GROUPS PAN PRESIDENT TRUMP'S NEW IMMIGRATION PROPOSAL AS ELITIST

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By Suzanne Potter, California Public News Service

May 17, 2019 (Sacramento) -- Immigrants' rights groups are speaking out against President Donald Trump's new immigration proposal - unveiled yesterday - saying it betrays American values and ignores the thorniest issues that have thus far held up a comprehensive immigration deal in Congress. 

If the new proposal becomes law, migrants would have to take a civics test and demonstrate proficiency in English. They'd be judged on a point system that favors those who are younger, better-educated or highly-skilled, or who have a job offer waiting for them. 

Karina Martinez, communications director with the group
 Mi Familia Vota Los Angeles, says that doesn't sound much like a country founded to be welcoming to people of all economic backgrounds.

"While it's OK to have skills-based immigration programs, our immigration should not be limited to only a select few and elites," says Martinez. "Especially when you add a language test, it just goes against our national values."

The president defends his policy, saying it will protect jobs by keeping more low-wage workers out.

According to the 
American Immigration Council, more than 25% of California residents are foreign-born, and 20% are native-born with at least one immigrant parent. The state also is home to 2.4 million undocumented immigrants, who are a big part of the labor force and contribute to the economy through spending and taxes. 

Martinez notes that the proposal makes no mention of a path to citizenship for the 200,000 DACA recipients living in California.

"They want to be able to use what they've learned and harness the skills that they have," says Martinez. "So, it's a real tragedy when President Trump is doing more to hurt people than to help people."

Critics of the proposal also point out that it doesn't address the fate of the 450,000 holders of Temporary Protected Status, or the 11 million undocumented people currently living in the United States.


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Comments

A crazy idea.

How about we enforce the existing laws? If Congress doesn't like the existing laws they are empowered to change them.Bet they don't. 

This Congress is dysfunctional to pass any laws,

Since each party controls one house and blocks almost anything by the other party instead of compromising to actually solve serious problems.

Now today the President told Speaker Pelosi he will not work with Democrats on ANY legislation unless they drop all investigations into his administration. No President has ever threatened to shut down all legislative efforts to block investigations; virtually every recent administration has had some investigations done by Congress, some of which found no wrongdoing, others did find wrongdoing by administration official or even a president.  It is the constitutional duty of Congress to investigate and if voters don't like that, every two years they can vote out House members. But no president should be obstructing investigations and holding the public interest hostage.

He made this statement today after walking out of a meeting with Dem leaders on an infrastructure bill that he had previously pledged to work with Dems on for the good of the nation, to get our crumbling roads and bridges fixed.

My Qualifications & American Foreign Policy

I listed my qualifications simply to document that I have devoted extensive time to US History, US Government, and Constitutional Law. That I don't rely on soundbites and narrative myths. I do not claim to be super intelligent. There are many people more intelligent than i am. However, I have learned to question everything, to devote time and energy into learning various positions and my education and training has allowed me to understand how to evaluate these. I may not always be right; but I can justify my opinions with hard facts, not simply, "I believe in the Constitution" without specify which sections and why, etc.

As for water and food shortages, San Diego loses millions of gallons of water because our pipes are rusted and leaky, and over half the food purchased is thrown out. We are a wasteful nation; but as I wrote in previous comment, we have used our miltary, claiming communism, simply to further the profits of American corporations, e.g., oil in Iran in 1953, United Fruit in Guatemala, and continue to do so. If we want to reduce the number of refugees, then we should stop supporting horrible governments just because they sell out to our corporations. And I am confident I understand the Constitution and FDR much better than some other commenters who continue to post soundbites and the narrative myths that continue to divert such people's attention away from the main problems in our society. We could halve our military budget and remain more powerful than the next several nations with large militaries [just one example, last year Congress authorized building a new tank that our military clearly stated they don't need and don't want, but 100s of billions of dollars to one corporation] , and devote the monies to repairing our infrastructure, helping our citizens; but weapons being used means more profits to a few corporations. I  suggested one excellent book on American history in previous comment, now a couple of articles and a book on Americsn Foreign Policy [note that I probably have several hundred articles on the subject and dozen or more books]:

General Smedley Butler, the most decorated Marine in American history.

"War Is A Racket" (1935)   Available at: https://ratical.org/ratville/CAH/warisaracket.pdf  while old, as the next couple show, it continues. It is quite short; but makes the point clearly!

Gaffney, Mason (2018 Mar). Corporate Power and Expansive U.S. Military Policy. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Vol. 77, No. 2 pages 331-417 [extensive well-references paper] Available at: https://www.globalresearch.ca/corporate-power-and-expansive-u-s-military...

William Blum Killing Hope: US Military & CIA Interventions Since World War II. Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/13/130AEF1531746AAD6AC03...

So, I suggest some commenters devote some time to actually reading my suggestions before posting more empty soundbites.

IS DIVIDE AND CONQUER TOO CONFUSING?

My undergraduate degree was a duel major in Political Science and Social Psychology. I took two courses in American history, two courses in American Government, three courses in Constitutional Law and other courses. My doctorate is in Social & Educational Psychology followed by a 3-years National Institutes of Health Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Public Health and Epidemiology, which included courses in Health Services, that is, how one evaluates health care systems. Though my profession was in epidemiology, I never lost interest in a number of other subjects, audited courses when I could and read constantly. I am also fluently bilingual, English and Swedish, and can read French and German with help of dictionary. So, I have bookmarked Swedish and French newspapers as well as British and Canadian. Since I never married, prefer books and a dog, I have lots of time. And as I've written in previous comments, having lived in five nations and extensively studied health care systems, ours is both the most expensive and with the worst outcomes. Since our mass media is controlled by corporations, they want people to believe otherwise because profit trumps people.

Trumps immigration policies are to play on the prejudices of his supporters so they continue to focus on immigrants and not who is actually hurting them, super rich, corporations, and co-opted government.

Some people commenting on this blog just repeat the narrative myth that those in power want them to believe, not questioning everything. For instance, among my many books are half dozen on FDR.

For those who claim this a white man's country. I suggest starting with an excellent book by Ronald Takaka from 1993 (there is a more recent revised edition) entitled: A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Amazon has inexpensive copies and they exist in public library.

In any case, what I wrote in my previous comment I can back with a large credible reference list; but it wouldn't be worth the time given how few are monitoring this.

"Trumps immigration policies are to play on the prejudices"

Posting comments should not be a bibliography of qualifications to sell ideology. My take is not about "Trumps immigration policies" or "a play on prejudices". This President is echoing the sad state of affairs at protecting our Republic which is his PRIMARY function as Commander in Chief. The bare bones fact is = "too many people in America" and we no longer have enough water, do not grow enough of our own food products and are becoming dependent on other countries including 3rd world; for our sustenance. I am just a blast from the past that believes in our Constitution, rule of law, God-Country-Flag and the "Ellis Island" concept of how immigrants should come into America and become one without reservations "in every way" as President Roosevelt stated years ago.

There is a lesson here....

for our younger readers: Find yourselves someone in this life who looks at you the way this man looks at himself in the mirror each morning.

Divide and Conquer

Reagan deregulated S&Ls, then they collapsed in 1983, bailed out by the taxpayers. In 1999 the dot.coms collapsed. We also repealed the Glass-Steagell Act which kept commerical and investor banks separate. In 2008 greedy bankers, creating fake mortgages, collected their commissions, packaged them, the rating companies gave them highest ratings, and 10 million Americans lost their jobs, 6 million their homes. Did anyone go to jail? NOPE. Instead, the taxpayers bailed them out, even allowing them to collect bonuses. While repealing the Glass-Steagell Act didn't cause the 2008 collapse it made the banks "To Big To Fail." And now they are even bigger. None of the above had anything to do with illegal immigrants or refugees.

Now the stock market has been booming, executive salaries and bonuses way up, dividents paid; yet, most Americans are worse off, little to no increase in income, while health care costs have gone up far above inflation, thanks to the only for-profit health care system in the world, designed first and foremost to make money, not help those in need. Insulin price has gone up 4 fold in a few years.

Numerous studies have shown that illegal immigrants don't get health care, except emergency care. If the US didn't attack illegally so many countries (e.g.,Sadam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction nor was allied with Al Qaeda) and support brutal governments as long as they do the bidding of American industries, we wouldn't have the refugee problem. Neither immigrants nor refugees had any role in the three collapses and it is corporations and our government that bails them out that are responsible (our government ignored all the warnings about the subprimes), gives them more and more tax reductions, and reduces help to American citizens. For those against government, imagine going to a sports match without umps/referees. For a free-market economy to work, there has to be an independent referee, unfortunately the revolving door between government and corporations and Americans who confuse all government with a co-opted government, allows this to happen.

And most Americans are also decendents of immigrants and as far back as colonial times, each group of immigrants from Germans to Irish to Italians/Jews, etc. were looked on as problems; yet, studies have shown that without these groups we would be a 2nd rate nations. They make contributions in science, literature, technology, culture, music, art, food, etc. So do the original Americans; but we would be far poorer without all the contributions.

And they aren't taking jobs most Americans would want.

So, what we have is those in power, government, corporations, super weatlhy, redirecting us away from what they are doing, that they are responsible for the poor quality of life and insecurity of most Americans. Not a new strategy. In the old South, white sharecroppers began working with freed blacks, dangerous to the plantar wealthy classes, so they encouraged racism. So, poverty and misery continued for both groups, just that the poor whites could feel a bit superior and have a trace better standard of living.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER - IGNORE THE DAMAGE THE SUPER WEALTHY, CORPORATIONS, AND CO-OPTED GOVERNMENT HAVE DONE AND FOCUS ON THE POWERLESS VICTIMS, THE POOR AND REFUGEES. A policy as old as mankind and still quite effective.

Plus, I really get sick and tired of so many Americans claiming we are a Christian nation, while ignoring Jesus teachings of compassion, love, and succor.

What did you say?

Is your lengthy comments exerts from your Doctorate? You said a mouthful but compared to you, I am under educated. I have difficulty finding your point relative to "groups pan President Trumps immigration proposal elitist"

Martinez? American standards?

l. America is overloaded with people 2. Americans are overloaded paying for "illegals" 3. People like Martinez and their organizations probably didn't take High School Civics, English as the language of America, pledge their allegiance, 4. Past Presidents like Roosevelt stated that if you want to become an American, you have to in every way or go away. So why do we "Americans" get criticized for intolerance, selfish attitudes and object to "illegals"? Number 5. you know the answer if you are all American.

What about...

...refugees coming from the Middle East, and others who wish to move here from another country? Will these ideas be applied to everyone equally, or just those coming from south of our border?

Trumps new immigration.

We need to start somewhere in curbing the influx of illegal immigrants coming into the U.S. which is costing every citizen an enormous amount of tax dollars. I agree with President Trump. I realize there are tens of thousands of immigrants that want to live here. We can not take them all in. We can not house them, feed them, provide free medical services without endangering our own citizens who have been also waiting for these services. I wish those who have so much passion for non citizens had the same passion for our own citizens. OUR CITIZENS MUST COME FIRST.