I guess if you guys are going to keep this going, I'll take a turn. What the heck. I guess it is the slow sports season, earlier than expected. This looks more like a summer post string.
The guest worker programs with Mexico were largely scrapped when I was a boy. Both political sides had some factions who benefitted, so the situation was permitted to continue status quo. total failure of government and those of us who should have made a bigger stink about holding government accountable. Mexico is a hell hole for those without resources, which is the bulk of the population. There is no rule of law, and the intense draw of the US is such that the best...most courageous, most willing to work...make the trip, coyotes, risks and all. The organized crime elements take advantage of that flood to move their trickle of folks right along with them. The Mexican government benefits significantly, in several ways. One you may have thought of is the remittances sent back to Mexico by those working here to support family members in Mexico. Nice informal balance of trade. One you may not have thought of is the "pressure relief valve" effect of migration to the US by the same folks who, if forced to remain, would be most likely to push for change and challenge the elites who run the country. I lived along the Texas/Mexico border for a while; I'm convinced that the reason there has not been an insurrection on the south side of the Rio Grande is because the folks who would be the first into the breach are the same folks who cross the border illegally. There have been studies ad nauseam regarding the economic impact of illegal immigration; I'm pretty convinced after 30+ years in SoCal that it is a slight plus for the US if viewed strictly in economic terms. The immigrants themselves are more than a slight plus. The way they are victimized by the gangs on one hand and some employers on the other is the major social negative. 20 years ago there were concerns that the illegals could not speak openly to the police. Today their kids are the police. In the same way that my Irish immigrant forefathers were the police, firefighters, ambulance personnel and (to quote Tom Clancy) the glue that holds society together, today in SoCal that is the kids of the immigrants. It is working pretty well, all things considered, but if I were King (and I'm not applying for the job):
- reinstate the guest worker program so somebody can freely move back and forth to work in the agriculture, meat processing, dairy and other industries in which they are currently ubiquitous.
- along with the easier guest worker status comes more strict enforcement of the other border regulations.
- FBI focus on the gangs. They prey first and foremost on their countrymen, and the central americans are the worst.
- State operation of the bottom 30% of the school districts, who clearly can't run themselves. The state is certainly not fully competent, but the chances of their running the schools better than these districts is almost a slam dunk. That will be a political "no go", particularly since LA Unified is likely to be in that group. Education is the indisputable key to equal opportunity, and permitting slum school districts to continue (and I'd include both breakfast and lunch for all kids in these districts) is a failure of both society and government. While I'm at it as king I'd re-institute the school nurses of my early childhood, since that is the only medical care that a lot of these kids would receive. Put in an urgent care with no charge for students on every SoCal high school campus (with access from the elementary & jr high's within their boundaries) that falls in this bottom 30%, and include generic prescriptions from any local pharmacy. Urgent care is already the primary care delivery system for most of the lower socio-economic parts of SoCal, so this would be nothing radical; in fact it would probably be the easiest thing on this list to implement.
- I've mentioned Mexico repeatedly, but central america has more desperate populations, both virtuous and non-virtuous. The central americans have it worse, though, because the Mexican government discriminates openly against them in ways that we would never consider for people coming from south of our own border.
I have more, but that is enough for now. And bear in mind that this is not strictly a southern border situation. We have a much smaller but similar scenario in Washington with folks from asian countries coming across our border with BC. And yes, I have personal experience, and a first cousin with a cattle ranch right on the border. The standing border patrol advice (not to be quoted) north of Spokane to ranchers along the border is to be armed and ignore people they see coming across the cattle fence from BC. It was really bad 7-10 years ago; got better for a while; and is now trending the wrong direction again (my own theory is that Hong Kong's current situation is part of the reason, but I have not bothered to check further).
Long story short, much of the world wants to be in the US. Our government has totally dropped the ball on the immigration issue. We have minimal border control, and therefore end up with pot luck in terms of people. By and large, they are excellent citizens and consistent with our history. And once here, the concentration of illegals (by estimates I trust, about 20% of the SoCal population) is not well addressed in terms of education, health care, exploitation avoidance, or many of the other basics to have a functioning society. Despite that, their kids are by and large integrating successfully, though primarily due to education impediments many are on the lower end of the economic scale.
When I moved here in 1988 my family in WA wondered why I was living somewhere between Sodom and Gomorrah. I can tell you that based on the 5 cities in which I've lived, across the country, people are pretty much the same wherever you go. They treat you pretty much as you treat them. But the SNAFU'd immigration situation is a festering sore that is threatening to turn into gangrene, and our ignoring it is not in the country's interest.
Enough of the soapbox. I am not king and never will be. But civil society and a sane place for our children demands that we harass those who are bungling the situation.