I generally try to stay away from politics and the shitstorm that is mainstream media because most of the politicians are only where they are for their own personal gain it seems, and the mainstream media is so biased that no actual reporting seems to be getting done. However, this open border issue has bothered me for some time now, because if we think about it, the border into our country has never been secure and is treated more like a dirty car after a snowstorm. You know it needs to be washed inside and out to remove the corrosive salt and chemicals from it but you just look at it and think, meh I’ll get to it when I can.
We all hear daily, the numbers of people crossing our border illegally so I am not going to throw out a bunch of numbers to bore myself with and anyone who may read this for that matter. I would rather talk about the human aspect for a minute. I’ve talked to a few people about this thought that came to me during and here it is.
I wonder if anyone at the border has discussed or informed those crossing what lies ahead for them? What I mean by this is, what do they believe, in their minds, to be the long-term goal here? Do they care or realize that they are being used by certain people in power to achieve a goal and once that goal is reached, their usefulness will have come to an end and the upfront incentives they are being given are going to disappear? There is not a home or job waiting for them, so what will be done when they are released from their temporary shelters and have to fend for themselves? These people have come here with only what they can carry and have children with them as well.
I realize that some of these people coming here are truly escaping from authoritarianism, poverty, hurricanes, failed states, and civil war that has not changed over the decades. They have been told or believe that just being here is going to solve their issues and while some of those issues certainly will go away, it gives way to new issues.
Homelessness is the first one that comes to mind for me, I’ve read that Chicago will only allow them to stay for 60 days and in New York, it is 30 days, although pregnant women will be allowed longer stays. So, where do they plan on going after that? I see homelessness and crime getting to an all-time high, and that is really a scary proposition when you think about Chicago. I know that not all of the people who come across our border are criminals, however, if you have paid a lot of money to smugglers to get you here how do you plan on feeding yourself or your family, besides stealing or eating out of trash bins?
There are other risks if you put your mind to it a bit, but the last thing I want to bring up is a big one as well when it comes to these people and that is the epidemic of human trafficking. We know that human trafficking is a big issue and we currently have millions of people who are here undocumented and would be very easy targets. People could disappear and nobody would even know where to start looking for them. Not cool.
I believe in select immigration and being able to determine who is allowed into our country and having them go through a vetting process to determine if they will be a good addition to our citizenship, after all the process is the same if I were to take up residency in another country. There are current laws in place that our leadership has chosen to ignore for many years, not just in 2024, and we need to determine what kind of immigration we actually want. In my opinion, we need to close the border immediately and secure it by whatever means gets the job done, and then begin locating and vetting those who are already here. If they are criminals then they need to go back to wherever it is they arrived from. The rest should be allowed to report to INS and register themselves if they have not done so, along with location and contact information. It is not perfect, but it’s a start.
