Monday, July 16, 2012

Immigration History from Mr. Peabody



Imagine a new immigration policy
We need to look beyond strict definitions of legal and illegal.
Fanciful New Age History
because ...?

Today, we are much more rigid about immigrants. We divide newcomers into two categories: legal or illegal, good or bad. We hail them as Americans in the making, or brand them as aliens fit for deportation. That framework has contributed mightily to our broken immigration system and the long political paralysis over how to fix it.

We don't need more categories, but we need to change the way we think about categories. We need to look beyond strict definitions of legal and illegal. To start, we can recognize the new birds of passage, those living and thriving in the gray areas. We might then begin to solve our immigration challenges. [We need to look beyond strict definitions of legal and illegal.]


"Today, we are much more rigid about immigrants. We divide newcomers into two categories: legal or illegal, good or bad."

Huh?

This recounting of American history immediately reminded me of Mr. Peabody, the dog who took boy Sherman into the Way Back Machine for cockeyed versions of history on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show [sample]. Only, there's no humor. 

I'll guess that Robert Soro learned from a Howard Zinn textbook, and was beat up during recess as a yoot. 

"We don't need more categories" is dead on.  Legal and illegal do the job.  

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My theory is that if you reduce the number of allotted immigration permits from a country by the number of illegal immigrants, there would soon be controls on the borders. Those 'standing in line', playing by the rules might just get irate enough to get their fellow citizens to start to follow the rules. Right now, illegal immigration has no effect on them. Make it hurt back home, and the family already there might not be so welcoming to their relatives if other relatives working their way through the system were shoved to the back of the line.
As a kid, I always hated others that 'took cuts' in line. I had waited and waited and this jerk(s) comes up an waltzes to the head of the line? Not right, and it stuck in my craw. Still does. Same same in other countries, no?
tomw

Anonymous said...

Tom, nah, not until we start putting them in the ground.

Casca

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