migration

[tosei]

I'm sure these "minutemen" yahoos out in Arizona trying to stop illegal immigrants are dissapointed that the pope had to die just in time to draw media attention away from their little display. It's not that their tactics aren't sound; if I were trying to sneak into another country and saw a solid line of redneck pricks waiting at the border, I

Comments

[breeps]

quake 3 sldkfjdf

[thekrakkagar]

So uh. It's Jay. You should add me back.

I've often thought that if I were rich, I'd like to build a massive organic farm/commune, which would serve two purposes: Aim to provide work visas (for working/living on the farm) for immigrants and migrant workers with the aim of eventually providing them with citizenship (as well as providing education services for their children), and, through the use of commune mentality/cheap labor, lower the cost of organic produce.

[tosei]

I think that's a worthy goal; I imagine most migrant workers would prefer to work in an environment like than than on some hellish central valley work camp for 5 cents a day, especially since many migrants are from indiginous villages and are accustomed to communal work. (the term "chicano" originated as an ethnic slur against indiginous mexican workers-it's based on their accented pronunciation of "mexicano"- but was later co-opted). And you touch upon another important issue that is lost when the news media talk about the "obesity epidemic" (which I think is basicly just an excuse for them to film fat people from the neck down), which is that obesity has a real class/race dimension to it, based on the fact that a "healthy lifestyle" is cost prohibitive to a lot of people.

[coneyisland]

now, these bobcats that the minutemen are interrigating... do they have saddles on their backs?

[resolutepeasant]

I respectfully dissent. As someone who has lived in an area that was rapidly changed because of the influx of large amounts of immigrants over a short amount of time I can say out of experience that it is not something that is good. Crime rose, schools strained to accommodate, community cohesion was lost, traffic increased, and the built environment suffered, not to mention the un built environment since this influx is what is pushing the demand for suburban sprawl housing on the periphery of the city

[tosei]

I will admit that I was being a bit insensitive about native unskilled workers whose wages are being depressed, but I also think that there are more complicated reasons for the decline in unskilled labor in america than just immigration. Also I know first hand that immigration creates problems on the ground (I grew up in a mexican neighborhood in Albuquirque, and my fiancee grew up about 5 miles from the border). Since we have no real control over internal mexican policy and can't dissuade people from risking their lives to cross the border, I don't see any effective means of shutting down mass immigration over such a large and busy border. Anything short of a berlin wall type barrier just wouldn't be effective at keeping people out. I would prefer to see this influx of people managed through legal channels rather than pushed to the margins. The nation has seen and absorbed several huge immigrant waves in our history that rival or exceed the current one and each of those waves created the same problems (or worse) that we see now. I

[resolutepeasant]

The middle projection is for a little over 400 million by 2050 and the high projection is 517 mill.. I think. I looked at the projections as soon as they came out after the last census (demographics nerd) and haven't checked them out since

[tosei]

I agree with most of those ideas, especially as far as enforcing our labor laws and cracking down on people who employ illegal immigrants. I also agree with increasing the number of temporary work visas, since many migrant workers aren't interested in staying in the united states but are mostly interested in working temporarily in the US to fund large purchases in mexico or just a generally higher standard of living; that's one of the reasons that I think a blanket amnesty is a terrible idea-you would actually end up giving american citizenship to hundreds of thousands of people who have no intention of staying in america. I want to see those temporary workers coming and (perhaps more importantly) going through official channels as opposed to making the run for the border. Obviously enforcement along the border should be stepped up, but I still think it should coincide with a gradual increase in the quotas for legal immigration. I think that there is no way that we will be able to keep people from crossing the border in large numbers

[xairhil]

oh, colin.

i always love catching up on the backissues of your livejournal.

:)

such good conversation!

[tosei]

you should also check out my political livejournal: all ranting, all the time!

http://www.livejournal.com/userinfo.bml?user=hueylongisdead