A Haste Solution For a Deadly Lie

Hey, how you are guys doing? Now I know it’s been a while since my last post, but to honest things have hectic. I’m a parent, a student, I work two jobs and I have been distracted. If this were my child She would have already been put in foster care, but it’s the internet so in reality people probably just don’t give a fuck. But that is not the point. The point is to post, to use my voice to say something if for no other reason than to just to bitch. Not my intention of course, but that is the reality of the internet. That said I’m gonna move along. 

My blog was first written to directly deal with an issue that why now out of the headlines is still a massive thorn in our nation's side; the opioid epidemic. I choose this because it is an issue that is very personal, and one that, in my opinion, just hasn’t been dealt with properly. Now despite all the internal problems that have helped to fuel this problem, there is one aspect that has always been a very focal point in our culture wars of the day, the wall. This is the issue that has fueled the lose of friendships, the breaking up of families, and as of right now the government shutdown. It is one that despite it’s a clear pinpoint connection to immigration has always had a direct connection to the subject of this blog, the opioid epidemic. The reason while Obvious I will state, as the government cracked down on the availability of prescription painkillers many addicts have switched to heroin because of its abundance and how cheap it is. That heroin and the now even more widely used and deadlier drug Fentanyl has come in from the drug cartels in Mexico. Because of that, I have chosen this piece by Eseandre to illustrate the issue with the wall. So without further a due here is her piece. Enjoy.

Trump’s Wall is Not What America Needs Now – Immigration Reform is Our Only Solution That Will Work

By Eseandre

Months ago, when President Trump was to sign the $1.3 trillion omnibus appropriations bill, we could notice how grumpy he was and his grumpiness was not completely unrelated to the fact that the bill failed to cover his $25 billion requests to fund the building of a wall he had long-promised to build along the southern border. If you are unfamiliar with news about the progress of the wall, don't worry, we'll take a few lines to help you catch up with what's happening so far. Throughout this post, I'll try as much as possible to ignore President Trump's 2016 campaign propaganda, where he insisted that he could make Mexico pay for the building of the wall.

Let's focus on his claims that the wall is being built already.

Sometimes ago, while addressing a rally in Ohio, the POTUS said that the wall is already being built, showing off how proud he was of it. He even tweeted some pictures of the wall already far built, although later claims suggested that the pictures President Trump tweeted were actually pictures of construction in Calexico, Calif. However, we don't care whether it is true or not, we don't care whether all the fuse by President Trump are not being taken as serious as he made us believe, we don't care whether instead of a wall, what the president is presently doing is using a fence to replace a fence, we just feel that it is not the best project we should be having at this time.

Yes, every administration has tried to spin a congressional loss and turn it into some victory, but this is an entirely new height of ridiculousness!

Instead of investing so much fund into building a wall that will further divide America from the rest of the world, why not think about a complete reform of our immigration system. Of course, for years, our immigration system has been in need for reform, but here we are, overlooking what's needed for what is probably a personal show off of ego.

One common fact that most Americans agree on is that the United States immigration system is not yet where it ought to be. Of course there have been a few policies over the past years focused on rebuilding the system, but enough has not been done as the system has been overlooked by subsequent governments for “more serious American issues" It is still surprising that some people think that the American immigration system reform is a less serious issue to be fixed, hence, the strong disagreement on how to fix it. While some prefer that a single and more comprehensive immigration reform bill targeting the problems with a one-fix-fits-all be passed, others think it should be done one step at a time. A few others even think that there's no need to look that way.

Regardless, however, it is glaring that a comprehensive solution is quickly needed and here are some reasons why:

1. Immigration reform will be of great help to the economy. This is the reason why most business leaders and executive of big firms like Intel and Facebook are seriously demanding that the government look strongly into immigration reforms. The opinion of these individuals matter a lot, after all, they are operating in what's best described as a cutthroat, results-driven world. From their experiences, they already understand that America needs the brightest and most educated workforce if we must continue as the global leader in innovation. The problems lie in the bitter fact that America is no longer the leading producer of highly qualified workforce it was once popular for. Most forward-thinking firms are finding it very difficult getting the qualified workforce to fill into specialized positions. Thus these companies are left with very little options than to look towards immigrants for sufficient talent to supplement their workforce, usually through the use of temporary visas like H-1B that is employment base. Without enough of these visas to meet the growing demand for skilled labor, the economy becomes the most affected.

No industry is left out of this problem. Whether it is construction, hospitality, or agriculture, the American immigration system is in dire need of serious reforms, or America's economy will be on the edge of falling beyond potentials.

2. Reforming the immigration system will positively affect national security. Every proposal we've seen thus far on immigration reforms includes very significant enhancements in the areas of border security and enforcement strengthening.

With the pathway to citizenship/residency provision in full operation, combined with the E-Verify system, the government authorities are not going to find it any difficulty identifying the growing number of undocumented immigrants currently living in the shadows of American communities. Fishing out those ones among them that do not pose a national security threat and giving them the right motivation to pursue legal status, law enforcement will have enough resources to pursue those who do.

3. Immigration reform is a moral policy to pursue: We know stories of how immigrants helped build the United States in pursuit of the American dream. Most immigrants still have the best interest of America at heart, but quite unfortunately, the inconsistency in the immigration system has led to a shaky legal environment for immigrant’s families in America. Resultant from this, a lot of families have been torn apart for years.

What Should Be Our Priorities

The United States is an undisputed world power. There's no need further trying to prove this with some projects that are not needed in the real sense. Why can't we turn our focus to some more useful policies targeted at improving the United States human capital stock. Maybe someone needs to remind the president that we are at a time when countries are competing for human capital, and to be sincere, the competition is not ending anytime soon. America's greatness so far has been driven by the availability of human capital that cut across different nationalities and ethnicities.

Diversity and Motivation: This is not even about ethnicity or geography. Diversity here represents its actual meaning. The high skilled immigration idea may appear fine, but here's the problem with it - the Steve Jobs test. We know the story of Jobs and how he landed in America, unskilled and only partly uneducated. The points system would never have let him in. America already has millions of guys who would totally kill the interview process at McKinsey. We know that most of the east European Jews who have helped enrich America in every way possible would not have found their way in under the points system. This post is not in anyway suggesting that Americans who did well in school should be turned down for uneducated or half-educated foreigners. But let's cut the slag and remove the ambiguous definition that has been attached to "high skilled". We want to have truly motivated people to come here and help develop the system, not left out because a certain HR department classifies them as not having "high potential."

Justice: America needs to stay to what it is known for. A country of hope for the tired, poor and huddled masses. It all matters and America needs not to change and with these in mind, let's look at some really brilliant ideas that will reform the American immigration system and turn it into what it's supposed to be:

• Recruitment: When I say recruitment here, I mean actual recruitment. Jim Manzi rightly puts it that America needs to shift its immigration policy from the mentality of building walls that will keep people out to the mentality of recruitment. Like we already pointed out above, it has to be actual recruitment. Point system is great, but let's make it as flexible as it should be, to accommodate the competent over the certified. Yes, I just said that. Starting a successful company after dropping out of school should get you some good points. Engaging yourself in some community work should get you points. Having a good criminal record should get you some points too. Embassies should have their recruitment goals set on actual recruitment, not box-checking. Let's get the idea straight: before being considered for recruitment, a person should have practical experience in being able to successfully manage people.

• Expand Asylum: Why do people intentionally abscond from discussing asylum during immigration debates, when it is a policy with the great potential to make a great difference to actual lives. Of course, we can't take in all the wretched people from around the world, but we can do our bit in restoring America's virtue as a land of total freedom.

• Expand Green Card Lottery: Expanding the green card lottery is such a beautiful idea. It is not just humanistic, but also in perfect alignment with the American recruitment goal. A lot of countries around the world currently face diverse persecutions. Although we are powerless in helping them stop their persecution, we can open our doors to protecting people from war and hunger, by handing them green cards. Apart from being the right thing to do, it is also a smart immigration policy that's worth trying.

 

This post is not an intentional target to the President’s character, but I just feel like many other Americans that is a Trump’s wall is a misplaced priority. At this time, we should be strengthening our relationship with other countries, not cutting off bridges that connect us to them. We should be thinking of how they can benefit our economy, not crippling our economy to chase them out. The president is a great personality I respect, but he should rethink most of his policies for America’s interest.