|
Post by onelasttime on Nov 26, 2022 0:46:58 GMT
I’m not a fan of photo ops. Never have been.
Recently Kevin McCarthy and some other Republican members of Congress took a road trip to 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁 the Southern Border. They went to the banks of the Rio Grande and stared across the river into Mexico. The entire time the cameras were snapping.
McCarthy plans to hold hearings at the border so it will force the Democrats to come to the border.
A while back I was trying to figure out what these fools meant by an open border so I googled it. What I found out is the border is just as secured as it was under dumpster don. If anything the GOP has been voting against any monies that would lead to more border guards under the Biden Administration.
Keep in mind the Republicans have offered no solutions for immigration reform and what is going on at the border. The only message they want to deliver is it’s terrible while offering no solutions. I’m going to ignore completing the wall as that is not a viable solution since, gasp, there are two other borders the migrants can use and are using to come to this country, for the most part, to ask for asylum, which is legal.
The major difference is the Biden Administration treats these migrants as human beings while the trump administration had no problem treating them as if they were less than human.
Now we have reached the point in our programming where “replacement theory” is brought up.
I’m a bit puzzled by this. Just exactly who has Secretary Mayorkas killed?
|
|
|
Post by onelasttime on Nov 26, 2022 1:05:06 GMT
Paul Waldman wrote this opinion piece about the latest stunt from the Republicans. I agree with pretty much all that he said.
We do need to reform our immigration laws and hopefully, if we do, they will be fully enforced by both sides unlike what happened with the 1986 Immigration Reform Act. It was never really enforced be either side.
But I think that if the Republicans ever got serious about finding a solution to immigration reform on their “to do” list would be amending the asylum law by making it even harder for folks from the South to obtain asylum in this country.
Their constant yapping about “replacement theory “ makes me think that.
“Opinion Kevin McCarthy’s border trip shows how tired this stunt has become”
By Paul Waldman Columnist
November 23, 2022 at 11:01 a.m. EST
“If you are a member of Congress headed to the United States’’ southern border, you will need a few things. A camera crew, of course — if a politician preens on the border and no one records it, it makes no sound. Comfortable shoes are a must, since you might climb down to the shore of the Rio Grande to gaze determinedly into Mexico, and you don’t want to slip in your wingtips.
Finally, you must purchase an appropriate shirt. Ideally it should be olive or khaki, and it’s best if it has tactical pockets. If you think someone might say, “Who are you kidding with that shirt, Congressman? Are you going to crawl through the brush in pursuit of cartel assassins?” don’t worry, no one will.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s trip to the border on Tuesday was a reminder: No stage outside of Washington is more regularly ascended by costumed congressmembers than the southern border. But unlike media events that bring useful attention to an issue, when politicians prance around at the border it makes actual reform less likely, not more.
At the border, McCarthy said that Republicans will move toward impeaching Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, mainly because they don’t like the Biden administration’s policies. If the secretary doesn’t resign, McCarthy said, Republicans will investigate him to “determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry.”
McCarthy cited no acts of malfeasance on Mayorkas’s part, but if Republicans look hard enough, apparently they’ll find something they can call an impeachable offense.
There is absolutely no reason McCarthy couldn’t have made his announcement from a room in the Capitol. But if he did that, he and the other Republican members who accompanied him wouldn’t get to put on their outfits, nod seriously as they listen to Border Patrol agents and point meaningfully south. In fairness, there are plenty of situations in which politicians create media events with no practical purpose to make a point, and sometimes change their clothes to do so. They don a hard hat to show that jobs are being created, or dress down for a visit to a disaster area or put on a hat and boots to clear brush like a real live cowboy.
But border visits have a special place in the hearts of Republican politicians, who love the photo ops they provide (if you’re lucky, they let you ride in a helicopter) and who roundly criticize Democrats for not doing the same kind of playacting. After President Biden tasked Vice President Harris with coordinating immigration policy last year, Republicans quickly pretended to be outraged that Harris had not done a border visit, tricking media organizations into demanding she explain her reluctance to perform the ritual.
What Democrats such as Harris surely realize is that the border visit photo op is meant to create the impression that immigration is not a policy challenge but a crisis, an emergency whose true horror must be witnessed firsthand. That’s the message Republicans send at these visits: Things are out of control, it’s an invasion, our country is being overwhelmed by foreigners and something must be done.
The truth is that Republicans’ desire to Do Something is severely limited. What they want more than anything else is an issue they can use to anger and terrify their base, as they reliably do in almost every election. And the fact that immigration largely failed to produce the results they hoped for in this year’s midterms, just as it did in 2020 and 2018, has not deterred them.
We know they aren’t serious about a policy solution because the outlines of a fix are well known to both sides in Washington — and they won’t go near it.
That solution would require a comprehensive bill that incorporated both parties’ priorities and reformed the immigration system for the better. While details would be negotiated, it would almost certainly involve increased border security funding; stricter confirmation of workers’ legal status; a path to citizenship for “dreamers” brought to the United States as children and other undocumented immigrants here a long time; reform to the guest worker program so people could come here temporarily to work then return to home countries; and increases in legal immigration.
That kind of a deal would give Republicans what they want, give Democrats what they want and reduce the incentives for people to come here illegally. The trouble is that Republicans know that if they agree to any kind of compromise, their base voters will revolt, just as they have before when immigration reform was attempted.
So we’re left with border photo ops, inflammatory TV ads and lurid tales of immigrant crime. That makes it harder for Republicans to join in a reform effort that involves anything other than building walls and cracking down, even if being “tough” doesn’t solve the problem.
Perhaps some Republicans wish that weren’t true, and yearn for a sensible debate that could end with a policy solution. If so, they can’t compete with visuals of their colleagues tromping around Texas and Arizona in desert colors to show how mad they are. If that’s all the base really wants, that’s all it’s going to get.”
|
|
|
Post by onelasttime on Nov 26, 2022 1:12:28 GMT
Migrants leaving their country to try find a new home just isn’t a problem for the United States but for other mostly European countries as well.
People from all parts of the world are feeling the affects of climate change or violence in their countries and feel they must leave to find a new home.
Maybe we should start to look at this as a worldwide problem and look for worldwide solutions to address it.
From the article…
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union interior ministers on Friday weighed proposals to ease tensions between France and Italy over migrants arriving on their shores without authorization, including a possible crackdown on charity-run ships doing search and rescue work in the Mediterranean Sea.
In recent weeks, several hundred people hoping to enter Europe have been stranded at sea aboard aid ships while countries bicker over whether and where they should be allowed to disembark.
It comes during a year in which more than 90,000 migrants have so far arrived in Europe though the Mediterranean, chiefly from Libya and Tunisia — an increase of almost 50% over the same period in 2021. Almost 2,000 people have died or are missing at sea.
A diplomatic row erupted earlier this month when Italy maneuvered France into accepting a humanitarian rescue ship, the Ocean Viking, with 234 migrants aboard. The right-wing government in Rome had refused to grant it access to a port for weeks.
France retaliated by suspending its participation in an EU solidarity pact to accept around 3,000 people, in a process known as “relocation,” who had arrived this year in Italy, and sent officers to reinforce its southern border crossings and prevent migrants from entering.”
|
|
|
Post by iamkristinl16 on Nov 26, 2022 1:34:13 GMT
My coworker’s grandson is deployed at the border (I believe in Yuma). If the border is open, and joe Biden is doing nothing about immigration, why are soldiers from MN deployed? I also read that a group from Wisconsin just got back from a year long deployment to the border. I’m sure they aren’t the only ones.
|
|
|
Post by onelasttime on Nov 27, 2022 21:03:09 GMT
A letter to the Editor in the Washington post. He does have a point.
“The Nov. 23 news article “McCarthy calls for Mayorkas to quit, promises probes” reported that House Minority Leader — and possible soon-to-be speaker — Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has not only toured the border with Mexico in person but also accused Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of dereliction of duty and threatened him with impeachment if he does not resign.
One thing is clear: No amount of grandstanding by Mr. McCarthy is going to solve the problem. Perhaps Mr. McCarthy should do his own job and secure congressional approval of immigration reform legislation. That would be an actual accomplishment.”
|
|
kiavonne
Full Member
Posts: 112
Mar 10, 2021 3:23:12 GMT
|
Post by kiavonne on Nov 27, 2022 22:48:07 GMT
Is there anyone McCarthy doesn't want to impeach?
|
|
|
Post by mollycoddle on Nov 27, 2022 23:29:33 GMT
They might impeach, but they won’t be able to convict. So this is yet another stunt. Do they have a plan for immigration reform? I honestly have only seen 2 ideas. Finish that wall, and make people wait in Mexico. Is there something else?
|
|
|
Post by epeanymous on Nov 28, 2022 2:49:48 GMT
This is going to be a deeply unserious House.
|
|
|
Post by Gem Girl on Nov 28, 2022 3:21:44 GMT
Is there anyone McCarthy doesn't want to impeach? The camera men.
|
|
|
Post by Gem Girl on Nov 28, 2022 3:26:46 GMT
They might impeach, but they won’t be able to convict. So this is yet another stunt. Do they have a plan for immigration reform? I honestly have only seen 2 ideas. Finish that wall, and make people wait in Mexico. Is there something else? Whoa, there, ma'am! That sounds like actual, nose-to-the-grindstone kind of legislative work. Eww. Worse, nobody will be watching! You clearly don't understand grandstanding, um, I mean, 'Publican Congressing.
|
|
kiavonne
Full Member
Posts: 112
Mar 10, 2021 3:23:12 GMT
|
Post by kiavonne on Nov 28, 2022 4:13:19 GMT
Is there anyone McCarthy doesn't want to impeach? The camera men.
|
|
|
Post by mollycoddle on Nov 28, 2022 9:37:27 GMT
They might impeach, but they won’t be able to convict. So this is yet another stunt. Do they have a plan for immigration reform? I honestly have only seen 2 ideas. Finish that wall, and make people wait in Mexico. Is there something else? Whoa, there, ma'am! That sounds like actual, nose-to-the-grindstone kind of legislative work. Eww. Worse, nobody will be watching! You clearly don't understand grandstanding, um, I mean, 'Publican Congressing.
|
|
|
Post by arielsmom on Nov 28, 2022 13:36:05 GMT
Why can't the US open a processing center at the southern border? Remember Ellis Island? Lets process them legally and welcome them in.
|
|
|
Post by revirdsuba99 on Nov 28, 2022 14:26:18 GMT
Why can't the US open a processing center at the southern border? Remember Ellis Island? Lets process them legally and welcome them in. Numbers. Ellis Island only processed passengers from much smaller ships. And being an island easier to contain people. Of course more IS needed at the southern border. Do we see Congress will to pay for it properly for what is really needed? With the new House I doubt it will get done... Their only answer will be the wall.. they have no other ideas, but to lock 'them' out!!!
|
|
|
Post by hop2 on Nov 28, 2022 14:38:53 GMT
My coworker’s grandson is deployed at the border (I believe in Yuma). If the border is open, and joe Biden is doing nothing about immigration, why are soldiers from MN deployed? I also read that a group from Wisconsin just got back from a year long deployment to the border. I’m sure they aren’t the only ones. McCarthy doesn’t care about pesky facts. Fear mongering works better- or at least it does for now.
|
|
|
Post by hop2 on Nov 28, 2022 14:39:48 GMT
Is there anyone McCarthy doesn't want to impeach? republicans of course
|
|
|
Post by hop2 on Nov 28, 2022 14:43:57 GMT
Why can't the US open a processing center at the southern border? Remember Ellis Island? Let’s process them legally and welcome them in. Numbers. Ellis Island only processed passengers from much smaller ships. And being an island easier to contain people. Of course more IS needed at the southern border. Do we see Congress will to pay for it properly for what is really needed? With the new House I doubt it will get done... Their only answer will be the wall.. they have no other ideas, but to lock 'them' out!!! They took border security out of the infrastructure bill becase it wasn’t ‘a wall’ but money for more security monitoring devices & border agents. So you know, there would be people to respond in less than the several hours it currently takes when someone does cut a hole in or build a tunnel under that wall former built. 🙄
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Nov 28, 2022 14:57:33 GMT
For those who enjoy some Monday morning facts and figures, here's a piece from the American Immigration Lawyers Association that covers how we got where we are, with links to relevant government documents and sources. www.aila.org/advo-media/issues/featured-issue-border-processing-and-asylumTo some extent, the federal government (through several administrations) is at fault for our failure to anticipate and build infrastructure to accommodate the current numbers. On the other hand, it's difficult to imagine the state of Texas agreeing to cede some land and authority to the feds for the purpose of building immigrant processing centers. It suits Abbott very well to spend billions of dollars to not actually mitigate the problem while complaining that various Democratic administrations aren't solving the problem. He prefers to make a bad situation worse so he can blame someone else. Let's also remember that ten US soldiers have died during Operation Lone Star so far - at least four of them by their own hand. How many Democratic politicians have been brought into hearings and/or excoriated for American deaths during various operations? But no one is holding Abbott accountable for these American deaths, much less the deaths of migrants who have been hunted by our soldiers, Texas DPS, and random vigilantes who live in the area. No one is holding him accountable for the fact that American citizens who live in border areas have been terrorized by Border Patrol and Texas DPS because they have brown skin. We do indeed have a crisis at our border. What's not being recognized by the right and its media is the extent to which Greg Abbott - helped along by the various US Senators and Representatives who use the area for photo ops - have created and stoked this crisis for their own political ends, with no thought given to the people who suffer and die as a result.
|
|