Monday Morning Reads – June 18

So I am not a Democrat and I am not in the know but I think I can take a stab at some things here.

First, we have to all realize and admit to unfortunate truths to the immigration issue:
(1) There is no way to go back in time and apply any new measures put in place to prevent illegal immigration in the future to people who have already entered the US illegally in the past.
(2) Any solution put in place will take a supremely long time to actually lead to results if there is actually any intent to become effective on preventing illegal immigration.

In order to address the illegal immigration issue one has to first has to understand the problem. The problem has a root in the economies of the countries in which people illegally immigrate from. This administration has made a conscious effort to become isolationist. Isolationist strategies when it comes to illegal immigration will not actually solve the root problems. All isolationist policies towards these home countries will do is exacerbate economic problems, causing the standard of living to degrade, causing the people in those countries who just want to have a good life for their progeny to look elsewhere. Even with a wall (as if that will ever get built), people will try to enter the good economy country of the US. This will lead to a humanitarian crisis at the southern border. (we are seeing a small snippet of that now). Then the question becomes how do we morally address that crisis. (again, we are seeing that now).

The only real, long-term solution, really is a long-term solution. Why do we not see mass illegal immigration from Canada? Canada’s economy is significantly smaller than the United States’s economy and Canada will never be the US economically. We don’t see mass illegal immigration from Canada, however, because Canada has a robust economy. The robust economy comes from a good education system, access to affordable food, and public safety. Canadians know the US has more opportunity and a better economy but they do not illegally migrate to the US en masse because people would always sacrifice a little to stay home.

That is not true for many of our southern neighbors. Many of our southern neighbors have weak economies, poor education systems, lack of access to affordable food, and bad public safety. Apportioning fault for all of those situations, the vast majority will lie with the leadership in those countries, but First World countries like the US cannot be blameless. Historically, the US has had policies that harm some countries over others. In developing nations, this can lead to choices that prioritize military protectionism over educational systems or agricultural systems.

Regardless, history is history. What can the US do about it now? Well, we can either become more isolationist, knowing full-well that these countries will not suddenly reverse their fortunes, which will cause more people to seek a better life elsewhere or we can triple-down and focus on the root problems in these countries. We can focus like we never have before in helping these countries create better education systems, better agricultural systems, better public safety. The results of investments like this long-term, would improve the economies in those countries and lead to lessened illegal immigration to the US.

Countries like Panama and Costa Rica have better economies than their neighbors and we do not tend to see many illegal immigrants from those countries (granted they are further south). That said, can you imagine if El Salvador or Nicaragua had economies, education, and agricultural similar to Greece, Portugal, or Malaysia that people would leave their homes? I can’t.

The last unfortunate truth is that this administration has chosen to be isolationist for short-term gain but don’t seem to have a long-term plan. Do I like the US being the piggy-bank to the world? No. Do I understand why we are? Yes.

We are the piggy-bank to the world because for the longest time we have realized humanity is only as good as its weakest link. The US has spent my entire lifetime, whether through Republican or Democratic administrations, trying to improve the weakest links throughout the world. I may not always agree with the methods or plans on how the government thinks it can improve those weak links, but it has always been a concerted effort and goal to improve the weakest links.

This administration has a completely different plan than any of its predecessors. They do not want to improve the weakest links. This administration doesn’t care about other links so long as our link remains intact. This administration fails to realize that when the weakest link is broken we no longer have a chain.

It is truly disappointing.