by Sandy » Mon Oct 23, 2017 11:25 am
Under any "immigration reform" plan, what gets reformed? We have a quota system in place, but it hasn't kept up with patterns of immigration. Quotas from some countries go unfilled, while others are jammed. They are always set with some "engineering" with regard to nationalities and race, and in more recent history, to allow for those with technical skills, and medical skills, to enter because we are getting short in those categories. We also have a long history and heritage as a country which provides a refuge from oppression, and as a country which provides a place for people to start over, and have opportunity they can't get elsewhere. All of those things need to be in balance.
There was a time in the modern history of the country that quotas and numbers were used to restrict Jewish refugees from entering, at the time they were being persecuted and murdered by the Nazis in Europe. All kinds of mazes and obstacle courses were put in place, with the reason for restricting them being that there might be spies or saboteurs among them. Most of them were trapped in Nazi occupied Europe, and couldn't get legal papers, but even among those who could, the United States set up roadblocks for allowing them to come here. Race or religion shouldn't make a difference in whether a person gets to come here, or whether we will allow them freedom from oppression here, that aspect of immigration should be color blind.