tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post5271448343866882549..comments2023-11-09T02:06:49.126-06:00Comments on Rancho Santa Clara: Trump revives memories of my "shithole" countryalcubanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-34637486109224623442018-02-02T09:21:34.443-06:002018-02-02T09:21:34.443-06:00Much to think about in this essay, thank you. And ...Much to think about in this essay, thank you. And many good comments; our country can always use people who are willing to walk for days in the desert to make a better life for their family. But the sentence about diehard ideologues jumped out at me. Be afraid of diehard ideologues...be very afraid. Whether they are communist ideologues or capitalist ideologues.Creigh Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05267728698204033199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-2579542829231073462018-01-19T22:58:42.719-06:002018-01-19T22:58:42.719-06:00They are humans who just want to do a job and live...They are humans who just want to do a job and live. I couldn't have said it better.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00227263124988120167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-21191153795561093472018-01-19T21:33:23.032-06:002018-01-19T21:33:23.032-06:00I remember two men from El Salvador who worked for...I remember two men from El Salvador who worked for me on a remodel of a Chinese restaurant. They took 5 buses to get to the jobsite. Hardest working men that I had ever seen. I was amazed by them and many others. I would take a 1000 of those men to one of the people who argue that we need people who can make over $100,000 a year because they would be skilled based! Truly. Who cares if they are legal or illegal? They are humans who just want to do a job and live.......Babshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16609157345912932083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-64393697471659644122018-01-19T16:24:09.982-06:002018-01-19T16:24:09.982-06:00There is an underlying problem in the labor pool t...There is an underlying problem in the labor pool that neither of the political parties seem to have adequately addressed. The United States has an adequate unskilled labor pool. The rub is that the country has the lowest labor participation rate of any OECD country. The economists have no idea why that is -- nor why the male participation rate is so woefully low. It would make sense to start addressing that issue.<br /><br />My immigrant roots are more attenuated than yours, but I too am the son of immigrants. And, like you, I am rather irritated at both political parties for selling out the best argument for legal immigration (that it makes America stronger) in favor of fear-mongering to interest politics. I recall PJ O'Rourke writing in the 1980s about a Haitian who floated all the way to Florida on the equivalent of a door. PJ rightly noted that this is exactly the kind of person we want in America -- imaginative, persistent, a survivor. He was right. I often wonder what happened to the Haitian and his subsequent family.<br /><br />Because both of the political parties have failed us, maybe what we are now doing is the best we can do. We have a voice, we should use it.<br /><br />As for my birthday, you are most gracious. I thank you and the magical calendar you must have used to tote up my years.Steve Cottonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00468378507171761868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-13122552265923857732018-01-19T15:05:38.881-06:002018-01-19T15:05:38.881-06:00Amen and Hallelujah, Dana. Amen and Hallelujah, Dana. alcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-39368166609145152782018-01-19T15:04:46.179-06:002018-01-19T15:04:46.179-06:00Problem is that given the current labor shortages,...Problem is that given the current labor shortages, particularly in low-wage, back-breaking jobs (i.e., hanging drywall, at which my cousin works in Austin, Texas) there is a need for both, highly skilled folks from wherever, and lower-skilled people, also from wherever. I'd love to hear someone present a rational scheme for immigration based on labor needs, but what I hear from Trump and the Republicans is race-, nationality- and even religion-based selection criteria which wouldn't serve the U.S. and would be antithetical to America's traditions. I'd also like Republicans, Democrats and whoever, to declare the obvious: America has historically benefited from immigration and needs immigrants right now. It just a matter, a tough matter, or regulating and enforcing the inflow. Thanks for you typically thoughtful comment, Steve, and happy fiftieth birthday. You don't look a day older. <br /><br />al alcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-2891710539531941312018-01-17T17:42:57.596-06:002018-01-17T17:42:57.596-06:00I got understand the bias toward having skills wil...I got understand the bias toward having skills will put you at the front of the visa line. I want us to create a country that is so forward thinking, free thinking, risk taking and innovative that it's everyone's first choice to immigrate. We need Elon Musks, Nicola Teslas, and landscape labor, restaurant workers, seasonal crop workers, and assisted living caretakers, all.<br />Dana JAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03922547230766895676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-29273374963968274972018-01-17T15:53:57.825-06:002018-01-17T15:53:57.825-06:00Other than the obvious offensive term, I was most ...Other than the obvious offensive term, I was most offended that President Trump, in his usual bull in a china shop mode, managed to obscure the fact that the immigration reform he claims to support is based on an individual's prospective skills, and has absolutely nothing to do with their country of origin. He would swant a bunch of meth addict teens from Norway instead of a Nigerian entrepeneur, a Haitin inventor, or a Salvadoran doctor? Apparently, the president does not even understand the reform he supposedly supports. A think tank ran a model immigration flow based on the skills requirement in the reform. Under the proposed system, the two countries that would qualify for the most visas are, not surprisingly, India and China. Steve Cottonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00468378507171761868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-86440435527897449202018-01-17T10:17:40.128-06:002018-01-17T10:17:40.128-06:00Anonymous: I put a reply to your comment below. Th...Anonymous: I put a reply to your comment below. Thanks for your comment.<br /><br />alalcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-89472260502525246362018-01-17T10:15:41.869-06:002018-01-17T10:15:41.869-06:00An anonymous reader sent the following comment:
&...An anonymous reader sent the following comment:<br /><br />"Here in northeast Ohio we have a fandango going on with a Jordanian immigrant of 38 years. Google Adi Otherman or Al Adi as he goes by here. It is a true sign of our times."<br /><br />I Googled Al Adi and came up with this:<br /><br />http://www.vindy.com/news/2018/jan/17/youngstown-businessman-al-adi-in-custody/ <br /><br />It reminded me of another longtime immigrant, this one from Mexico, who's lived in the U.S for about twenty years, raised a family and made a life for himself in the U.S., and now faces deportation. <br /><br />Some would argue that both cases are just a matter of enforcing the law. I'm not a lawyer but I believe that in law enforcement there are also elements of mercy, proportionality, leniency and mitigating circumstances that also play a role. Most of all I would ask: What public or national purpose would be served by ruining the lives of these people and their family by throwing the book at them, twenty years after the fact? <br /><br />alalcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-11721021774115191012018-01-17T10:01:18.799-06:002018-01-17T10:01:18.799-06:00Agree completely Dana. But almost sixty years late...Agree completely Dana. But almost sixty years later, the revolution has failed to deliver, partly because of U.S. interference and outright aggression, but largely because a centralized, control economy just doesn't work. Thanks for your observation. alalcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-83553009213063322032018-01-17T09:57:20.676-06:002018-01-17T09:57:20.676-06:00Spot-on.
alSpot-on. <br /><br />alalcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-15225438106314942642018-01-17T09:56:42.434-06:002018-01-17T09:56:42.434-06:00This has nothing to do with legal versus illegal i...This has nothing to do with legal versus illegal immigration, which is a law enforcement matter, but with prejudging groups of people on the basis of race, religion or national origin, which is old-fashioned bigotry. al alcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-86930299507568534302018-01-17T07:46:01.988-06:002018-01-17T07:46:01.988-06:00Here in northeast Ohio we have a fandango going on...Here in northeast Ohio we have a fandango going on with a Jordanian immigrant of 38 years. Google Adi Otherman or Al Adi as he goes by here. It is a true sign of our times. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-20536374864154277952018-01-16T20:12:24.107-06:002018-01-16T20:12:24.107-06:00I was in awe of the Cuban people who chose to rebe...I was in awe of the Cuban people who chose to rebel from the slavery of the Mafia, Big Sugar and the corrupt cuban government.<br />Though I am no fan of communism or how Castro betrayed his people, the revolution was overdue.<br />Dana JAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03922547230766895676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-9746149588816726942018-01-16T20:07:50.562-06:002018-01-16T20:07:50.562-06:00You missed the point, Felipe.
Both Trump and thi...You missed the point, Felipe. <br />Both Trump and this essay(primarily)were about legal immigration and immigration policy. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03922547230766895676noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-47341502356011603552018-01-16T07:31:02.268-06:002018-01-16T07:31:02.268-06:00It's SOP now for leftists to conflate "im...It's SOP now for leftists to conflate "immigration" with "illegal immigration," painting conservatives and anyone who believes in the Rule of Law as xenophobes. The problem is illegal immigration, people sneaking into the United States without permission. Legal and controlled immigration can be a positive thing when the people moving to a country, the U.S. in this case, are desirable people, people with skills, ambition, a willingness to learn English and to assimilate.<br /><br />But the bottom line is that legal immigration and illegal immigration are very different things. Recognizing that difference is important as is obeying laws.Michael Dicksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01720359542700663699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-13375540340627880832018-01-15T21:16:34.191-06:002018-01-15T21:16:34.191-06:00It's been the same story throughout America...It's been the same story throughout America's history and I don't see why it's so hard to appreciate that now.<br /><br />Al alcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-60901450435330451652018-01-15T21:15:27.606-06:002018-01-15T21:15:27.606-06:00Thank you, whoever you are.
alThank you, whoever you are.<br /><br />alalcubanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12667546605871850986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-26507872628464288152018-01-15T06:34:01.945-06:002018-01-15T06:34:01.945-06:00Indeed, only those people with extraordinary coura...Indeed, only those people with extraordinary courage, enterprise, faith—and unmitigated cojones—take the chance.<br />The main reason I'm pro immigration. A welcome addition to the US . Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6672834250325632231.post-21238951942345704032018-01-15T00:32:05.689-06:002018-01-15T00:32:05.689-06:00You're a very wise man, Al.You're a very wise man, Al.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com