A dose of reality on immigration
Someone please, send Dave Ball a string of pearls. The poor man needs something to clutch when he hears the name Joe Biden.
Ball gave us an opinion piece last week about the world coming to an end. It’s quite the hair-on-fire fury, so let’s see if we can calm things down with a dose of reality.
Here’s where he and I can agree. Our immigration system is failing, and it’s been in freefall for quite a while. Here’s where we disagree-it really isn’t Biden’s fault. The system has been failing both citizens and those who want to be citizens for decades. It’s the proverbial can that gets kicked down the road. Now, things have reached a crisis – there’s lots of blame to go around.
Why is there such a surge now at our southern border? Let’s start with war, hunger, drought, a government in Venezuela that’s collapsing, and of course, people yearning to be free. Most distressing is the amount of money human smugglers are making as they “guide” these people headed for the U.S.
As a former history teacher, I did what comes naturally. I researched. Here’s a few buckets of truth to calm things down.
Do you want to see inflation cool down so prices can stabilize? Allow those immigrants who’ve come here to be put on a path for legal citizenship. Deporting them is going to cost billions. Since I’m not an economist, try this from Time Magazine: “Employing immigrant communities reduces inflationary pressures as critical workers in short supply drive up wages in key sectors, and further tie up supply chains.”
How about Dreamers, those people in our country who were brought here as young children? We educated them. We trained them. Why shouldn’t they stay and help our Social Security and Medicare programs?
Another idea is to allow those immigrants with highly specialized skills easier access to those H-1B visas so that new projects, exciting business ventures, can benefit this country.
Look what Forbes had to say: “With a combined net worth of $711 billion, these foreign-born U.S. citizens account for 15% of all American billionaire wealth. And they’ve built their fortunes on their own- 92% are self-made, compared to 71% for the 628 American billionaires who were born in the U.S.”
Stop being so afraid of immigration! Each wave brings people who come here not to steal, but to live and work and raise their families. Give the U.S. Border Patrol what they need to keep out the bad apples.
Let’s push Congress to do what they’re supposed to do – cooperate and produce a plan that will benefit all those who truly want to be good citizens. Because that’s what made America the amazing country it is.
That’s my opinion. And guess what, I was born in Germany.
Kitty Lagorio
Venetia