Republicans Who Screamed About A Crisis On The Border Oppose A Plan To Fix It
Republicans Who Screamed About A Crisis On The Border Oppose A Plan To Fix It
Many on the right claim the U.S. is being "invaded" by migrants but also want to wait until Donald Trump is elected president again to stop it.
Many on the right claim the U.S. is being "invaded" by migrants but also want to wait until Donald Trump is elected president again to stop it.
For months, Republicans have shouted from the rooftops about a migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border and how President Joe Biden needs to act to address it, insisting the flow of migrants is an urgent national security threat.
Now many on the right are urging their party to reject the very same things they said were needed to fix the problem, including tougher enforcement measures and a proposal to automatically shut down border crossings when it is overwhelmed. Instead, they appear set on impeaching the top Cabinet official in charge of the border, even though there is no evidence of a crime.
The GOP’s contortions aren’t just grating for Democrats but also on some conservative Republicans who have been deeply involved in crafting bipartisan legislation, which is expected to be unveiled soon, that would overhaul how migrants are processed at the border.
“It is interesting. Republicans four months ago... locked arms together and said, ‘We’re not going to give you money for this. We want a change in law,’” Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), the GOP’s lead negotiator on a deal pairing immigration changes with assistance to Ukraine and other allies, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“A few months later, when we’re finally getting to the end, they’re like, ‘Oh, just kidding. I actually don’t want a change in law because it’s a presidential election year,’” he added.
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Let me just say the bill is terrible, because it grants a wishlist of right-wing "solutions" turning the border into a militarized zone.
The "crisis" we have is turning away refugees because their skin is the wrong color.
One of my main Biden criticisms is he's been no different than Trump when it comes to the border. He's continued horrible Trump era policies that are responsible for both death and family separation.
Rather than staking a leftwing position, he's ceded all discussion about the border to the rightwing narratives. And I doubt a single person has been swayed by this.
We don't need to "protect" the border. Europe by and large did away with borders and it's been a huge stabilizing factor for them.
The whole "drug smuggling" shit is equally garbage. To the extent drugs cross the border, it's through legal ports of entry. And, it's entirely silly to build up the Mexican border when the Canadian border is basically wide open. Newsflash, drug smugglers know about Canada. Further, we have ports with giant shipping containers of goods that enter and leave the US every day. Do these rightwing idiots really believe drug smugglers wouldn't simply hide drugs in a giant container of soybeans or other food item?
There's a million ways to get drugs into the country, the one way they are the least likely to come in is via some undocumented worker looking to get a job working on a farm in Idaho.
Right, but it’s the kind of terrible that the GOP supposedly likes, but because they refuse to even associate with democrats much less work with them, they have a knee jerk response to anything they put forward. Nothing will get done in this country so long as the Republican Party has control over anything.
Yep, it undermines their only talking-point that has been sticking.
I too agree the border crisis is entirely manufacturered. But that doesn't change the fact that independents / swing voters, and even a large chunk of Democrats have this as a major concern, with it overshadowing inflation now as the overall largest issue.
So Democrats calling Republicans' bluff will offer an excellent rebuttal to any questions or debates down the road.
The “crisis” we have is turning away refugees because their skin is the wrong color.
This isn't correct. The United States cannot continue to absorb the equivalent of Sweden every 4-5 years. It's completely unsustainable and it has nothing to do with skin color. It also has nothing to do with the Biden Administration beyond Biden's long history with the situation as a U.S. Senator.
The Republicans who are suddenly opposed to this bill are assholes, and likely traitors, but that doesn't mean that we don't have a serious problem that needs addressing.
The United States cannot continue to absorb the equivalent of Sweden every 4-5 years.
Citation needed. You believe 10 million people, cross the border illegally every 5 years? You believe 2 million people illegally cross the border per year?
Even if that number is accurate, that's 150 years to double our population. I'm not worried about it.
Imma guess we never hear back because there's a 90% chance the "source" of this data is on an article that also talks about the great replacement theory.
The numbers I could find are that there's anywhere between 10 and 30 million undocumented workers in the US currently. (With the 30 million number being under heavy dispute).
Imma guess we never hear back
Yeah, well, that's what you get for guessing.
there’s a 90% chance the “source” of this data is on an article that also talks about the great replacement theory.
Data source is Official CBP reports compiled during the Biden Administration.
You fuckers REALLY need to understand that it's 100% possible to recognize this is a problem without being a Republican, let alone a fucking MAGAtard.
Your data source is the number of encounters by the CBP which is not the same as the number of border crossings or individuals crossing the border.
If the same individual crosses the border twice in a year and is caught by the CBP they get counted as 2 encounters.
But yeah, I'm the idiot because I didn't consider the possibility that 2 million encounters does not mean 2 million different individuals.
You fuckers really need to figure out how stats and counting work before worrying about the swiss invasion.
If I'm someone waiting for title 42 access to the US and the boarder patrol kicks me out, guess where they are sending me? Right back to the encampment next to the boarder with other 42 refugees awaiting a determination on status. And guess what someone who is trying to break into the US will possibly do, multiple times, when they think they can get away with it?
Maybe ask yourself why the numbers shot up so aggressively after title 42 was implemented in 2020.
Hey, if Sweden can do it, so can you
:Psst: Have you checked in on Sweden lately…
Sweden can't handle it either. They are tightening their border to slow the flow of immigrants.
Citation needed.
After literally years of discussion about US immigration you STILL haven't managed to find your way to any of the high quality and publicly available sources of information? Why are you even in here commenting if you're that uninformed?
Official CBP Website with easy to digest numbers.
Fully sourced and easy to understand graph at Statista.
You believe 2 million people illegally cross the border per year?...
Yeah, I do because those are the official numbers. If you want to believe something different then you're going to need to source it because your insinuation doesn't align with the data.
How is it unsustainable? Undocumented immigrants pay billions in taxes every year, and they are unable to claim benefits afforded to US citizens (e.g. unemployment, social security, Medicaid, etc.).
They work jobs that Americans refuse to do.
I really fail to see how this is anything but positive. But then again, I'm not racist or xenophobic, so...
They work jobs that Americans refuse to do.
You support keeping a underclass of people that earn less money and are easily exploited? The reason they do those jobs and Americans don’t is because the employers are able to pay criminally low wages under the table.
Maybe farmers and meat packing plants should improve their wages and working conditions. Never mind, we can just use exploitable and desperate people. Problem solved!
Nope, I certainly do not.
I guess it's easy to confuse factual descriptions of reality with statements of ideological belief. I guess...
How is it unsustainable?
Ask Chicago or New York City.
They work jobs that Americans refuse to do.
Most of them cannot legally work and you'd know this if your understanding of the issue didn't come from HuffPo. Our immigration system is a fucking mess.
But then again, I’m not racist or xenophobic, so…
Neither am I.
I don't think you've ever actually been to NYC or Chicago. I can't really speak for the latter, but immigrants of all colors are welcome in NYC. Just ask Abott and DeSantis about how their kidnapping schemes involving bussing them to NYC backfired so badly.
Or maybe ask just about anyone living in that city. Get this: many of us believe that their presence enriches everyone, and that their being here makes this country better. Crazy, I know.
HuffPo? Lol ok bud. Got me 🙄
You know what's interesting? You completely ignored the point about them paying billions of dollars a year in taxes while receiving no direct benefits for it whatsoever. You know, the part that completely counters your claim of unsustainability.
I don’t think you’ve ever actually been to NYC or Chicago.
I've been to both, multiple times but let's just check in and see how things are going?
Chicago - Ohhh...not looking good.
New York City - Ooof...not any better.
HuffPo?
That's who published the article you are commenting on and you're definetly displaying a HuffPo level of understanding.
Just ask Abott and DeSantis about how their kidnapping schemes involving bussing them to NYC backfired so badly.
Backfired so badly? They're still doing it and frankly it was a fucking BRILLIANT move! Cities like NYC, Chicago, and Denver having to deal with just 10 percent of what Texas has been handling for years and they're screaming bloody murder as they find out how god damned expensive and difficult it is.
You completely ignored the point about them paying billions of dollars a year in taxes while receiving no direct benefits for it whatsoever.
Sorta like you ignored that it's currently illegal for many of them work?
Our immigration system is totally busted and it needs to be fixed.
I didn't ignore anything, it's not really relevant. I agree that these people shouldn't be considered "illegal," it's dehumanizing, among other things. There you go, problem solved: Nobody can hire "illegal immigrants" anymore.
It backfired because those people were welcomed with open arms. The only issue was logistics and arranging for food and housing on such short notice since they weren't told ahead of time. You really don't seem to get it: those people are welcome here. We want them.
I'm glad you see human lives as political chess pieces, but that's not how I view the world.
A steady stream of people showing up daily with nothing, starting from scratch, is not a crisis to you?
What do we do with those who show up to find all the farm jobs in Idaho and other places are filled? Furthermore, do you condone the treatment refugees receive while working these jobs?
There are certainly racists opposed to letting in refugees, and a lot of them make policy on such things. But minimizing the long term need to assist the ongoing influx of people as purely racism isn't productive. We have no solution for what to do with all of them.
Leaving drugs completely out of discussion, this is a humanitarian crisis. Do you think just opening up the border and letting whatever happens afterward work itself out is the answer?
A steady stream of people showing up daily with nothing, starting from scratch, is not a crisis to you?
Correct.
What do we do with those who show up to find all the farm jobs in Idaho and other places are filled?
Lol, you have no clue how farming works. But to be clear the US currently has historic low unemployment. Your remember that time when no employer is hiring at minimum wage? That's what historically low unemployment does.
There is plenty of work available.
Furthermore, do you condone the treatment refugees receive while working these jobs?
No, I don't. In fact, these "make the border strong" and "deport everyone" chants are used by employers of undocumented workers to get away with serious abuse. People that employee undocumented workers use the threat of deportation as a control method to stop their workers from demanding fair treatment.
The only form of border control I support is strict punishments and fines of employers of undocumented workers. That's the only way to improve working conditions and hopefully end up with reforms that make getting documentation not the nightmare process it is today.
But minimizing the long term need to assist the ongoing influx of people as purely racism isn’t productive. We have no solution for what to do with all of them.
It is racism because all this fear mongering is targeted at a single source of illegal immigration, the Mexican border. And it's targeted through evil and inhumane methods like putting razor wire in waterways. That's racism, it's not "solving problems" it's killing brown people.
We have other borders and mechanisms that people enter the US. This one is what racists cling to because nothing is more scary than a group of brown people on Fox News.
Do you think just opening up the border and letting whatever happens afterward work itself out is the answer?
Yes, because you may not know this, but that's exactly how the US operated for a century. It wasn't until the 90s that the border became this huge scary thing that racists clung to. Famously, Ronald Reagan granted citizenship to every Cuban who landed on US shores. That hasn't destroyed the nation, it was the backbone of major US cities like Miami.
And, again, I'll point to Europe which does effectively have open borders, particularly for EU citizens. This has not lead to the collapse of the EU. Though it did lead to brexit which has supremely hurt the UK.
We'll never stop undocumented workers, so how about we put into place mechanisms to. 1. Make getting documentation super easy, and 2. Provide these people with a leg up to actively contribute.
And if you say "we should do that for citizens" yes, we should. We can do two things.
You can tell it's racism because they never suggest going after the corporations that hire undocumented immigrants to pay them substandard wages for backbreaking work, using the threat of outing them to ICE to disguise the awful way they get treated. Seems like a much more effective way to curb undocumented immigration would be to remove the reason for it if, you know, the GOP were actually interested in solving a problem.
Yup, but also the people crossing the border are never painted as having any sort of value. They are always framed as if they are valueless drains on society. Never mind the fact that they are often working various service, care, construction, and agricultural work. Nevermind the fact that these people often have educations or prior work experience. Nevermind the fact that these are people every bit as capable of learning new skills/trades as any american citizen. No, instead it's "they are here to drain society!"
This is why it's racist. Even with historically low unemployment levels the fear monger is still "They are taking all the jobs!".
I’d argue that the 1882 Chinese Exclusion act was when it started, but the 90’s with AM radio and Fox was definitely the “pour jet fuel on the fire” moment.