk -- that these kids are bringing diseases like Ebola into the U.S. Aside from the fact that the Ebola virus has never been found outside of Africa, it is a verified fact that even in countries as violent as Honduras, kids are vaccinated at rates greater than are children in the U.S. currently. This is thanks to our politicians publicly denouncing vaccination requirements as being governmental over-reach (yes, Bachmann and Gohmert are leaders of the pack). By pandering to the Jenny McCarthy's of the world, the U.S. has allowed parents to decide NOT to vaccinate their children. Diseases that had been all but eradicated are on the rise right here in the US of A.

With all these poor children coming to our border in search of something better than they left, the same pols who weakened vaccination policy are now squawking about the disease-ridden masses at the border.

By blatantly reversing on the importance of vaccinations, such politicians come off as the racists they are.

(I hope we don't get THEM sick!)

Immigrant advocates point out the grave dangers these kids are facing at home. They point out that illegal immigrants are coming all the time and if we fail to find a way to assimilate them into our country legally, illegal immigration will only increase.

More compelling is the argument of economist Robert Reich. He asserts that our population is becoming older and that there are certain truths about population that only immigrants will help us meet. We need a certain number of younger workers for each and every senior citizen in order for the economy to work. The economy is stimulated when more people contribute to it. When more people are spending money, the economy improves. Please take a few moments to view Mr. Reich's video on the topic to get a much better explanation of the economic principles that relate to immigration.

However, critics (who generally say they agree with Robert Reich's take on most things) say that until there are more jobs available in the U.S., adding more job-seekers only hurts the out-of-work Americans we already have. Critics also point out that population growth is a major issue. Population has grown worldwide by 7.5 million in the past three years and three months. Corporate outsourcing of jobs and the recent trend of corporations moving out of the U.S. is creating a real problem in the U.S. in terms of the numbers of good jobs available, as well.

As promised, I don't claim to have the answers, but perhaps by presenting a more complete view of the issue as a whole can help us join the discussion.