What the MAGAs don’t realise is that most of the Illegal immigrants are in fact refugees seeking safety. They didn’t ask to flee their home land but they just want to live in peace and have human rights and have a future for themselves and their children. They often contribute hugely to their new country if given half a chance. Immigration expands the economy. But MAGA Republicans are simply generating hatred and fear to gain power.
Michael, yes, that is why people came to this country, but DeSantis and so many others, mostly now considered white, have forgotten that and think of their ancestors as far more worthy than any other immigrants. Some claim "my people did it the right way" or my people had it so much worse in their homeland than the loafers who are coming today do. Both excuses are nuts and we the people should dismiss them as the whitewashing they are. DeSantis is no more worthy than the people whom he and the other Confederate governors trafficked to Martha's Vineyard and northern cities and should be prosecuted for trafficking as any other guilty person would be.
The immigrants from Italy with dark hair, eyes, and olive skin were not consider “white” in the the mid to late 1800 and early 1900-20’s. Where as immigrants from other parts of Italy with fair skin, light hair and eyes were considered white.
My husbands family which originates in Calabrese, Parma, and Sicily have always been assumed to be Irish with their flaming red hair! Both his grandparents, mother and father are fair skin/ redheads with dark brown eyes (so is he). With a non-Italian sounding last name. (it’s Italian, I assure you he). So, how do you think Ron DeSantis would have been categorized had he showed up at Ellis Island in 1895? Not speaking a word of English, no idea what was where and relied on people he could not understand? Under his solution, he could have been separated from his parents and forced into child labor. But that is not how they were treated. Immigration was tough, dangerous, and only a hope of being permitted to stay in America then, just like it is now.
My great-grandfather was forced to return to Hungary once, before his successful second trip across the Atlantic in steerage. My g-grandmother worked off her passage with a lovely Jewish family in Pittsburgh. They remained close throughout their lives even after Julia married Peter and they moved to Washington county south of Pittsburgh.
Why can’t this process be streamlined since the inception of this country instead of the ridiculous procedures in place to purposely snarl it?
My ex-wife was of Sicilian ancestry. She was from NYC but her husband moved to FL to be a pharmacist in 1964. She went into the drugstore in Bradenton, FL, and sat down at the lunch counter to eat. She was "politely" told she could only order "to go" and had to stand at the end of the counter. Fortunately, her husband, who was 6'3" came to her "rescue."
That's the Florida I remember (and hated) when I lived there from later 1958 to 1961. I am white, of Scottish Canadian ancestry, so I wasn't personally mistreated, but I hated the way the "native" whites felt privileged and treated persons whose skin was darker than theirs. including the real natives, the Seminole indigenous people. I could hardly wait to leave. My memories of Florida are high humidity, insects of all sizes and shapes and snakes, but most of all of ignorant people who couldn't even speak proper English. At my insistence, we moved to California. which I have never regretted, although my ex-husband did every day.
Bob....wow that is some story. In Tampa the local rednecks hanged some Italian radicals from an Oak tree right on Kennedy Blvd. back around the turn of the century. My grandfather was from Russia and came here in 1902. My mother was from Ireland. We had a hard time.
My husband is a redhead fair skinned guy! His (our) last name is Colbrese! We’ve been told the name originally came from Calabrese! We also get asked if we’re Irish. It just shows how connected we really are.
I love your response. This is something the ignorant "others" never consider. When I first moved to California we had a temporary farm worker program where persons from Mexico would come every Spring to plant, manage, and harvest the crops. It seemed to work pretty well, but some of the "bosses" who brought the workers in treated them abominably and the program ended.
Malevolent, deceptive, abusive, and probably illegal: everything we have come to know and loathe about Ron DeSantis. Add in the crypto-racism and casteist dehumanization dogwhistles to the MAGAts and you have definitional fascism. When DeSantis gets around to saying the quiet part out loud, he'll be fascist in all dimensions. Much smarter (until now) than Rump, he is like Tom Cotton and a number of others even more dangerous to American democracy.
I have ancestors who go back 400 years here. Everyone came over steerage class, either an economic, a religious, or a political refugee, often all three. That IS the history of European America. Selfish got-here-firsters have been amongst us all from the first European bootsteps ashore, but that view is just as ugly now as it ever was. Pandering to that is reprehensible . . . but definitional of a 'good us - foul them' fascist worldview. We can have no doubt where Ron DeSantis stands, and how he thinks when he's grinding his heel into somebody with less money and power than he has currently. And damn betcha he'd be the first to cry discrimination if somebody did it to him and his!
I wish they’d send more North! We need workers badly. To your point; these were not migrants. These are asylum seekers from Venezuela. They were trying to enter legally.
Sounds good, but they're economic migrants till vetted and proven. Either way there are separate pathways to migration. You and I have no real knowledge as to their pathway. Definitely not accepting averments from CNN, FOX or Reich. We mushrooms should be wary of the BS they're trying to feed us in the dark.
Ransom is a moot point. The act of deceiving people to move them from your state is an act of kidnapping. By the way he had to go to Texas to pick up enough asylum seeking refugees!
Half of kidnapped people, or more, are not kidnapped for ransom, but to be used, abused, and eventually killed. I find your comment reprehensible. People are people, no matter where they come from. You are on my land, not yours! Act like the visitor you are!
2) The law recedes in importance when your life is at stake.
3) My grandfather may have entered America legally, but he escaped from the Tsar's Russia illegally, smuggled out by people traffickers. I'm alive because he broke the law.
Key to your statement: he entered the US legally. He left Russia illegally due to oppression. That is one of many stories like that. We don’t know. But should know the back story of those entering our country. Your family history is key. To suggest that the 1 M who have crossed in the past two years are oppressed and in danger is ridiculous. We really do not know. We do know that the open border has created an open path for fentanyl smuggling, child sex trafficking and other heinous acts.
In the not too distant past, we did have an open border, and migrants went back and forth — coming here to work, going back south for parts of the year. When we locked the border, they stopped “going home,” for fear of not being able to get back for the farming and other jobs that sustained them. Policies here brought on the changes at the border than had unintended consequences — more undocumented residents instead of transient workers coming and going. [Not even getting into how business hiring “under the table” play into the Gordian Knot of cross-border activity in recent decades.]
And fentanyl comes in on trucks, not in people’s pockets. The trucks are smuggling it over the border at checkpoints where we don’t have enough border-agents or capacity to know what’s in all the trucks coming across daily — most of them completely legal and supporting our complicated economy.
Really, seriously, know what you’re talking about, what’s happening, before you decide where to put your energies and your votes.
Our borders are NOT open. I wish they were. There is an enormous problem created by our own government’s actions south of the border--unseating good leaders who care about their people and replacing them with despots who will favor US corporations that exploit the people and their natural resources. The CIA is on record for fomenting, or trying to foment, an incredible number of coups. And those death squads? They were trained by us. The US is an enemy of poor people south of the border. If they demand their rights, the US will block them. It favors the rich and the corrupt. That may be hard to believe, but it’s documented time and time again. No wonder people come here. And by the way, many die in the process. They have to go through dangerous terrain. Oh, just educate yourselves, everybody, please! It’s no picnic. Thousands have died trying to get here. It is very, very difficult to enter legally. Again, I recommend the film “Harvest of Empire,” based on the book of the same title by Juan Gonzales.
I’m in mind of the Christian story of Jospeh and Mary taking their infant child to Egypt to protect him, traveling through difficult desert to a land where they were not especially welcome, but they needed a safe place for their child.
But today, someone would put their kid in a cage. Or ship them off to Martha’s Vineyard with false promises of food and shelter and a job. That’s today’s FAUX Christians for you.
Living very near the border I can say this is true. One day some time ago I looked up when my dogs were barking to see a family that I will never forget. The parents looked to be in their thirties. The man held a two year old, the woman an infant, and the man held the hand of a five or six year old boy. They were walking as If they did not want to disturb the air, slowly, deliberately and they were sad. I’m will alway remember them. Their carriage and demeanor seemed so honorable. They were headed probably to a grocery store parking lot where someone would meet them. I said a prayer for them and still do sometimes.
Are you kidding, Janis Davis? To think those who have crossed into our country in the past two years have been oppressed and their lives in danger is NOT ridiculous. It's true. Many of those in our country know exactly the wars, gangs, and death in some Central American countries. Just because YOU are ignorant of it, does not mean the reality doesn't exist. People have split up their families, picking and choosing who will walk here -- out of their countries, across the whole of Mexico -- for hope of surviving. Surviving -- which they will not do if they stay home. What in HOLY HELL makes you think these people are coming in with fentanyl in their pockets?
Furthermore, most would have crossed into our country and looked for the asylum centers. They WANTED to seek asylum. WE WE WE separated them, put them in cages, ignored and starved them, etc.
The fentanyl smuggling is often masterminded by ou own homegrown criminals. I think it’s unfair to judge immigrants before a hearing. Maybe some of our judgmental people should haul their families down to some of these places and see how they feel about having their kids pulled into those gangs. Most of those trying to get into our country are fleeing countries taken over by gangs and thugs. These folks deserve a hearing.
Exactly!! A very sad reality is, the USA is where the fentanyl market is …. High demand has created high volume sourcing … We need to be able to police our shipping in and out of the country, to be sure thousands of trucks that come in each day are not shipping illegal drugs along with the electric coffee makers.
And, by hook or by crook, we need to find ways to reduce the demand here for illegal drugs that people use to dull the realities of THEIR days. [I know that some people come into substance abuse thinking it’s recreation, and they get caught. I also know a lot more go there to self-medicate. I also know that keeping their supply in the hands of criminals is a good way to keep the criminals in the business. — But those are starting to get into very new and even more dicey issues to deal with.]
Janis, I fear that you have been watching Fox News a little too much. It is legal to seek asylum in this country. We don’t have an open border.  Beside the point that illegal drugs are coming into this country are two things to consider. First that is not the only way nor perhaps even the greatest way drugs come into this country. Two it is the people in this country that are encouraging drugs to come into this country because they want them. I would hope that you could find in your heart a little kindness for the desperate people that are coming to our country who cannot live where they come from for a variety of dire reasons. I would urge you to put some energy into trying to get Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration bill and urge DeSantis and Abbott to quit using immigrants as political pawns. Kidnapping immigrants under false pretenses of jobs and housing and sending them to other states evidences an immaturity of governance.
It's also called inveigelment according to Prof.Glen Kirchner,a professor at Georgetoen University,former prosecutor for the Justice Dept.(30 yrs.) and supervised 30 prosecutors.Find him at Justice Matters.com.
The people DeathSantis bused all entered LEGALLY (having started their paperwork & released by ICE), & were awaiting their final court hearings/judgment
I am assuming you have not been to Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba etc. to see the brutality, death and despair that is put upon these people by their so-called leaders. If you had seen it maybe you would understand better why they risk their lives to come here. They do go through a legal process here. Let them be. They are human beings in need and we should extend ourselves to help them with the kindness and decency they deserve. 
All of us collectively will move heaven and earth to not let that happen.The world order is in bad enough shape.Our country needs to succeed and be a beacon of light to other nations.
I don't like De Santis or MAGA Republicans in general. I am sympathetic to oppressed immigrants. My ancestors were immigrants also. But the US population was half of what it is now the year I was born. We need to find another solution than continually accepting millions of immigrants year after year because of our mythical status as 'Land of The Free".
The population of the WORLD doubled since I was in high school in the 1960s. It’s not just here. The planet is finite, and we draw lines on the dirt to say what part is ours. But we’re all born on the same planet. How are we going to cope with less and less of it capable of sustaining human populations?
You might remember how people ridiculed the Zero Population Growth movement back a few decades. As they ridiculed {and still do in some weird locales] the Greenhouse Gas Global Warming Climate Change reality today.
And yet, here we are — twice as many people…
In the end, no matter how we feel about overpopulating a planet [some scientists are talking about a global extinction event brought on in the “Anthropocene” … EGAD], we have to figure out how to cope with the numbers and the changes in habitable regions and the ability of the planet to support the life that’s already on it into the future.
These guys marshaling people’s fears and paranoia to gain power NOW don’t care a fig for what the future holds for humanity — not climate, not pandemic, not geo-political, not nuthin’ .
They scare the hell out of me. I think back to that guy we made fun of a couple of decades ago, when he told us we should plan for this climate change and mass migration, work to avoid this, take the future seriously and WORK INTO it, rather than always reacting to what comes along, as if we’re so damned surprised…Yeah, what might we have done in the past twenty two years, if we actually DID inaugurate Al Gore instead of George Bush?
{Don’t misunderstand me, either — I don’t think the Democratic Party is pure and pristine. But I believe the Dems and the bulk of people on the Left are still capable of hearing reason and governing with sustainability and the future in mind. Some conservatives are, too — but their PARTY is lost, and it is seeming more and more like it’s beyond redemption. If they want to govern responsibly and rationally, we need a hell of a lot of Republicans to reject their “leadership.” I disagree with Liz Cheney’s political positions - and I think her father’s heavy-handed tactics in the Dubya administration helped open the door for what’s going on today — but she wants to GOVERN, not dictate. We could probably talk about how to do that and find common ground. More like that, please.}
I think Liz Cheney is fabulous at what she's doing on the committee.However I will add this,I believe her to be super conservative and at this point would not trust her to 'govern'.Not exactly the'Maga' variety,but Repub. There has always been a coldness there to people in need.
Your assumption is wrong. I have travelled extensively all over the world. Not to Cuba. I have no issue with immigration but it must be legal and stories checked
I am not talking about sightseeing in Europe. Taking cruises to countries and going on excursions for two hours doesn’t count. I’m talking about getting in these countries and working and seeing real Third World countries were death and despair and diseases is part of every day life. I have been on the ground through Doctors without Borders for 20 yeas. Have you been to Nicaragua? Have you been to Columbia? Have you been to Venezuela? Guatemala? All brutal regimes who brutalized their people. We have to start caring for each other as people no matter where we come from or we’re not going to survive.
Janis, checking stories is the work of immigration court. It is part of the promised process. The people who just got kidnapped and lied to were LEGALLY here, looking to join that immigration process.
Cuban refugees had carte blanche to show up running away from Castro.
Do you KNOW about the massive boat-lift that was [somewhat reminiscent of what DeSantis is doing!] orchestrated by the Castro government, taking prisoners from their jails and sending them to Florida em masse in boats? Except Castro sent convicts to inundate our system, and DeSantis is sending decent people for no reason except to create chaos so he can chortle about it.]
Yes- If we get to the bottom of this attitude we may find politics, the quest for power, pandering to our worst instincts and attitudes, ones that Trump took advantage of and that DeSantis is trying to cash in on.
I prefer to consider moral imperatives before legality. Legality in politics is too often used by those who want to keep it all for themselves. It is far past time for thinking, compassionate people to understand that political constructs called "nations" are frequently as destructive as organized religions. We are all humans, and if we are to survive as a species must stop this tribalism and start to care for each other and the earth.
Get off your sanctimonious throne. Being sent to Martha's Vineyard is like you being sent to Antarctica. You would have no idea how to cope in an unknown environment. Maybe the penguins would help you, but I think they are better character judges than that.
The LEGALITY happened once they were in Ellis Island, a federal operation, the place where immigrants were landing at the time.There immigrants were taken care of and processed. People were running from persecution famine etc coming in ships. This was for a few decades starting in the late 1800's. Then in the 1920's Mass immigration ended and quotas were made and mass immigration ended. Florida needs an "Ellis Island" of those early days similarly run by the Federal Government so people can LEGALLY enter and work to become citizens. So if you emphasize LEGAL, there needs to be a LEGAL path... one that my grandparents also took for which I am thankful.
That part about the legal is partially true. From the late 1800s through about 1920 no visas or paperwork were required to enter the US through Ellis Island and I think Mississippi. In 1920 mass immigration to US changed and documentation was required. Italy which is where my Grandparents came from did not require nor track those emigrating.
The people transported to Martha's Vineyard were already in CBP's system awaiting hearings. They were asylum seekers from Central & South America, and parts of North America used to be part of their land, also, until the US took it away from them. We have a shortage of workers in this country, & if we don't wish to go the way of Japan & some of our European allies, we need young people here to support our older people or we can kiss our social programs like SS & M'Care good-bye. I have always been fascinated by immigrants, as I would have found it so difficult to leave 'home.' I have met immigrants who left families behind, as they worked & waited years until they could bring their wives & families over here. They make us a better nation. I am 2nd generation on my father's side, & I haven't a clue as to how my grandparents arrived here from Ireland & I don't care. On my mother's side, I have an ancestor who rode with Lafayette in the Revolution. So what? Have a heart, people are suffering atrocities we can't even imagine.
I say give many immigrants training and jobs that match the 'Infrastructure 'projects.They could learn a skill and support themselves and their families.I will be contacting Pete Buttigieg's office later to inquire,seems doable.
Janis Davis ; Does Ellis Island operate the legal immigration facility that was in operation at the time that those ancestors came in so long ago? If it does, it's the biggest secret ever.
Not that I know of. The only box Dr Reich didn't check in his comment today, from my comments yesterday is recognizing that there seems to be no provision in the immigration system to handle high volume. That's what I gleaned from an interview I heard on the evening news yesterday, with the mayor of El Paso, who was explaining >his< action with the immigrants. It >wasn't< a political rant. He appeared sorely pressed, and essentially said he thought he could kill two birds with one stone: dealing with being overburdened with immigrants they're ill-equipped to process and finding somewhere for them to go where they'd be welcome. To me it could've been a practical solution - with the right communication and >without< the Tweety-driven political bullshit.
As a friend of mine in TX, who's word is reliable, responded to me when I mentioned what I concluded from that mayor's interview: "We end up with a lot of homeless immigrants hereabouts." >NOBODY< has brought that up! From what my friend says, it >seems< that the immigrants have been dumped in the streets without prospect, because the TX INS is ill-equipped to help them >establish< themselves.
That's why I think the first thing Congress should do is spread the burden the processing, disposition, and relocation - either in the US or where they came from - with something involving immigration centers that are Federally sanctioned to transport excess immigrants to INS offices in >all< metro areas >throughout< the US - not just "blue states." That is, make all metro areas "Ellis Islands." That's only a start. It only deals with balancing the immigrant burden across the country, rather than having it crush the resources of a local area. If someone brings up an immigration reform that simply does that, I'd vote for it!
Michael Shapiro ; I knew that, was asking a rhetorical question to make a point, that Ellis Island was a different era. Accessibility to those wanting to make applications for entry into our country seems almost non existent now.
Yes. Agreed. Once upon a time America welcomed "your tired, your poor, your tempest-tossed." And they made America proud. Now America wants entrepreneurs and software engineers on H1 visas.
And my parents were both part of an economic migration not "refugees". They came through Ellis Island. They then registered and completed Citizen classes. They did not have or use any entitlements.
My parents only spoke English at home so that my sister and I would not develop an accent. It worked. They were naturalized citizens of the US from Italy and counted themselves as Americans. Pretty old fashioned
And some took land that was not theirs to take! All of you people came here to take our farms, lands, our water, and annihilated tribes after your ancestors could not deal with the way we took care of our families and our way of life. You should not feel so proud of yourselves. Empathy is a Christian foundation. Can any of you say you are Christian?
The reason is not the issue, but the legal process. Our federal government is the problem. It is flagrantly ignoring our Constitution and, illegally, by its inaction, promoting the southern invasion of non-citizens. This would not be tolerated by Mexico if US citizens illegally invaded that country.
Any migrant coming to the US has, under THE LAW, a right to apply to due process to seek asylum. That is their human right. Many are coming from countries where life is intolerable. Drug lords make money off Americans buying those drugs. The problem ISN'T the migrants, who often add to the economy, but to the social inequities in all societies. Until there is a fairer distribution of income (which Republicans do NOT want!) things will not improve no matter what THE LAW says or does.
Oh Virginia, you have that right on. That is why I think DeSantis and any others who knowingly helped with the trafficking, be charged with trafficking. They are now common criminals and need to be prosecuted that way. The law is for all, even the "brilliant" white men who think they are better than everyone else and will do whatever they can to hurt anyone who opposes them or just makes them mad. We have to get the word out to Floridians that their Governor is a criminal, a people user, and not someone who should be in charge of anything or anyone.
Thank you for telling it like it us. I am flabbergasted that that silly, ugly, evil man can get away with this. And if he does? What are we telling ourselves over and over and over.... we are a Nation of laws. Remember--- if the lie is big enough and told long enough people will start to believe it... are we , in fact Lying to ourselves??? Those who are in the legal profession had better start re-shaping the rhetoric: do you know our laws? Do we know our laws? A child knows better than DeSantis does that his behavior is not acceptable. Are we going to stand idle while this Elite ignoramus abuses our very system of legality.
Or are we going to keep writing about it and then quietly go close the blinds?
I read that the Rethugs have an obsession w/ 'telling people what to do'. That should be done in proper order,like telling themselves how to act like responsible,level headed human beings w/ real hearts.What happened to 'do unto others',etc. It still stands.
Thank you for saying this out loud. I feel sorry for Floridians, they will soon be on the level of Mississippi. We moved from Florida this year to the just as backward state of Texas. God help us!
Who is sending them to the border? Not Democrats. How does a Ukrainian, African or Cuban get the fare to fly to Mexico?
At the border need to distinguish those fleeing for their lives from tyranny or war from those escaping poverty.
Those who benefit from illegal immigration include unscrupulous employers who pay workers "under the table." The poster boy for hiring illegals was Donald J. Trump, who had to pay a fine for using them on his job sites. Arguably, the Trump Organization still uses them. The employer sanctions provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) prohibit employers from hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee aliens known to be unauthorized to work in the United States. Fewer would come if there weren't jobs waiting for them.
Why has this dysfunctional immigration system persisted for decades? Because it's not a bug, it's a feature. If I were an unscrupulous employer, I would want nothing better than a large population of potential employees who have no legal status and will therefore be too afraid to stand up for their rights. And so it is.
In 2007, W tried to reform immigration, with bipartisan support from Teddy, McCain and others. Labor unions and some guy from VT thought it had problems, but the way the vote went down prevented improving it...
We’ll, our current administration could put a stop to this horrible situation you describe as done by only one political group. Why haven’t they thwarted the enemy camp? Why don’t they refuse to let the evil republicans have their cheap labor. Foreign workers taking all the American jobs. Where is the ruling party’s sense of fairness for Americans? Why don’t they close the border and shut down “MAGA’s evil agenda? They are in power and have all the power so why do we have a border problem?
Thank you, Virginia, absolutely these refugees are seeking safety for so many reasons. And they are fleeing poverty and danger, much brought on by other governments like USA. People are not illegal. But the tactics to move them for political gain are illegal. Whether between countries or states. These heads of state have no compassion. Empathy and caring are in short supply.
Janis, I wrote “absolutely” agreeing there are many reasons for immigration and emigration. I’m not debating the question of border control or gender. Or the problems created in our country. My ancestors escaped the czar in 1909. They immigrated from Kiev through Ellis Island before the limit on Jewish refugees. Another grandmother from Lithuania stepped over the border from Canada to Minnesota. Those stories make up our country’s history. The courage to leave one’s country of birth and often family. As long as we have wars, population fluctuations, poverty, starvation and climate change, persecution and immoral leaders (add to the list) we will have human beings who seek something better and safer for their families and children. What a struggle, what a dangerous journey. Gratitude to our ancestors. It takes generations to assimilate, learn a new language, and is a bigger challenge than I have experienced in my lifetime. It’s usually the children of refugees and immigrants who fully reap the benefits in the new country. We must continue to work on this complicated sociopolitical problem together. And understand why people are fleeing their homeland.
You nailed it, Virginia Hastings! I am appalled at everything happening with regards to the exploitation of refugees who are only seeking a better life in this country (or anywhere for that matter) and vow to keep keeping to the truth on who’s who in the matter. Let everyone know: VOTE BLUE 🌻
Thank you, Anne. Where I live (Australia) the former Liberal Government (read: Republican) have kept people locked up for years and years and stalling on settling their claims - not meeting their civil rights. They are locked away at great expense for years and years, with no education, employment or anything meaningful in their lives. It's a disgrace. The whole department in charge is totally understaffed and underfunded. My daughter is involved in placing Afghan refugees (that she used to work with there) in many countries. Australia and the USA make placing refugees the MOST difficult. Canada, Germany even the EU in general are much more helpful. It's an international issue. Trump and his DeSantis MAGA creeps are just hopping on a convenient platform of fear - so they don't have to think about a solution for people denied their human rights.
This is horrible. These poor people come from such corrupt countries (who never allot funds meant to better their lives at home to the proper place) seek refuge in what USED to be the greatest country in the world and unbeknownst to them walk into an equally corrupt society (I almost said “regime” - because of people like DeSantis and Abbott.)
I will say that living here has become terrifying with the MAGA cult. I am so glad Joe Biden is at the helm and just hope that we can gain a few seats in both the House and the Senate in November. Our Supreme Court is a joke now, thanks to Mitch McConnell. Yet there’s nothing to laugh about - quite the opposite.
Getting back to the refuge crisis… we could all learn a lot from Poland, who has opened their arms to Ukraine for the past seven months…
Be well and keep yourself and those whom you love healthy and safe. Anne 🌻
Exploitation? Please know that while many illegal immigrants truly want a better life there have been at least 500000 to .9 M got aways that are basically wherever. This is according to data from the Border (CBP)not left or right wing news. Who are these people ? So we have a huge influx of fentanyl, child endangerment and sex trafficking. The border agents cannot process enough people and many of these illegals are sleeping on the streets and without water after processing as they had an idea of what would happen once here but cannot due to sheer numbers. We need to open our arms to those who come here legally. Please open your eyes and see what is really happening. Our own President puts illegals on planes once processed and drops them in various states. There are two sides to all of this and blanket statements like “ all are here for a better life” etc. is not helpful. Where was the outrage when 50 illegals baked in a truck making the trip led by cartel. Now you are all outraged because DeSantis flew 50 to the richest place in Ma? The vineyard immediately moved those 50 to another area off the island. Open your eyes and see this for what it is - a stunt by our President who has no plan but opened flood gates to these people and sold them a bill of goods. What will happen when one of your kids, or family member dies from fentanyl, or is attacked by a “ got away”? Immigration is wonderful when done legally. This is crazy, chaotic, insane and most of all dangerous to an already stressed United States. If you support this influx, open your homes, and neighborhood, go to the border and invite these people to stay with you while they build a life. So easy to idealize until it’s close to you.
You might as well say "those bad people are coming here to wreck our country and it's ALL Biden's fault!" I agree some immigrants come without visas and have bad intentions but lets look at all that:
1. Fentynal and other drugs - well there IS a market for these things. They couldn't make $ off selling illegal drugs if Americans didn't BUY them! The opiate pandemic was started when one drug company owned by a wealthy American family purposely sold their addictive drug to poor people through their doctors. Millions became opiate addicted. Then the family lost their company (but not their billions of $) and there was a need for opiates by these often poor Americans already addicted. No massive government spending on drug programs for the addicted, which is the only thing that will stop that problem. Arrests just make work for police, courts and prisons. It's a problem that's been around for years, even before Trump (who was NOT a good social problem solver either!). The same situation about illegal demand applies to every drug that comes over the border. There is no will by government to solve the addiction issues among Americans. The illegals don't "bring" the addictions over the border, they are already in the country.
2. Illegal gun running is also an issue via immigrants - there IS a demand for guns. Why? Americans are paranoid that they all need guns to defend themselves, and illegal American gangs need them and cannot get them legally (sometimes). The whole issue of gun control is an issue that American governments (state and federal) cannot solve, and of course Republicans insist on a wide interpretation of the 2nd amendment to gain votes.
3. Sex trafficking - There is also exploitation of the actual immigrants in the USA for sex trafficking - so illegal activity is well established in the US. It isn't a case of the immigrants brought the problem here. Governmental acknowledgement of the problem and a will to solve the problem through extensive funded legal and police/FBI etc support is the only way to solve this issue. The demand is there because there are always home grown Americans that think nothing of exploiting children for sex. It is a social issue that is too long ignored with no will to correct the problem. It's been around for ages, and organised crime syndicates are just bigger and more organised and cash in on this depravity in American society. But there IS the demand among legal residents for illegal sex with minors. Immigrants who are "illegal" are just participating in what Americans already set up. Why is it just Biden's fault.? It's a total lack of social problem solving will and funding for decades built into the American system where both sides of politics, eager to gain power, point the finger and scream at each other while doing NOTHING to solve the actual problems. Republicans are just as bad as Democrats at this. No saints here.
4. As for governors and their stunts in shifting migrants, it's just grandstanding. IT's making cheap shots at blue states and voters out of immature stupid spite. It's all about these grandstanders wanting Americans' votes, turning the complex, long entrenched issues into "the other guy's fault so vote for me" issues. They will no more solve the problem than fly!
Yes, Americans feel threatened by the activities some people coming to the country participate in, BUT THERE IS A MARKET FOR THEIR ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES already in the USA.! Until both parties decide they must spend the money, work hard to solve American social issues, the supply of "illegals" will continue. It's Republicans who have a "hands off" attitude towards government. That's hands off social problem solving too. Blaming and cheap stunts and fear mongering to gain votes solves absolutely NOTHING. Big picture folks!
Thanks, Anne. It's such a big picture issue and most people don't want to look at all the social issues involved in today's political issues. It all boils down to social inequality because the super wealthy still run the economy.
Your closed minded opinion means nothing to me. You aren’t even subscribed to this platform. I worry less about migrants than I do white collar criminals that sit back and watch from the White House dining room as and insurrection at our Capital is going on. Be gone, Troll!
I agree with you. White collar crime, well paid families and businesses want to control the power of the country but do not want to solve the social issues in the country that create a market for the illegal immigrants to participate in. (see my last post). GREED is the issue within America itself. Blaming immigrants or Biden solely won't solve one thing.
How many can we take before we sink the lifeboat? It's easy to tar the opponent with the brush of racism, but it's at least somewhat just the sheer numbers of would be migrants. See the graphic gumball demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM1YU-Ni_84. I think polls show that most Americans want less immigration. Things are different now that he frontier is gone, Emma Lazarus. Americans sense that immigration it is the driver of overpopulation, and they didn't vote for the attendant high housing costs and homelessness, crowded roads, loss of open spaces, crowded national parks, crowded schools, depressed wages for unskilled workers, etc. Rapid population growth does grow the economy, but it is unhealthy, like steroids--often at the expense of the environment and is not sustainable. Unless Biden devises an immigration plan that protects the migrants without bringing all of them here, we are handing the MAGAs a Trump card that they'll win elections with.
Do you realize that it’s our PLANET that is overpopulated? I hesitate to mention the name to a conservative, but do you remember when Al Gore told us we had better start planning for massive shifts in population the world over as numbers grow and climates change? Well, it’s here, baby …. and we did NOT plan for it. Poor ol’ Al was a Cassandra. We are the sad people who did not listen.
Comes to mind when you speak of overpopulation,what about Roe being overturned?
No Rethug.wiseguy who was gunning for this so many years ever thought beyond this'edict'Would cause more unwanted children w/ the planet already bursting at the seams.Not to mention the social problems that come along w/ it.Folks had better be careful of what they're doing.
Janis, immigration is definitely a critical issue worldwide. And the USA has a part in not only opening it’s borders but creating conditions that cause emigration in some countries like those in Central America. I watched the video you sent and followed it to a population control site and group. I remember those times in the seventies when we were part of a movement to only duplicate ourselves. Two kids. So here’s what I found following one of the founders of those movements. We shouldn’t be surprised that Eugenics and White Supremacy is somehow linked to its history. About one of the founders:
Exactly! I have NEVER used the MAGAt term "illegal immigrant." I have ALWAYS used the CORRECT term "legal asylum seeker." Ever since Bunkerbaby stole the 2016 election from the winner, Shillary, I used that term. [sic]
Why is everyone who disagrees with all of you a MAGA? I don’t support Trump. It is tiring that if someone disagrees with the blue position on this border issue they are MAGA or Trump supporters. He was a one term President. Get some new material, please. Do not label people. Go to the border and see. House these folks in your home or build a home next door to be used as a refugee dwelling. Give more money to support them. Status ally speaking, they cannot all be fleeing oppression. Don’t you think we should know? It should we just wait for the consequences that will surely happen in a few years - more deaths from fentanyl - more crime. Stop name calling and assuming and put your money and home where your mouth is.
1) I'd like to support Janis on this issue of labelling people..
2) I'd like to disagree with Janis about undocumented people being per se problem people. All the statistics say that undocumented people are for the most part MORE law-abiding than the rest of us. I would be two if any minor encounter with the police could completely trash my life.
Labeling me negates me. The word Immigrants has become to mean rapists, dirty,
Less than human. Trump’s’ assessment so that we bought it and a lot fear immigrants.
They are human beans escaping persecution…. Tyranny from the Country they are leaving. What the previous administration did by separating parents and their children was atrocious . Why we even respect this man is beyond comprehension.
We ar nw into pawning. The wall is a farce. Has anyone studied it ? If it was work on your home you would refuse to pay. No wall.
Omg - stop talking about Trump. The man is off his rocker. He was a one term president but did not start this immigration problem. All of you by mentioning Trump continuously keep him in the limelight. Stop mentioning Trump. He needs to fade away.
However immigration is a big fat problem that needs to be dealt with in a logical. Orderly and legal way.
I wish he would fade away, too, right into a nice prison cell, but as he continues to rally & campaign for himself & has possibly involved himself in our country's present national security threats, putting my head in the sand & hoping he goes away won't work.
Please don't give up ..... Biden is doing and saying the right things and is using his experience well. Trump will go away when. we vote his fat ass and his undeserving followers out of office. VOTE!
Hi Janis ..... you are correct that immigration is currently a fat problem in need of a solution. Do you have any ideas to solve the problem? My humble suggestions are as follows: 1. require immigrants seeking citizenship to speak (learn) English. 2. Identify educated, uneducated, skilled and unskilled labor and reward employers who assist potential workers. 3. If employment is to be achieved in the US they must pay social security and taxes which will benefit the immigrant only if they later qualify for citizenship. 4. My suggestions should be proposed in Immigration Legislation which our current members of the senate refuse to address or discuss. Logical and orderly, as you correctly suggest, might include 5. appropriation of tax dollars to organize a border agency with adequate resources to provide the above. Cartel and smuggling activity should have severe consequences 6. administered by a US Military task force. Perhaps a University located on or near the border would welcome the opportunity to 7. develop programs to educate, train migrants. My suggestions require resources and costs. If successful, employed immigrant citizens will become tax payers who are incentivized to contribute as US workers. Governors Abbott in Texas, DeSantis in Florida, and Ducey in Arizona have not proposed a sustainable, orderly, logical solution to solve the immigration crisis.
Even undocumented workers pay taxes — they even pay into Social Security that they will never collect. Often, they pay through using phony Social Security numbers to be hired without documents. [They’re not stealing identities, they are paying into the system through a back door, but using whatever they can to get a paycheck.] Yeah, It’s a crazy mess. So far, we can’t get R’s and D’s to actually do anything substantive about it. At least not anything GOOD.
These are all GREAT ideas I agree 100%. I would add that it is not on the Governor of any state to propose a solution but they actually have and were denied by opposition in Congress. See, until we get away from the two party system in this country it will always be this way.
Look at the polls. Trump is not fading away. Wishing him away does not work. Trump and his attitude, however much you distance yourself from MAGA, is what we are dealing with. The big fat problem is with the Republican party which supports Trump and Trumpism.
I do remember during the debate between our dear President and 'rump,I didn't want to see or hear him so I taped some paper towel on the screen and took theplug out when he spoke.Creativity helps.
What makes YOU such an expert to declare "They cannot all be fleeing oppression."? And I'd bet money, based upon your statements, that if it came to tRump vs Dem. or DeathSantis vs Dem. in 2024, you would choose the former. The people being bused have already LEGALLY passed through ICE, & are awaiting asylum claims & NONE carried drugs (or they would not have been released). Oh, & I HAVE offered my home in the past & will continue to offer it.
A woman who works with immigration organizations, and who was helping to process those poor people dumped onto the Massachusetts island, said that most she'd interviewed were already documented in, and going through, the government's official asylum request system. Is it possible for disantis to be an even bigger jerk than already thought?
They were dumped onto Martha's Vineyard not Guanos Island. They were there for 44 hrs. They were then transported to a military base on Cape Cod. Fences and security. So much for their freedom.
MAGAs don't care!! In their eyes, DeSantis is owning the evil, sinning, fetus-killing Libs!! DeSantis is changing the political narrative to a MAGA-base motivating narrative from potentially losing ones such as:
(1) Draconian, no-exception Abortion, including raped pre-teens & mothers in risky pregnancies who will give birth to stillborns
(2) Jan 6th; survival of democracy; riots in the streets; law & order; attacks on FBI agents
(3) TheRump betraying Israel, who tests anti-Iranian & -Russian missile defense systems, and whose Mossad agents help the US (Of course, Israel won't publicize this, because it fears the MAGAs will win -- just like it won't overtly help Ukraine, with Putin sitting in Syria)
American politicians know xenophobia works for them. For example, as Holocaust Museums clearly show, Hitler offered the Jews to any countries that would take them. None would. Then he murdered 6 million
I did not intend to praise Israel. I also disagree with BOTH the Israeli & Palestinian governments' policies, and their hawkish political leaders. Sadly, peace seems unlikely as long as:
- Israeli hawks (Bibi, et al.) welcome US Christian-Zionist Evangelical military support for the State of Israel to have the maximal footprint needed for their prophetic preconditions for Jesus to return
- Fatah does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and accepts Iranian missiles to hurl at Israeli civilians
One potential power realignment is if/when Iran's military might scares Saudi's MBS into seeking some alliance with Israel in light of the US government being too unstable
And you have met these people personally, Virginia? And you have been to the border and seen first hand what is going on. I have not but you sound like you have. If you want your tax dollars spent that way, open your home and your neighborhood to all of the illegal immigrants you want. Please do. Put your money, home. And city where your mouth is
Janis, please refrain from personal ("and you have met these people personally, Virginia?") attacks that tend to undermine the civility of this forum. Thank you.
Oh Janis, what a bunch of hogwash. I guess your ancestors came here the "right way" huh! Nonsense! People come here for a variety of reasons, mostly for hope of a better future for themselves and their children. Go to the border or not, you know those folks there, mostly asylum-seekers and refugees are not being treated very well. That is inexcusable, no matter what political persuasion you favor. Right is right and chasing people on horseback, caging children away from parents and other relatives, keeping people in detention centers with crappy food and terrible living conditions, forcing people to remain in a country far poorer than ours to await hearings in this country vulnerable to gangs and other violence, and more can in no way be considered humane, yet it is what a president, our courts, and governors have done to fellow human beings. I get it that a lot of "white" folks believe they are so far superior to others that they have some kind of divine permission to treat those they can't use or whom they just don't like as trash to be tossed wherever. Yep, that is the Christianity I signed on for. NOT!!!
You drank the kool aid so reason won’t work. Be a Christian - open your home and house these illegals. In fact if you can, get all of your like minded neighbors and friends to build a home to temporarily house people until acclimated. BTW, those border agents were innocent of those whooping charges. As for treating the immigrants poorly, they get phones, money and free transportation. Not so bad. And the moms get formula for the babies.
Kool Aid is a quick mix sugary drink that does not satisfy, is not nourishing. It's a dismissal in a reasoned argument such as this, guilty of the very accusation. The responses to this POV in this thread are reasoned and substantial and are being variously answered. These arguments that are anti-immigration or anti the reform needed, don't get discussed in the proper forums enough, ones that make people use their reason and their morality (not using the phrase "Christian values"). The discussions try to bring true motives to the surface... selfishness, racism. Thank you.
Another flavor of kool add you drank... This is so flippant a response.. not based in reality.
This is GHW Bush's "thousand points of light".. and G Bush's "compassionate Conservatism" which were slogans that gave the well off something to rest on, made ( mostly) Republican voters feel good, made people who like to think of themselves as Christian ( or religious) feel good. Let other people do the work. Let people beg in the streets as well. Then we can righteously say we are a good moral country. In the meantime give tax breaks to the rich. Let's complain that they don't work, but also complain that they are taking our jobs ( jobs we cannot fill).
There are plenty of non-government organizations, and dare I say, amazing individuals trying to do this work but the Federal Government needs to be in the lead, especially about legal processes and finances. No one can do this work without organization and financing available to the government. This is one reason why we have government and pay taxes.
People are not in a position to take others in; immigrants need to be cleared mentally, physically; they and their children and elders need services.
You are all "get, get get". You need to get off your perch.
GHW and his thousand points of light is as Satanic as it gets...just saying. We need real reform in this country and it should start with eliminating the two party system. Then actual work will get done. Term limits is another thing that should have been introduced long ago. Biden has been in office for over 50 years and made himself extremely wealthy but has done absolutely NOTHING for America.
Biden is by far NOT the richest of our American presidents and not principally from serving years he was in office before becoming the President; Trump is. Biden is the one of the last people holding or having held office that I would make that complaint about.
The good people of Florida are having their constitutional rights AND tax dollars taken away from them, for DeSantis’s political stunts. What has DeSantis done to serve citizens of Florida? Zero, he is a clown.
I believe he's in a heap of trouble and God willing ruined his chances for where he thought he was going.His ego softened his brain and he couldn't wear a hat.Hear his wife is a close advisor,she did a great job,wouldn't want her kids treated like that!
Vote him out. In the meantime, donate your money to house the illegal immigrants, go to the border and see, and open your home so these people can stay with you while they get acclimated to the US.
Immigrants are illegal until they are processed. You have an attitude. It's selfish, "not my problem, I got mine "let them do what MY ancestors did". And you stick up for it. The circumstances laws and conditions were quite different when your ancestors probably came. When you say "you want them, then open your home to them" that's kinda snarky. I assume they want to work towards the same life you and I have and to contribute.
We are citizens of this country by birth because of the opportunity given to our ancestors, because of LUCK in the first place. We had more openness at the time. Here is a moral lecture: We each have responsibilities to the ideals we share. We have moral obligation to treat other human beings decently regardless, even welcoming them. It makes US more humane. "There but for the grace go God go I". That's a culture I share. Immigrants deserve the benefit of the doubt and a chance to show their intentions. They are fleeing, in need, and making a very difficult journey, sometimes traumatized and not well, into the unknown. They should not face such a wall of selfish attitude. We have plenty of physical room in this country. Wherever they arrive, they need to be welcomed and processed. Then they can be resettled. OUR TAX money, FEDERAL money and laws can and should be used to this purpose.
Do you mean like the good people of Marthas Vinyard have done for those pawns of people like DeSantis? {Hypocrite . . . remove the log from your own eye that you may see to remove the speck from your neighbor's eye . . . } Your lake of compasion speaks volumes about your position.
A very nicely packaged argument, Mr. Reich. Thank you! Politics, ethics, laws, State and Federal jurisdictions, etc. Immigration as a subject is complicated and controversial. I appreciate your distilling the basics down in this story form.
Mark, I agree with you. I know story is powerful, and this is a pretty powerful tale of a corrupt, amoral man who has bullied his way into power, presenting himself as something he is not. He is not a caring guy who has the best interests of anyone but himself in mind. He should be charged with trafficking. Maybe that would remove the smirk from his "cute" white male face. Nah! He thinks he is above the law and will gain only more power if he is indicted. I would love him to be proven wrong!
Every Cuban immigrant in Florida should be able to see themselves in the Venezuelan refugees who DeSantis went out of his way ( to Texas, in fact) to abuse. They should be able to make the connection: if this is how he feels about them, then he probably feels the same way about me, and about my brothers still in Cuba.
Yep, GrAnnie, DeSantis is a sociopath just like Baby Donnie. Alas, some people get drawn to such sick men. DeSantis likes to use the Cuban-American community in Florida making them his allies against other, particularly Hispanic immigrants. DeSantis cares nothing for them or for the Venezuelans whom he trafficked to Martha's Vineyard, and by the way, Ron, the people there did welcome them and will find places for them. That is what moral people do. You could learn from them or just get kicked out of office which would be so much more satisfying.
Let's just say w/ faith that he very much overdid it this time.I don't pay more than a glance to polls,there are so many.I am Cuban American and very much a Democrat,but I know what you're saying.I have on my agenda for this week to contact Manny Diaz head of the Dem. Party in Miami Dade and speak to him about the block of 25,000 votes we lost because they thought Pres. Biden was 'socialist' I also have planned a little chat w/ Ocasio and Bernie Sanders about that.While I respect the good work they do,that 'socialist' label they use confused many Cubans & maybe other Latins.Proactivity helps alleviate the anxiety we are all dealing with.
Dear GrAnnie: Chickens in a chicken coop All have a ranking and usually only fight with the chicken next to them and rank. Humans are much the same. Overcoming this natural tendency is, I suspect, what a great part of “ organizing“ is about. 
How many parallels to Hitler's successful rise to power and Trump who, with the help of well educated people, like DeSantis, who should know better, will we see?
Maryk, that is a good question. DeSantis sees himself either as being at the top of this autocracy they are creating or as the right-hand man. He may have an expensive education, but that does not make him smart or moral or in any way humane, just the kind of guy a Hitler would love to use and warp even further. Alas, DeSantis doesn't have the national charisma to be a Hitler and he is a jerk. I hope Floridians will wake up to DeSantis's lack of empathy or caring of any kind. He doesn't even care for them unless he can use them as he has used the Florida legislature. OK, they are a bunch of non-entities to begin with, but he didn't have to twist too much to get them to pass all kinds of anti-democratic, hateful laws. Now, we need to confine all of them to Florida!
Was thinking the same thing! I watched part 1 of the US & the Holocaust just last night. Learned several things about immigration in this country & see the parallels of the US of the 20s/30s & today. Germany had what they thought they wanted but it was short lived & came to a devastating end affecting the entire world! DeSantis, Abbott, tRumpt are all cut from the same cloth. America should be careful what they ask for; they just might get it but regret it.
That documentary is a huge eye opener. Almost made me physically ill to see some of these Germans going to tour a camp after liberation. They walked like it was going to be entertaining and fun. When they walked out they were not nearly so smug.
I disagree with only two words: “ well educated”. People are highly susceptible in thinking that having gone to Harvard, Yale,Princeton, Stanford etc etc. simply makes one well educated. Wrong! And if I were any of these schools I would hang my diplomas out to dry.... Anybody can buy a diploma.
There are so many “well educated people say at Reed College, or say U.of Montana, or any state school that someone has spent his time actually learning how to think that those who are well educated aren’t kidnapping human beings and illegally flying them around the country as a publicity stunt! This man is not “ well educated” or even “well raised”. He is a thug. He has no character on which to build a personality. He is ......... nothing. Is that what America deserves? Nothing.
No Ivy League education can correct a faulty moral compass. Their compass needle points to greed, power, distain for the poor, ignorance of societal needs, and tribalism. Hawley, Cruz, Pompeo, Tom Cotton and many other tRump loyalists have degrees from the Ivies!
He had the book Mein Kampf on his night stand, according to his first of three wives. I’m sure one of his children had to read it to him, we know he is illiterate.
unfortunately and interview like this can never happen in US nowadays, not behind closed doors let alone in public since leaders are unwilling to be held accountable in public........the public should not be accepting this behaviour from any elected of government official and neither should they accept them using innocent people as pawns in their political wars..............only solution is to vote them out.
New signs of fascism in US are coming top almost daily..........one can ignore it but one can never say we did not know.........
You're right Hans, we can't say we didn't know. The Germans of the 1930s couldn't say it either but do. So many Germans were "Christians" yet watched Jewish people being humiliated and murdered in the streets, even if they didn't see the concentration camps. They did little or nothing because the people they had bowed down to were already too powerful. It scares me that it has been 20 months since Baby Donnie staged an insurrection, yet nothing has been done to indict him. We quibble over what is on stolen documents instead of charging Baby Donnie with stealing the documents. We have laws against theft and what Trump did was theft. Charge him with that and deal with what specifically he stole as part of the trial. Then, we need to charge people who are making threats to their neighbors as well as to public figures. We have ways to find out who is pumping out the threats, but little has been done and few charges made. It's time! People are leaving essential offices because of the threats. Those offices will be taken over by those insurgents if we are not careful. We allow January 6th insurgents to run for office all over the country. We have an amendment to the Constitution that forbids this, but for the most part, ignore it. OMG!
Please, not all politicians, there are Democrats that ask to go on FOX and they won’t allow it, lest it breaks the cult. Let’s get specific, it’s the so called “main stream Republican politicians that are too cowardly to stand up for our rights, silence is complicity.
Sep 19, 2022·edited Sep 19, 2022Liked by Robert Reich
I noted in the Ken Burns documentary on the Holocaust, that Eleanor Roosevelt was concerned about the reaction of the crowd, which burst out with loud enthusiasm at FDR‘s announcement that he intended to seek the powers of a dictator to deal with the depression. There’s a deep-seated yearning in a fearful polity for a strong leader, a dictator….in times of profound trouble. And those are the perilous times that we find ourselves living in now. We need to find a peaceful way to address the fear. Or else.
With this inhumane and immoral act DeSantis has demonstrated he is not suited for an office responsible for the well being of not only Americans but of a nation where its monument proclaims: ""Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore." He is not only not suited for that office but the one he currently holds.
That dictator wannabe is my governor. He won by a whisker four years ago. I'm hoping Charlie Crist, who is a gentleman and knows what it means to serve, will beat him in the election. Unfortunately, this is a state in the stranglehold of the GOP which is trying desperately to hold onto the power they have carved out for themselves.
You can see the roots of this prejudice in Ken Burn's Holocaust film airing now on PBS. The anti-semitic and immigrants sentiment is front and center in the USA just as it is in this case. It's nothing to be proud of by any measure.
Mark, Your astute comment raises the question of what then are we to do. Borrowing from public intellectual Cornel West, I believe we need to begin with something I sense, generally, is profoundly un-American, namely recalling the very deep and tragic sense of history, a historical sensibility, if you will, linked to empathy. To be clear, I don’t mean empathy as simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through, but as having the will to summon enough courage to do something about it.
Well, I don't know what that is at the individual level other than voting for candidates that show empathy. Any Democrat when compared to the alternative is my suggestion.
Mark, Admittedly, I don’t have a ready solution except to say, that if the past several decades are any indication, judicious voting, while necessary, I fear isn’t sufficient. That said, one place we could start is to run interference every time a public official emphatically states, when speaking of injustice and cruelty, “This is not who we are.”
What the MAGAs don’t realise is that most of the Illegal immigrants are in fact refugees seeking safety. They didn’t ask to flee their home land but they just want to live in peace and have human rights and have a future for themselves and their children. They often contribute hugely to their new country if given half a chance. Immigration expands the economy. But MAGA Republicans are simply generating hatred and fear to gain power.
And as Robert points out, most of us are in America because our ancestors came over for exactly the same reasons.
Michael, yes, that is why people came to this country, but DeSantis and so many others, mostly now considered white, have forgotten that and think of their ancestors as far more worthy than any other immigrants. Some claim "my people did it the right way" or my people had it so much worse in their homeland than the loafers who are coming today do. Both excuses are nuts and we the people should dismiss them as the whitewashing they are. DeSantis is no more worthy than the people whom he and the other Confederate governors trafficked to Martha's Vineyard and northern cities and should be prosecuted for trafficking as any other guilty person would be.
The immigrants from Italy with dark hair, eyes, and olive skin were not consider “white” in the the mid to late 1800 and early 1900-20’s. Where as immigrants from other parts of Italy with fair skin, light hair and eyes were considered white.
My husbands family which originates in Calabrese, Parma, and Sicily have always been assumed to be Irish with their flaming red hair! Both his grandparents, mother and father are fair skin/ redheads with dark brown eyes (so is he). With a non-Italian sounding last name. (it’s Italian, I assure you he). So, how do you think Ron DeSantis would have been categorized had he showed up at Ellis Island in 1895? Not speaking a word of English, no idea what was where and relied on people he could not understand? Under his solution, he could have been separated from his parents and forced into child labor. But that is not how they were treated. Immigration was tough, dangerous, and only a hope of being permitted to stay in America then, just like it is now.
My great-grandfather was forced to return to Hungary once, before his successful second trip across the Atlantic in steerage. My g-grandmother worked off her passage with a lovely Jewish family in Pittsburgh. They remained close throughout their lives even after Julia married Peter and they moved to Washington county south of Pittsburgh.
Why can’t this process be streamlined since the inception of this country instead of the ridiculous procedures in place to purposely snarl it?
My ex-wife was of Sicilian ancestry. She was from NYC but her husband moved to FL to be a pharmacist in 1964. She went into the drugstore in Bradenton, FL, and sat down at the lunch counter to eat. She was "politely" told she could only order "to go" and had to stand at the end of the counter. Fortunately, her husband, who was 6'3" came to her "rescue."
That's the Florida I remember (and hated) when I lived there from later 1958 to 1961. I am white, of Scottish Canadian ancestry, so I wasn't personally mistreated, but I hated the way the "native" whites felt privileged and treated persons whose skin was darker than theirs. including the real natives, the Seminole indigenous people. I could hardly wait to leave. My memories of Florida are high humidity, insects of all sizes and shapes and snakes, but most of all of ignorant people who couldn't even speak proper English. At my insistence, we moved to California. which I have never regretted, although my ex-husband did every day.
Bob....wow that is some story. In Tampa the local rednecks hanged some Italian radicals from an Oak tree right on Kennedy Blvd. back around the turn of the century. My grandfather was from Russia and came here in 1902. My mother was from Ireland. We had a hard time.
My husband is a redhead fair skinned guy! His (our) last name is Colbrese! We’ve been told the name originally came from Calabrese! We also get asked if we’re Irish. It just shows how connected we really are.
I love your response. This is something the ignorant "others" never consider. When I first moved to California we had a temporary farm worker program where persons from Mexico would come every Spring to plant, manage, and harvest the crops. It seemed to work pretty well, but some of the "bosses" who brought the workers in treated them abominably and the program ended.
I think CA may have a similar program now.
If only! Criminals never "prosecute" other criminals.
Malevolent, deceptive, abusive, and probably illegal: everything we have come to know and loathe about Ron DeSantis. Add in the crypto-racism and casteist dehumanization dogwhistles to the MAGAts and you have definitional fascism. When DeSantis gets around to saying the quiet part out loud, he'll be fascist in all dimensions. Much smarter (until now) than Rump, he is like Tom Cotton and a number of others even more dangerous to American democracy.
I have ancestors who go back 400 years here. Everyone came over steerage class, either an economic, a religious, or a political refugee, often all three. That IS the history of European America. Selfish got-here-firsters have been amongst us all from the first European bootsteps ashore, but that view is just as ugly now as it ever was. Pandering to that is reprehensible . . . but definitional of a 'good us - foul them' fascist worldview. We can have no doubt where Ron DeSantis stands, and how he thinks when he's grinding his heel into somebody with less money and power than he has currently. And damn betcha he'd be the first to cry discrimination if somebody did it to him and his!
My family entered this country following the laws and regulations applicable at the time.
And these migrants should be thrilled to be up north in the sanctuary cities. If you think that is kidnapping, what's the ransom.
I wish they’d send more North! We need workers badly. To your point; these were not migrants. These are asylum seekers from Venezuela. They were trying to enter legally.
Sounds good, but they're economic migrants till vetted and proven. Either way there are separate pathways to migration. You and I have no real knowledge as to their pathway. Definitely not accepting averments from CNN, FOX or Reich. We mushrooms should be wary of the BS they're trying to feed us in the dark.
Oh Tony, May God have mercy on your soul!
https://popular.info/p/the-smoking-gun-in-marthas-vineyard
Where I live they're cutting down bus service because of labor shortage. They can't find enough drivers.
Ransom is a moot point. The act of deceiving people to move them from your state is an act of kidnapping. By the way he had to go to Texas to pick up enough asylum seeking refugees!
Half of kidnapped people, or more, are not kidnapped for ransom, but to be used, abused, and eventually killed. I find your comment reprehensible. People are people, no matter where they come from. You are on my land, not yours! Act like the visitor you are!
LEGALLY- Our ancestors, at least mine, came legally through Ellis Island and worked to become citizens.
A couple points here:
1) Refugees have a legal right to asylum.
2) The law recedes in importance when your life is at stake.
3) My grandfather may have entered America legally, but he escaped from the Tsar's Russia illegally, smuggled out by people traffickers. I'm alive because he broke the law.
Add that there were no well defined immigration laws until the 1920's. Speaking of immigration as legal or illegal before that is anachronistic.
By the way, shouldn't someone bring up Lady Liberty's pedestal here? Give me your tired, your poor, your tempest-tossed...
While I am proud of the saying a Trumpist once pointed out that it’s only a poem and he couldn’t have given a dam.
THAT point is lost on EVERY GQP, including DeathSantis
Key to your statement: he entered the US legally. He left Russia illegally due to oppression. That is one of many stories like that. We don’t know. But should know the back story of those entering our country. Your family history is key. To suggest that the 1 M who have crossed in the past two years are oppressed and in danger is ridiculous. We really do not know. We do know that the open border has created an open path for fentanyl smuggling, child sex trafficking and other heinous acts.
WE DON’T HAVE AN OPEN BORDER.
In the not too distant past, we did have an open border, and migrants went back and forth — coming here to work, going back south for parts of the year. When we locked the border, they stopped “going home,” for fear of not being able to get back for the farming and other jobs that sustained them. Policies here brought on the changes at the border than had unintended consequences — more undocumented residents instead of transient workers coming and going. [Not even getting into how business hiring “under the table” play into the Gordian Knot of cross-border activity in recent decades.]
And fentanyl comes in on trucks, not in people’s pockets. The trucks are smuggling it over the border at checkpoints where we don’t have enough border-agents or capacity to know what’s in all the trucks coming across daily — most of them completely legal and supporting our complicated economy.
Really, seriously, know what you’re talking about, what’s happening, before you decide where to put your energies and your votes.
Right on the money!
Nice to hear some actual facts rather than the misinformation that permeates right-wing & even mainstream sites
Yes!
AMEN!!!
Our borders are NOT open. I wish they were. There is an enormous problem created by our own government’s actions south of the border--unseating good leaders who care about their people and replacing them with despots who will favor US corporations that exploit the people and their natural resources. The CIA is on record for fomenting, or trying to foment, an incredible number of coups. And those death squads? They were trained by us. The US is an enemy of poor people south of the border. If they demand their rights, the US will block them. It favors the rich and the corrupt. That may be hard to believe, but it’s documented time and time again. No wonder people come here. And by the way, many die in the process. They have to go through dangerous terrain. Oh, just educate yourselves, everybody, please! It’s no picnic. Thousands have died trying to get here. It is very, very difficult to enter legally. Again, I recommend the film “Harvest of Empire,” based on the book of the same title by Juan Gonzales.
I’m in mind of the Christian story of Jospeh and Mary taking their infant child to Egypt to protect him, traveling through difficult desert to a land where they were not especially welcome, but they needed a safe place for their child.
But today, someone would put their kid in a cage. Or ship them off to Martha’s Vineyard with false promises of food and shelter and a job. That’s today’s FAUX Christians for you.
Living very near the border I can say this is true. One day some time ago I looked up when my dogs were barking to see a family that I will never forget. The parents looked to be in their thirties. The man held a two year old, the woman an infant, and the man held the hand of a five or six year old boy. They were walking as If they did not want to disturb the air, slowly, deliberately and they were sad. I’m will alway remember them. Their carriage and demeanor seemed so honorable. They were headed probably to a grocery store parking lot where someone would meet them. I said a prayer for them and still do sometimes.
Are you kidding, Janis Davis? To think those who have crossed into our country in the past two years have been oppressed and their lives in danger is NOT ridiculous. It's true. Many of those in our country know exactly the wars, gangs, and death in some Central American countries. Just because YOU are ignorant of it, does not mean the reality doesn't exist. People have split up their families, picking and choosing who will walk here -- out of their countries, across the whole of Mexico -- for hope of surviving. Surviving -- which they will not do if they stay home. What in HOLY HELL makes you think these people are coming in with fentanyl in their pockets?
Furthermore, most would have crossed into our country and looked for the asylum centers. They WANTED to seek asylum. WE WE WE separated them, put them in cages, ignored and starved them, etc.
The fentanyl smuggling is often masterminded by ou own homegrown criminals. I think it’s unfair to judge immigrants before a hearing. Maybe some of our judgmental people should haul their families down to some of these places and see how they feel about having their kids pulled into those gangs. Most of those trying to get into our country are fleeing countries taken over by gangs and thugs. These folks deserve a hearing.
Exactly!! A very sad reality is, the USA is where the fentanyl market is …. High demand has created high volume sourcing … We need to be able to police our shipping in and out of the country, to be sure thousands of trucks that come in each day are not shipping illegal drugs along with the electric coffee makers.
And, by hook or by crook, we need to find ways to reduce the demand here for illegal drugs that people use to dull the realities of THEIR days. [I know that some people come into substance abuse thinking it’s recreation, and they get caught. I also know a lot more go there to self-medicate. I also know that keeping their supply in the hands of criminals is a good way to keep the criminals in the business. — But those are starting to get into very new and even more dicey issues to deal with.]
Janis, I fear that you have been watching Fox News a little too much. It is legal to seek asylum in this country. We don’t have an open border.  Beside the point that illegal drugs are coming into this country are two things to consider. First that is not the only way nor perhaps even the greatest way drugs come into this country. Two it is the people in this country that are encouraging drugs to come into this country because they want them. I would hope that you could find in your heart a little kindness for the desperate people that are coming to our country who cannot live where they come from for a variety of dire reasons. I would urge you to put some energy into trying to get Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration bill and urge DeSantis and Abbott to quit using immigrants as political pawns. Kidnapping immigrants under false pretenses of jobs and housing and sending them to other states evidences an immaturity of governance.
It's also called inveigelment according to Prof.Glen Kirchner,a professor at Georgetoen University,former prosecutor for the Justice Dept.(30 yrs.) and supervised 30 prosecutors.Find him at Justice Matters.com.
Hear, hear, Robin!
The people DeathSantis bused all entered LEGALLY (having started their paperwork & released by ICE), & were awaiting their final court hearings/judgment
…And that Florid Floridian Creep threw a monkey wrench into their process by shipping them off … Just some added context to what he’s pulling.
Yesss!
Again: seeking asylum IS legal entry! Also: illegally entering the US is a MISDEMEANOR.
Exactly!
Janice,
I am assuming you have not been to Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba etc. to see the brutality, death and despair that is put upon these people by their so-called leaders. If you had seen it maybe you would understand better why they risk their lives to come here. They do go through a legal process here. Let them be. They are human beings in need and we should extend ourselves to help them with the kindness and decency they deserve. 
Also must we remind you….many left Europe,Asia ,Africa etc…etc…when there was the American Indians here
THEY ARE REAL AMERICAN
you think you are hmmm go back a few decades and look you’ll see the same needs of people today!! Hmmmm??
“Pure human yes” all of us are more so than others I would guess??
true.
The US will soon be in the same bag if we allow republicans to take over.
All of us collectively will move heaven and earth to not let that happen.The world order is in bad enough shape.Our country needs to succeed and be a beacon of light to other nations.
I don't like De Santis or MAGA Republicans in general. I am sympathetic to oppressed immigrants. My ancestors were immigrants also. But the US population was half of what it is now the year I was born. We need to find another solution than continually accepting millions of immigrants year after year because of our mythical status as 'Land of The Free".
The population of the WORLD doubled since I was in high school in the 1960s. It’s not just here. The planet is finite, and we draw lines on the dirt to say what part is ours. But we’re all born on the same planet. How are we going to cope with less and less of it capable of sustaining human populations?
You might remember how people ridiculed the Zero Population Growth movement back a few decades. As they ridiculed {and still do in some weird locales] the Greenhouse Gas Global Warming Climate Change reality today.
And yet, here we are — twice as many people…
In the end, no matter how we feel about overpopulating a planet [some scientists are talking about a global extinction event brought on in the “Anthropocene” … EGAD], we have to figure out how to cope with the numbers and the changes in habitable regions and the ability of the planet to support the life that’s already on it into the future.
These guys marshaling people’s fears and paranoia to gain power NOW don’t care a fig for what the future holds for humanity — not climate, not pandemic, not geo-political, not nuthin’ .
They scare the hell out of me. I think back to that guy we made fun of a couple of decades ago, when he told us we should plan for this climate change and mass migration, work to avoid this, take the future seriously and WORK INTO it, rather than always reacting to what comes along, as if we’re so damned surprised…Yeah, what might we have done in the past twenty two years, if we actually DID inaugurate Al Gore instead of George Bush?
{Don’t misunderstand me, either — I don’t think the Democratic Party is pure and pristine. But I believe the Dems and the bulk of people on the Left are still capable of hearing reason and governing with sustainability and the future in mind. Some conservatives are, too — but their PARTY is lost, and it is seeming more and more like it’s beyond redemption. If they want to govern responsibly and rationally, we need a hell of a lot of Republicans to reject their “leadership.” I disagree with Liz Cheney’s political positions - and I think her father’s heavy-handed tactics in the Dubya administration helped open the door for what’s going on today — but she wants to GOVERN, not dictate. We could probably talk about how to do that and find common ground. More like that, please.}
I think Liz Cheney is fabulous at what she's doing on the committee.However I will add this,I believe her to be super conservative and at this point would not trust her to 'govern'.Not exactly the'Maga' variety,but Repub. There has always been a coldness there to people in need.
Well said!
Amen!
World population has double. What do you do about that?
Your assumption is wrong. I have travelled extensively all over the world. Not to Cuba. I have no issue with immigration but it must be legal and stories checked
I am not talking about sightseeing in Europe. Taking cruises to countries and going on excursions for two hours doesn’t count. I’m talking about getting in these countries and working and seeing real Third World countries were death and despair and diseases is part of every day life. I have been on the ground through Doctors without Borders for 20 yeas. Have you been to Nicaragua? Have you been to Columbia? Have you been to Venezuela? Guatemala? All brutal regimes who brutalized their people. We have to start caring for each other as people no matter where we come from or we’re not going to survive.
Hear, hear. ❤️
Janis, checking stories is the work of immigration court. It is part of the promised process. The people who just got kidnapped and lied to were LEGALLY here, looking to join that immigration process.
They WERE released by ICE, pending their court hearings, so they ARE legal, for now. Just a stunt by two heartless candidates for 2024 POTUS
Cuban refugees had carte blanche to show up running away from Castro.
Do you KNOW about the massive boat-lift that was [somewhat reminiscent of what DeSantis is doing!] orchestrated by the Castro government, taking prisoners from their jails and sending them to Florida em masse in boats? Except Castro sent convicts to inundate our system, and DeSantis is sending decent people for no reason except to create chaos so he can chortle about it.]
Stories checked. Surely you jest.
But. Hey. Castro. Cuba. Communism. In they came …
Yes- If we get to the bottom of this attitude we may find politics, the quest for power, pandering to our worst instincts and attitudes, ones that Trump took advantage of and that DeSantis is trying to cash in on.
The problem is the system is slow and cumbersome and takes too long. They are being processed in that way though, still. Fact.
I prefer to consider moral imperatives before legality. Legality in politics is too often used by those who want to keep it all for themselves. It is far past time for thinking, compassionate people to understand that political constructs called "nations" are frequently as destructive as organized religions. We are all humans, and if we are to survive as a species must stop this tribalism and start to care for each other and the earth.
1) Seeking asylum IS "legal immigration."
2) These new immigrants have to work AT LEAST TWICE AS HARD now that bigots and evil monsters like DeathSantis are actively trying to murder them.
Your ancestors didn't have a demonic demagogue actively touring the nation calling THEM evil!
Your vitriol against DeSantis seems poorly thought out. How is he murdering them .by sending the migrants to a sanctuary state. ???
Get off your sanctimonious throne. Being sent to Martha's Vineyard is like you being sent to Antarctica. You would have no idea how to cope in an unknown environment. Maybe the penguins would help you, but I think they are better character judges than that.
The LEGALITY happened once they were in Ellis Island, a federal operation, the place where immigrants were landing at the time.There immigrants were taken care of and processed. People were running from persecution famine etc coming in ships. This was for a few decades starting in the late 1800's. Then in the 1920's Mass immigration ended and quotas were made and mass immigration ended. Florida needs an "Ellis Island" of those early days similarly run by the Federal Government so people can LEGALLY enter and work to become citizens. So if you emphasize LEGAL, there needs to be a LEGAL path... one that my grandparents also took for which I am thankful.
That part about the legal is partially true. From the late 1800s through about 1920 no visas or paperwork were required to enter the US through Ellis Island and I think Mississippi. In 1920 mass immigration to US changed and documentation was required. Italy which is where my Grandparents came from did not require nor track those emigrating.
yes.
Yes I agree with you
The people transported to Martha's Vineyard were already in CBP's system awaiting hearings. They were asylum seekers from Central & South America, and parts of North America used to be part of their land, also, until the US took it away from them. We have a shortage of workers in this country, & if we don't wish to go the way of Japan & some of our European allies, we need young people here to support our older people or we can kiss our social programs like SS & M'Care good-bye. I have always been fascinated by immigrants, as I would have found it so difficult to leave 'home.' I have met immigrants who left families behind, as they worked & waited years until they could bring their wives & families over here. They make us a better nation. I am 2nd generation on my father's side, & I haven't a clue as to how my grandparents arrived here from Ireland & I don't care. On my mother's side, I have an ancestor who rode with Lafayette in the Revolution. So what? Have a heart, people are suffering atrocities we can't even imagine.
I say give many immigrants training and jobs that match the 'Infrastructure 'projects.They could learn a skill and support themselves and their families.I will be contacting Pete Buttigieg's office later to inquire,seems doable.
Make it easier to be legal and for you the problem will be solved.
Janis Davis ; Does Ellis Island operate the legal immigration facility that was in operation at the time that those ancestors came in so long ago? If it does, it's the biggest secret ever.
Better yet, Ellis Island isn't in friggin' Florida - or Texas!
DZK ; Exactly! I don't think there is anything truly equivalent operating today, is there?
Not that I know of. The only box Dr Reich didn't check in his comment today, from my comments yesterday is recognizing that there seems to be no provision in the immigration system to handle high volume. That's what I gleaned from an interview I heard on the evening news yesterday, with the mayor of El Paso, who was explaining >his< action with the immigrants. It >wasn't< a political rant. He appeared sorely pressed, and essentially said he thought he could kill two birds with one stone: dealing with being overburdened with immigrants they're ill-equipped to process and finding somewhere for them to go where they'd be welcome. To me it could've been a practical solution - with the right communication and >without< the Tweety-driven political bullshit.
As a friend of mine in TX, who's word is reliable, responded to me when I mentioned what I concluded from that mayor's interview: "We end up with a lot of homeless immigrants hereabouts." >NOBODY< has brought that up! From what my friend says, it >seems< that the immigrants have been dumped in the streets without prospect, because the TX INS is ill-equipped to help them >establish< themselves.
That's why I think the first thing Congress should do is spread the burden the processing, disposition, and relocation - either in the US or where they came from - with something involving immigration centers that are Federally sanctioned to transport excess immigrants to INS offices in >all< metro areas >throughout< the US - not just "blue states." That is, make all metro areas "Ellis Islands." That's only a start. It only deals with balancing the immigrant burden across the country, rather than having it crush the resources of a local area. If someone brings up an immigration reform that simply does that, I'd vote for it!
DZK ; Also, our country has a different number of people now ; much bigger population.
Thank God! We would have MILLIONS more dead in our country!
No, Ellis Island is a museum now.
Michael Shapiro ; I knew that, was asking a rhetorical question to make a point, that Ellis Island was a different era. Accessibility to those wanting to make applications for entry into our country seems almost non existent now.
Yes. Agreed. Once upon a time America welcomed "your tired, your poor, your tempest-tossed." And they made America proud. Now America wants entrepreneurs and software engineers on H1 visas.
I was about to answer Michael that your statement was facetious when I saw your response. I totally agree with you, btw.
The federal government shut down mass migration in the 1920s. Watch the pbs special, “The US and the Holocaust” - it’s an eye opener.
Duuuuh! So an old-news solution has been on the books all along! Un-frikkin'-believable!
I hope you know that there are other legal routes to citizenship than through the old Ellis Island. Just sayin'
I imagine that was in the years when my grandparents arrived- over a hundred years ago, before the anti immigrant statutes were in place.
And most do come thru legally. It’s the lies you get sucked into.
Until 1910, as long as they weren’t of the Yellow Race. Weren’t no laws to let them in!
Really? I think you may want to double check that.
If you are asking me to double check that, of course all the documentation is in our possession and considered family treasures.
Janis. State whether or not they had a visa?
All of those shipped to Martha's Vineyard were Venezuelans arguably escaping from Communism. His administration threatened to ship Cubans to Delaware.
We used to welcome them. Not going over well with REPUBLICANS here in Baghdad By the Sea. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/immigration/article265860501.html
And my parents were both part of an economic migration not "refugees". They came through Ellis Island. They then registered and completed Citizen classes. They did not have or use any entitlements.
Mine too!! Everybody in my senior family spoke with a cool Italian accent. We were poor but ate well
My parents only spoke English at home so that my sister and I would not develop an accent. It worked. They were naturalized citizens of the US from Italy and counted themselves as Americans. Pretty old fashioned
And some took land that was not theirs to take! All of you people came here to take our farms, lands, our water, and annihilated tribes after your ancestors could not deal with the way we took care of our families and our way of life. You should not feel so proud of yourselves. Empathy is a Christian foundation. Can any of you say you are Christian?
Even the Pilgrims were fleeing something in 1620. It's an old story.
The reason is not the issue, but the legal process. Our federal government is the problem. It is flagrantly ignoring our Constitution and, illegally, by its inaction, promoting the southern invasion of non-citizens. This would not be tolerated by Mexico if US citizens illegally invaded that country.
Any migrant coming to the US has, under THE LAW, a right to apply to due process to seek asylum. That is their human right. Many are coming from countries where life is intolerable. Drug lords make money off Americans buying those drugs. The problem ISN'T the migrants, who often add to the economy, but to the social inequities in all societies. Until there is a fairer distribution of income (which Republicans do NOT want!) things will not improve no matter what THE LAW says or does.
But most came legally. Therein lies the difference.
Oh Virginia, you have that right on. That is why I think DeSantis and any others who knowingly helped with the trafficking, be charged with trafficking. They are now common criminals and need to be prosecuted that way. The law is for all, even the "brilliant" white men who think they are better than everyone else and will do whatever they can to hurt anyone who opposes them or just makes them mad. We have to get the word out to Floridians that their Governor is a criminal, a people user, and not someone who should be in charge of anything or anyone.
Ruth,
Thank you for telling it like it us. I am flabbergasted that that silly, ugly, evil man can get away with this. And if he does? What are we telling ourselves over and over and over.... we are a Nation of laws. Remember--- if the lie is big enough and told long enough people will start to believe it... are we , in fact Lying to ourselves??? Those who are in the legal profession had better start re-shaping the rhetoric: do you know our laws? Do we know our laws? A child knows better than DeSantis does that his behavior is not acceptable. Are we going to stand idle while this Elite ignoramus abuses our very system of legality.
Or are we going to keep writing about it and then quietly go close the blinds?
🙈🙉🙊
❤️❤️❤️ I can't make the ❤️ button work, so I'm giving you 3.
Yes, you have been fed lies, but not by those whom you accuse.
I read that the Rethugs have an obsession w/ 'telling people what to do'. That should be done in proper order,like telling themselves how to act like responsible,level headed human beings w/ real hearts.What happened to 'do unto others',etc. It still stands.
Yes Ma’am truth matters.
Thank you for saying this out loud. I feel sorry for Floridians, they will soon be on the level of Mississippi. We moved from Florida this year to the just as backward state of Texas. God help us!
Does this prosecution include Biden?
It should! It’s obvious that we have some major Kool Aid enthusiasts here!
The Constitution is the law. Our administration is the criminal of which you speak for ignoring it.
And God willing they'll both continue to rot in the right places.I wouldn't even use them for compost of any nature.
MAGAs are played.
Who is sending them to the border? Not Democrats. How does a Ukrainian, African or Cuban get the fare to fly to Mexico?
At the border need to distinguish those fleeing for their lives from tyranny or war from those escaping poverty.
Those who benefit from illegal immigration include unscrupulous employers who pay workers "under the table." The poster boy for hiring illegals was Donald J. Trump, who had to pay a fine for using them on his job sites. Arguably, the Trump Organization still uses them. The employer sanctions provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) prohibit employers from hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee aliens known to be unauthorized to work in the United States. Fewer would come if there weren't jobs waiting for them.
Koch Brothers has a history. One complainant said “People are afraid to come forward because they think, ‘What will happen if I say something? I’ll be separated from my family, I’ll lose my job. They prefer to say nothing and suffer.”https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-immigration-koch-foods/allegations-of-labor-abuses-dogged-mississippi-plant-years-before-immigration-raids-idUSKCN1UZ1OV
Why has this dysfunctional immigration system persisted for decades? Because it's not a bug, it's a feature. If I were an unscrupulous employer, I would want nothing better than a large population of potential employees who have no legal status and will therefore be too afraid to stand up for their rights. And so it is.
Why? IMHO because it is to call to the racist collective subconscious of the Republican base.
In 2007, W tried to reform immigration, with bipartisan support from Teddy, McCain and others. Labor unions and some guy from VT thought it had problems, but the way the vote went down prevented improving it...
Excellent Daniel.I do remember that Latin woman working in the kitchen(I think it was Mar a Lago) that finally sang. She was brave.
Thank you for this further insight, Daniel.
We’ll, our current administration could put a stop to this horrible situation you describe as done by only one political group. Why haven’t they thwarted the enemy camp? Why don’t they refuse to let the evil republicans have their cheap labor. Foreign workers taking all the American jobs. Where is the ruling party’s sense of fairness for Americans? Why don’t they close the border and shut down “MAGA’s evil agenda? They are in power and have all the power so why do we have a border problem?
Obviously you don't know much.
https://www.cato.org/blog/bidens-border-policy-not-open-borders
99% of Republican immigration policy is used for propaganda purposes only. Biden has deported 10 X the number Trump did. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/supreme-court-blocks-biden-immigration-policy-on-deportation#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20(AP)%20%E2%80%94%20The%20Supreme,policy%20frozen%20nationwide%20for%20now.
Tell that to a brainwashed Trumplicon. They don’t want the truth. They just want what they want without regard to anyone else.
Thank you, Virginia, absolutely these refugees are seeking safety for so many reasons. And they are fleeing poverty and danger, much brought on by other governments like USA. People are not illegal. But the tactics to move them for political gain are illegal. Whether between countries or states. These heads of state have no compassion. Empathy and caring are in short supply.
And you absolutely know this how? I love all this certainty of 1 M people many of whom are single males. Absolutely give me a break. This is insanity
Janis, I wrote “absolutely” agreeing there are many reasons for immigration and emigration. I’m not debating the question of border control or gender. Or the problems created in our country. My ancestors escaped the czar in 1909. They immigrated from Kiev through Ellis Island before the limit on Jewish refugees. Another grandmother from Lithuania stepped over the border from Canada to Minnesota. Those stories make up our country’s history. The courage to leave one’s country of birth and often family. As long as we have wars, population fluctuations, poverty, starvation and climate change, persecution and immoral leaders (add to the list) we will have human beings who seek something better and safer for their families and children. What a struggle, what a dangerous journey. Gratitude to our ancestors. It takes generations to assimilate, learn a new language, and is a bigger challenge than I have experienced in my lifetime. It’s usually the children of refugees and immigrants who fully reap the benefits in the new country. We must continue to work on this complicated sociopolitical problem together. And understand why people are fleeing their homeland.
Indeed Ma’am, thanks for your insightful post. And Janis Davis is a contentious troll!
Nancy, Thank you!
You nailed it, Virginia Hastings! I am appalled at everything happening with regards to the exploitation of refugees who are only seeking a better life in this country (or anywhere for that matter) and vow to keep keeping to the truth on who’s who in the matter. Let everyone know: VOTE BLUE 🌻
Thank you, Anne. Where I live (Australia) the former Liberal Government (read: Republican) have kept people locked up for years and years and stalling on settling their claims - not meeting their civil rights. They are locked away at great expense for years and years, with no education, employment or anything meaningful in their lives. It's a disgrace. The whole department in charge is totally understaffed and underfunded. My daughter is involved in placing Afghan refugees (that she used to work with there) in many countries. Australia and the USA make placing refugees the MOST difficult. Canada, Germany even the EU in general are much more helpful. It's an international issue. Trump and his DeSantis MAGA creeps are just hopping on a convenient platform of fear - so they don't have to think about a solution for people denied their human rights.
Virginia,
This is horrible. These poor people come from such corrupt countries (who never allot funds meant to better their lives at home to the proper place) seek refuge in what USED to be the greatest country in the world and unbeknownst to them walk into an equally corrupt society (I almost said “regime” - because of people like DeSantis and Abbott.)
I will say that living here has become terrifying with the MAGA cult. I am so glad Joe Biden is at the helm and just hope that we can gain a few seats in both the House and the Senate in November. Our Supreme Court is a joke now, thanks to Mitch McConnell. Yet there’s nothing to laugh about - quite the opposite.
Getting back to the refuge crisis… we could all learn a lot from Poland, who has opened their arms to Ukraine for the past seven months…
Be well and keep yourself and those whom you love healthy and safe. Anne 🌻
Exploitation? Please know that while many illegal immigrants truly want a better life there have been at least 500000 to .9 M got aways that are basically wherever. This is according to data from the Border (CBP)not left or right wing news. Who are these people ? So we have a huge influx of fentanyl, child endangerment and sex trafficking. The border agents cannot process enough people and many of these illegals are sleeping on the streets and without water after processing as they had an idea of what would happen once here but cannot due to sheer numbers. We need to open our arms to those who come here legally. Please open your eyes and see what is really happening. Our own President puts illegals on planes once processed and drops them in various states. There are two sides to all of this and blanket statements like “ all are here for a better life” etc. is not helpful. Where was the outrage when 50 illegals baked in a truck making the trip led by cartel. Now you are all outraged because DeSantis flew 50 to the richest place in Ma? The vineyard immediately moved those 50 to another area off the island. Open your eyes and see this for what it is - a stunt by our President who has no plan but opened flood gates to these people and sold them a bill of goods. What will happen when one of your kids, or family member dies from fentanyl, or is attacked by a “ got away”? Immigration is wonderful when done legally. This is crazy, chaotic, insane and most of all dangerous to an already stressed United States. If you support this influx, open your homes, and neighborhood, go to the border and invite these people to stay with you while they build a life. So easy to idealize until it’s close to you.
You might as well say "those bad people are coming here to wreck our country and it's ALL Biden's fault!" I agree some immigrants come without visas and have bad intentions but lets look at all that:
1. Fentynal and other drugs - well there IS a market for these things. They couldn't make $ off selling illegal drugs if Americans didn't BUY them! The opiate pandemic was started when one drug company owned by a wealthy American family purposely sold their addictive drug to poor people through their doctors. Millions became opiate addicted. Then the family lost their company (but not their billions of $) and there was a need for opiates by these often poor Americans already addicted. No massive government spending on drug programs for the addicted, which is the only thing that will stop that problem. Arrests just make work for police, courts and prisons. It's a problem that's been around for years, even before Trump (who was NOT a good social problem solver either!). The same situation about illegal demand applies to every drug that comes over the border. There is no will by government to solve the addiction issues among Americans. The illegals don't "bring" the addictions over the border, they are already in the country.
2. Illegal gun running is also an issue via immigrants - there IS a demand for guns. Why? Americans are paranoid that they all need guns to defend themselves, and illegal American gangs need them and cannot get them legally (sometimes). The whole issue of gun control is an issue that American governments (state and federal) cannot solve, and of course Republicans insist on a wide interpretation of the 2nd amendment to gain votes.
3. Sex trafficking - There is also exploitation of the actual immigrants in the USA for sex trafficking - so illegal activity is well established in the US. It isn't a case of the immigrants brought the problem here. Governmental acknowledgement of the problem and a will to solve the problem through extensive funded legal and police/FBI etc support is the only way to solve this issue. The demand is there because there are always home grown Americans that think nothing of exploiting children for sex. It is a social issue that is too long ignored with no will to correct the problem. It's been around for ages, and organised crime syndicates are just bigger and more organised and cash in on this depravity in American society. But there IS the demand among legal residents for illegal sex with minors. Immigrants who are "illegal" are just participating in what Americans already set up. Why is it just Biden's fault.? It's a total lack of social problem solving will and funding for decades built into the American system where both sides of politics, eager to gain power, point the finger and scream at each other while doing NOTHING to solve the actual problems. Republicans are just as bad as Democrats at this. No saints here.
4. As for governors and their stunts in shifting migrants, it's just grandstanding. IT's making cheap shots at blue states and voters out of immature stupid spite. It's all about these grandstanders wanting Americans' votes, turning the complex, long entrenched issues into "the other guy's fault so vote for me" issues. They will no more solve the problem than fly!
Yes, Americans feel threatened by the activities some people coming to the country participate in, BUT THERE IS A MARKET FOR THEIR ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES already in the USA.! Until both parties decide they must spend the money, work hard to solve American social issues, the supply of "illegals" will continue. It's Republicans who have a "hands off" attitude towards government. That's hands off social problem solving too. Blaming and cheap stunts and fear mongering to gain votes solves absolutely NOTHING. Big picture folks!
Perfectly stated, Virginia! You are one smart cookie… 🌻
Thanks, Anne. It's such a big picture issue and most people don't want to look at all the social issues involved in today's political issues. It all boils down to social inequality because the super wealthy still run the economy.
Your closed minded opinion means nothing to me. You aren’t even subscribed to this platform. I worry less about migrants than I do white collar criminals that sit back and watch from the White House dining room as and insurrection at our Capital is going on. Be gone, Troll!
I agree with you. White collar crime, well paid families and businesses want to control the power of the country but do not want to solve the social issues in the country that create a market for the illegal immigrants to participate in. (see my last post). GREED is the issue within America itself. Blaming immigrants or Biden solely won't solve one thing.
Amen, Virginia! 🌻
In case some of you haven't seen it: https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/love-letter-to-abbott-and-desantis?utm_source=email
The majority are not refugees but are economic migrants.
That's OK, but they need to be vetted for our safety.
They already ARE being vetted, if they get the chance to be, and aren’t arrested and thrown into cages for no damn fool reason.
Not true of the Venezuelans, Cubans, Ukrainians, etc.
How many can we take before we sink the lifeboat? It's easy to tar the opponent with the brush of racism, but it's at least somewhat just the sheer numbers of would be migrants. See the graphic gumball demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM1YU-Ni_84. I think polls show that most Americans want less immigration. Things are different now that he frontier is gone, Emma Lazarus. Americans sense that immigration it is the driver of overpopulation, and they didn't vote for the attendant high housing costs and homelessness, crowded roads, loss of open spaces, crowded national parks, crowded schools, depressed wages for unskilled workers, etc. Rapid population growth does grow the economy, but it is unhealthy, like steroids--often at the expense of the environment and is not sustainable. Unless Biden devises an immigration plan that protects the migrants without bringing all of them here, we are handing the MAGAs a Trump card that they'll win elections with.
Do you realize that it’s our PLANET that is overpopulated? I hesitate to mention the name to a conservative, but do you remember when Al Gore told us we had better start planning for massive shifts in population the world over as numbers grow and climates change? Well, it’s here, baby …. and we did NOT plan for it. Poor ol’ Al was a Cassandra. We are the sad people who did not listen.
Yes, the truth was too inconvenient.
Touche’
Comes to mind when you speak of overpopulation,what about Roe being overturned?
No Rethug.wiseguy who was gunning for this so many years ever thought beyond this'edict'Would cause more unwanted children w/ the planet already bursting at the seams.Not to mention the social problems that come along w/ it.Folks had better be careful of what they're doing.
Just one of the many consequences —-
Janis, immigration is definitely a critical issue worldwide. And the USA has a part in not only opening it’s borders but creating conditions that cause emigration in some countries like those in Central America. I watched the video you sent and followed it to a population control site and group. I remember those times in the seventies when we were part of a movement to only duplicate ourselves. Two kids. So here’s what I found following one of the founders of those movements. We shouldn’t be surprised that Eugenics and White Supremacy is somehow linked to its history. About one of the founders:
“But he is very much part of the network of immigration-restrictionist organizations mainly built over a period of decades by the late racist ideologue, John Tanton.” https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/2021/08/03/roy-beck/
I appreciate that you opened up this important discussion. Population control is critical. But how do we get there?
I think this is well answered by the others above.
Exactly! I have NEVER used the MAGAt term "illegal immigrant." I have ALWAYS used the CORRECT term "legal asylum seeker." Ever since Bunkerbaby stole the 2016 election from the winner, Shillary, I used that term. [sic]
Why is everyone who disagrees with all of you a MAGA? I don’t support Trump. It is tiring that if someone disagrees with the blue position on this border issue they are MAGA or Trump supporters. He was a one term President. Get some new material, please. Do not label people. Go to the border and see. House these folks in your home or build a home next door to be used as a refugee dwelling. Give more money to support them. Status ally speaking, they cannot all be fleeing oppression. Don’t you think we should know? It should we just wait for the consequences that will surely happen in a few years - more deaths from fentanyl - more crime. Stop name calling and assuming and put your money and home where your mouth is.
Two more points:
1) I'd like to support Janis on this issue of labelling people..
2) I'd like to disagree with Janis about undocumented people being per se problem people. All the statistics say that undocumented people are for the most part MORE law-abiding than the rest of us. I would be two if any minor encounter with the police could completely trash my life.
Labeling me negates me. The word Immigrants has become to mean rapists, dirty,
Less than human. Trump’s’ assessment so that we bought it and a lot fear immigrants.
They are human beans escaping persecution…. Tyranny from the Country they are leaving. What the previous administration did by separating parents and their children was atrocious . Why we even respect this man is beyond comprehension.
We ar nw into pawning. The wall is a farce. Has anyone studied it ? If it was work on your home you would refuse to pay. No wall.
Omg - stop talking about Trump. The man is off his rocker. He was a one term president but did not start this immigration problem. All of you by mentioning Trump continuously keep him in the limelight. Stop mentioning Trump. He needs to fade away.
However immigration is a big fat problem that needs to be dealt with in a logical. Orderly and legal way.
I wish he would fade away, too, right into a nice prison cell, but as he continues to rally & campaign for himself & has possibly involved himself in our country's present national security threats, putting my head in the sand & hoping he goes away won't work.
Please don't give up ..... Biden is doing and saying the right things and is using his experience well. Trump will go away when. we vote his fat ass and his undeserving followers out of office. VOTE!
Amen and B men!!!
Hi Janis ..... you are correct that immigration is currently a fat problem in need of a solution. Do you have any ideas to solve the problem? My humble suggestions are as follows: 1. require immigrants seeking citizenship to speak (learn) English. 2. Identify educated, uneducated, skilled and unskilled labor and reward employers who assist potential workers. 3. If employment is to be achieved in the US they must pay social security and taxes which will benefit the immigrant only if they later qualify for citizenship. 4. My suggestions should be proposed in Immigration Legislation which our current members of the senate refuse to address or discuss. Logical and orderly, as you correctly suggest, might include 5. appropriation of tax dollars to organize a border agency with adequate resources to provide the above. Cartel and smuggling activity should have severe consequences 6. administered by a US Military task force. Perhaps a University located on or near the border would welcome the opportunity to 7. develop programs to educate, train migrants. My suggestions require resources and costs. If successful, employed immigrant citizens will become tax payers who are incentivized to contribute as US workers. Governors Abbott in Texas, DeSantis in Florida, and Ducey in Arizona have not proposed a sustainable, orderly, logical solution to solve the immigration crisis.
Even undocumented workers pay taxes — they even pay into Social Security that they will never collect. Often, they pay through using phony Social Security numbers to be hired without documents. [They’re not stealing identities, they are paying into the system through a back door, but using whatever they can to get a paycheck.] Yeah, It’s a crazy mess. So far, we can’t get R’s and D’s to actually do anything substantive about it. At least not anything GOOD.
Big nix on active duty military here. The US is the military footlocker, not Playland.
Why do you believe it’s not the military’s job to safeguard our border? Just asking.
We have National Guard — they are supposed to be here, not a false-draft for overseas deployment. But I am hollering into the wind.
These are all GREAT ideas I agree 100%. I would add that it is not on the Governor of any state to propose a solution but they actually have and were denied by opposition in Congress. See, until we get away from the two party system in this country it will always be this way.
Trump DID make it worse by exacerbating conditions in Central and South America that drive people out of their own countries.
Look at the polls. Trump is not fading away. Wishing him away does not work. Trump and his attitude, however much you distance yourself from MAGA, is what we are dealing with. The big fat problem is with the Republican party which supports Trump and Trumpism.
Truth!
I do remember during the debate between our dear President and 'rump,I didn't want to see or hear him so I taped some paper towel on the screen and took theplug out when he spoke.Creativity helps.
❤️❤️❤️
What makes YOU such an expert to declare "They cannot all be fleeing oppression."? And I'd bet money, based upon your statements, that if it came to tRump vs Dem. or DeathSantis vs Dem. in 2024, you would choose the former. The people being bused have already LEGALLY passed through ICE, & are awaiting asylum claims & NONE carried drugs (or they would not have been released). Oh, & I HAVE offered my home in the past & will continue to offer it.
A woman who works with immigration organizations, and who was helping to process those poor people dumped onto the Massachusetts island, said that most she'd interviewed were already documented in, and going through, the government's official asylum request system. Is it possible for disantis to be an even bigger jerk than already thought?
They were dumped onto Martha's Vineyard not Guanos Island. They were there for 44 hrs. They were then transported to a military base on Cape Cod. Fences and security. So much for their freedom.
MAGAs don't care!! In their eyes, DeSantis is owning the evil, sinning, fetus-killing Libs!! DeSantis is changing the political narrative to a MAGA-base motivating narrative from potentially losing ones such as:
(1) Draconian, no-exception Abortion, including raped pre-teens & mothers in risky pregnancies who will give birth to stillborns
(2) Jan 6th; survival of democracy; riots in the streets; law & order; attacks on FBI agents
(3) TheRump betraying Israel, who tests anti-Iranian & -Russian missile defense systems, and whose Mossad agents help the US (Of course, Israel won't publicize this, because it fears the MAGAs will win -- just like it won't overtly help Ukraine, with Putin sitting in Syria)
American politicians know xenophobia works for them. For example, as Holocaust Museums clearly show, Hitler offered the Jews to any countries that would take them. None would. Then he murdered 6 million
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-was-america-so-reluctant-to-take-action-on-the-holocaust-180980779/
The only thing I disagree with here is the praise of Israel, which oppresses Palestinians.
I did not intend to praise Israel. I also disagree with BOTH the Israeli & Palestinian governments' policies, and their hawkish political leaders. Sadly, peace seems unlikely as long as:
- Israeli hawks (Bibi, et al.) welcome US Christian-Zionist Evangelical military support for the State of Israel to have the maximal footprint needed for their prophetic preconditions for Jesus to return
- Fatah does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and accepts Iranian missiles to hurl at Israeli civilians
One potential power realignment is if/when Iran's military might scares Saudi's MBS into seeking some alliance with Israel in light of the US government being too unstable
And you have met these people personally, Virginia? And you have been to the border and seen first hand what is going on. I have not but you sound like you have. If you want your tax dollars spent that way, open your home and your neighborhood to all of the illegal immigrants you want. Please do. Put your money, home. And city where your mouth is
Janis, please refrain from personal ("and you have met these people personally, Virginia?") attacks that tend to undermine the civility of this forum. Thank you.
— Robert Reich
She is not undermining civility...she is negating a comment that was made without proper proof.
Oh Janis, what a bunch of hogwash. I guess your ancestors came here the "right way" huh! Nonsense! People come here for a variety of reasons, mostly for hope of a better future for themselves and their children. Go to the border or not, you know those folks there, mostly asylum-seekers and refugees are not being treated very well. That is inexcusable, no matter what political persuasion you favor. Right is right and chasing people on horseback, caging children away from parents and other relatives, keeping people in detention centers with crappy food and terrible living conditions, forcing people to remain in a country far poorer than ours to await hearings in this country vulnerable to gangs and other violence, and more can in no way be considered humane, yet it is what a president, our courts, and governors have done to fellow human beings. I get it that a lot of "white" folks believe they are so far superior to others that they have some kind of divine permission to treat those they can't use or whom they just don't like as trash to be tossed wherever. Yep, that is the Christianity I signed on for. NOT!!!
You drank the kool aid so reason won’t work. Be a Christian - open your home and house these illegals. In fact if you can, get all of your like minded neighbors and friends to build a home to temporarily house people until acclimated. BTW, those border agents were innocent of those whooping charges. As for treating the immigrants poorly, they get phones, money and free transportation. Not so bad. And the moms get formula for the babies.
Here again, a personal attack "you drank the kool aid so reason won't work" demeans other people in this forum. Please be respectful.
— RR
Kool Aid is a quick mix sugary drink that does not satisfy, is not nourishing. It's a dismissal in a reasoned argument such as this, guilty of the very accusation. The responses to this POV in this thread are reasoned and substantial and are being variously answered. These arguments that are anti-immigration or anti the reform needed, don't get discussed in the proper forums enough, ones that make people use their reason and their morality (not using the phrase "Christian values"). The discussions try to bring true motives to the surface... selfishness, racism. Thank you.
Another flavor of kool add you drank... This is so flippant a response.. not based in reality.
This is GHW Bush's "thousand points of light".. and G Bush's "compassionate Conservatism" which were slogans that gave the well off something to rest on, made ( mostly) Republican voters feel good, made people who like to think of themselves as Christian ( or religious) feel good. Let other people do the work. Let people beg in the streets as well. Then we can righteously say we are a good moral country. In the meantime give tax breaks to the rich. Let's complain that they don't work, but also complain that they are taking our jobs ( jobs we cannot fill).
There are plenty of non-government organizations, and dare I say, amazing individuals trying to do this work but the Federal Government needs to be in the lead, especially about legal processes and finances. No one can do this work without organization and financing available to the government. This is one reason why we have government and pay taxes.
People are not in a position to take others in; immigrants need to be cleared mentally, physically; they and their children and elders need services.
You are all "get, get get". You need to get off your perch.
GHW and his thousand points of light is as Satanic as it gets...just saying. We need real reform in this country and it should start with eliminating the two party system. Then actual work will get done. Term limits is another thing that should have been introduced long ago. Biden has been in office for over 50 years and made himself extremely wealthy but has done absolutely NOTHING for America.
Disagree.. then we have one party rule, like China and Russia. No democracy.
Biden, it is generally agreed, has done very well as President especially given the problems he inherited and the obstruction. See this for example: https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/8/28/23325019/president-joe-biden-franklin-roosevelt-lyndon-johnson-ronald-reagan
----------
Biden is by far NOT the richest of our American presidents and not principally from serving years he was in office before becoming the President; Trump is. Biden is the one of the last people holding or having held office that I would make that complaint about.
See this:https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3192761/who-richest-living-american-president-net-worths-ranked
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
😞😞😞Mmmm, that’s awful. We should starve those babies, right? Nits become lice?
Janis, you have no clue.
The good people of Florida are having their constitutional rights AND tax dollars taken away from them, for DeSantis’s political stunts. What has DeSantis done to serve citizens of Florida? Zero, he is a clown.
Do you live in Florida?
I believe he's in a heap of trouble and God willing ruined his chances for where he thought he was going.His ego softened his brain and he couldn't wear a hat.Hear his wife is a close advisor,she did a great job,wouldn't want her kids treated like that!
Vote him out. In the meantime, donate your money to house the illegal immigrants, go to the border and see, and open your home so these people can stay with you while they get acclimated to the US.
Immigrants are illegal until they are processed. You have an attitude. It's selfish, "not my problem, I got mine "let them do what MY ancestors did". And you stick up for it. The circumstances laws and conditions were quite different when your ancestors probably came. When you say "you want them, then open your home to them" that's kinda snarky. I assume they want to work towards the same life you and I have and to contribute.
We are citizens of this country by birth because of the opportunity given to our ancestors, because of LUCK in the first place. We had more openness at the time. Here is a moral lecture: We each have responsibilities to the ideals we share. We have moral obligation to treat other human beings decently regardless, even welcoming them. It makes US more humane. "There but for the grace go God go I". That's a culture I share. Immigrants deserve the benefit of the doubt and a chance to show their intentions. They are fleeing, in need, and making a very difficult journey, sometimes traumatized and not well, into the unknown. They should not face such a wall of selfish attitude. We have plenty of physical room in this country. Wherever they arrive, they need to be welcomed and processed. Then they can be resettled. OUR TAX money, FEDERAL money and laws can and should be used to this purpose.
I will do my best (to vote him out). Sadly, the GQP Florida legislature did more gerrymandering to try to negate my vote, so we will see...
Do you mean like the good people of Marthas Vinyard have done for those pawns of people like DeSantis? {Hypocrite . . . remove the log from your own eye that you may see to remove the speck from your neighbor's eye . . . } Your lake of compasion speaks volumes about your position.
This is a shameful disappointing attitude. See my below.
A “divider”.
Right you are!
A very nicely packaged argument, Mr. Reich. Thank you! Politics, ethics, laws, State and Federal jurisdictions, etc. Immigration as a subject is complicated and controversial. I appreciate your distilling the basics down in this story form.
Mark, I agree with you. I know story is powerful, and this is a pretty powerful tale of a corrupt, amoral man who has bullied his way into power, presenting himself as something he is not. He is not a caring guy who has the best interests of anyone but himself in mind. He should be charged with trafficking. Maybe that would remove the smirk from his "cute" white male face. Nah! He thinks he is above the law and will gain only more power if he is indicted. I would love him to be proven wrong!
This man is NOT fit to govern.
Every Cuban immigrant in Florida should be able to see themselves in the Venezuelan refugees who DeSantis went out of his way ( to Texas, in fact) to abuse. They should be able to make the connection: if this is how he feels about them, then he probably feels the same way about me, and about my brothers still in Cuba.
Like Trump, DeSantis is a sociopath.
Yep, GrAnnie, DeSantis is a sociopath just like Baby Donnie. Alas, some people get drawn to such sick men. DeSantis likes to use the Cuban-American community in Florida making them his allies against other, particularly Hispanic immigrants. DeSantis cares nothing for them or for the Venezuelans whom he trafficked to Martha's Vineyard, and by the way, Ron, the people there did welcome them and will find places for them. That is what moral people do. You could learn from them or just get kicked out of office which would be so much more satisfying.
You gotta stop making up stuff Ruth...the Cuban -American population here loves DeSantis. So do most all the other immigrants here in Florida.
And now,he did a marvelous job of losing a big block of votes,Latins.Other countries will mostly stick together in solidarity.
Let's just say w/ faith that he very much overdid it this time.I don't pay more than a glance to polls,there are so many.I am Cuban American and very much a Democrat,but I know what you're saying.I have on my agenda for this week to contact Manny Diaz head of the Dem. Party in Miami Dade and speak to him about the block of 25,000 votes we lost because they thought Pres. Biden was 'socialist' I also have planned a little chat w/ Ocasio and Bernie Sanders about that.While I respect the good work they do,that 'socialist' label they use confused many Cubans & maybe other Latins.Proactivity helps alleviate the anxiety we are all dealing with.
Dear GrAnnie: Chickens in a chicken coop All have a ranking and usually only fight with the chicken next to them and rank. Humans are much the same. Overcoming this natural tendency is, I suspect, what a great part of “ organizing“ is about. 
From what I have read of its history ( Devil in the Grove and Warmth of Other Suns) Florida hasn’t changed much in the past century.
DeSantis would like to take the whole country backwards.
Who falls for that nonsense? I know people do. We wouldn’t be in this mess if they didn’t, but I really can’t understand it.
He is so obvious.
How many parallels to Hitler's successful rise to power and Trump who, with the help of well educated people, like DeSantis, who should know better, will we see?
https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/us-and-the-holocaust
Maryk, that is a good question. DeSantis sees himself either as being at the top of this autocracy they are creating or as the right-hand man. He may have an expensive education, but that does not make him smart or moral or in any way humane, just the kind of guy a Hitler would love to use and warp even further. Alas, DeSantis doesn't have the national charisma to be a Hitler and he is a jerk. I hope Floridians will wake up to DeSantis's lack of empathy or caring of any kind. He doesn't even care for them unless he can use them as he has used the Florida legislature. OK, they are a bunch of non-entities to begin with, but he didn't have to twist too much to get them to pass all kinds of anti-democratic, hateful laws. Now, we need to confine all of them to Florida!
Never underestimate the opposition 😎
He is the useful idiot.
Was thinking the same thing! I watched part 1 of the US & the Holocaust just last night. Learned several things about immigration in this country & see the parallels of the US of the 20s/30s & today. Germany had what they thought they wanted but it was short lived & came to a devastating end affecting the entire world! DeSantis, Abbott, tRumpt are all cut from the same cloth. America should be careful what they ask for; they just might get it but regret it.
That documentary is a huge eye opener. Almost made me physically ill to see some of these Germans going to tour a camp after liberation. They walked like it was going to be entertaining and fun. When they walked out they were not nearly so smug.
Dear Maryk,
I disagree with only two words: “ well educated”. People are highly susceptible in thinking that having gone to Harvard, Yale,Princeton, Stanford etc etc. simply makes one well educated. Wrong! And if I were any of these schools I would hang my diplomas out to dry.... Anybody can buy a diploma.
There are so many “well educated people say at Reed College, or say U.of Montana, or any state school that someone has spent his time actually learning how to think that those who are well educated aren’t kidnapping human beings and illegally flying them around the country as a publicity stunt! This man is not “ well educated” or even “well raised”. He is a thug. He has no character on which to build a personality. He is ......... nothing. Is that what America deserves? Nothing.
No Ivy League education can correct a faulty moral compass. Their compass needle points to greed, power, distain for the poor, ignorance of societal needs, and tribalism. Hawley, Cruz, Pompeo, Tom Cotton and many other tRump loyalists have degrees from the Ivies!
Yes,Will, I am sadly aware as what to some is a gift for life( an Ivy) degree ) is to others a constant contract to feel entitled.
Here’s to the compass -- May it always direct toward thought. Rational thought.
He had the book Mein Kampf on his night stand, according to his first of three wives. I’m sure one of his children had to read it to him, we know he is illiterate.
Apparently it was Hitler's speeches, 'My New Order' https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-adolf-hitler-books-bedside-cabinet-ex-wife-ivana-trump-vanity-fair-1990-a7639041.html
I heard he cried at the ending.
unfortunately and interview like this can never happen in US nowadays, not behind closed doors let alone in public since leaders are unwilling to be held accountable in public........the public should not be accepting this behaviour from any elected of government official and neither should they accept them using innocent people as pawns in their political wars..............only solution is to vote them out.
New signs of fascism in US are coming top almost daily..........one can ignore it but one can never say we did not know.........
You're right Hans, we can't say we didn't know. The Germans of the 1930s couldn't say it either but do. So many Germans were "Christians" yet watched Jewish people being humiliated and murdered in the streets, even if they didn't see the concentration camps. They did little or nothing because the people they had bowed down to were already too powerful. It scares me that it has been 20 months since Baby Donnie staged an insurrection, yet nothing has been done to indict him. We quibble over what is on stolen documents instead of charging Baby Donnie with stealing the documents. We have laws against theft and what Trump did was theft. Charge him with that and deal with what specifically he stole as part of the trial. Then, we need to charge people who are making threats to their neighbors as well as to public figures. We have ways to find out who is pumping out the threats, but little has been done and few charges made. It's time! People are leaving essential offices because of the threats. Those offices will be taken over by those insurgents if we are not careful. We allow January 6th insurgents to run for office all over the country. We have an amendment to the Constitution that forbids this, but for the most part, ignore it. OMG!
Please, not all politicians, there are Democrats that ask to go on FOX and they won’t allow it, lest it breaks the cult. Let’s get specific, it’s the so called “main stream Republican politicians that are too cowardly to stand up for our rights, silence is complicity.
Thank you, Dr. Reich, for sharing this conversation with DeSantis that clearly demonstrates what a despicable person he is. He has no conscience.
Awesome interview! Calling out hypocrisy is so easy. Great job Mr. Reich.
More of the conversation:
But Dr. Reich, I got a standing ovation from members of my base when they heard about this action.
"And that tells most of us all we know about the current Republican Party, Governor."
I noted in the Ken Burns documentary on the Holocaust, that Eleanor Roosevelt was concerned about the reaction of the crowd, which burst out with loud enthusiasm at FDR‘s announcement that he intended to seek the powers of a dictator to deal with the depression. There’s a deep-seated yearning in a fearful polity for a strong leader, a dictator….in times of profound trouble. And those are the perilous times that we find ourselves living in now. We need to find a peaceful way to address the fear. Or else.
With this inhumane and immoral act DeSantis has demonstrated he is not suited for an office responsible for the well being of not only Americans but of a nation where its monument proclaims: ""Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore." He is not only not suited for that office but the one he currently holds.
That dictator wannabe is my governor. He won by a whisker four years ago. I'm hoping Charlie Crist, who is a gentleman and knows what it means to serve, will beat him in the election. Unfortunately, this is a state in the stranglehold of the GOP which is trying desperately to hold onto the power they have carved out for themselves.
You can see the roots of this prejudice in Ken Burn's Holocaust film airing now on PBS. The anti-semitic and immigrants sentiment is front and center in the USA just as it is in this case. It's nothing to be proud of by any measure.
Mark, Your astute comment raises the question of what then are we to do. Borrowing from public intellectual Cornel West, I believe we need to begin with something I sense, generally, is profoundly un-American, namely recalling the very deep and tragic sense of history, a historical sensibility, if you will, linked to empathy. To be clear, I don’t mean empathy as simply a matter of trying to imagine what others are going through, but as having the will to summon enough courage to do something about it.
Well, I don't know what that is at the individual level other than voting for candidates that show empathy. Any Democrat when compared to the alternative is my suggestion.
Mark, Admittedly, I don’t have a ready solution except to say, that if the past several decades are any indication, judicious voting, while necessary, I fear isn’t sufficient. That said, one place we could start is to run interference every time a public official emphatically states, when speaking of injustice and cruelty, “This is not who we are.”
Excellent. I wish this could be published widely.
Republican leaders keep showing us their indecent backsides.
Like trump and others , desantis wants to push some people around . Like a bully he picks on weak poorly defended.
Excellent analysis Professor Reich. May this interview be heard across all US media channels. It’s imperative.
When will the insanity of Greg Abbott and Desantis , or De Satin end?