New Mexico has always had immigrants from Mexico and Central America. The numbers fluctuate with the political circumstances in all countries involved. Today’s Santa Fe New Mexican had an article about a young woman, Anai Hernandez, born in the United States and her immigrant parents, along with an op-ed by her. She is, of course, an American citizen.
For many young Americans, turning 21 is a rite of passage, a chance to finally go to bars and drink legally. But for Anai Hernandez, it will be a joyous moment for another reason. She will be able to ask the federal government to allow her parents to legally stay in the United States after living as undocumented immigrants for nearly two decades.
“I’m really close to my family. I care more about not getting in trouble, knowing my mom and dad are illegal. So I don’t go to parties or drink,” said Hernandez, 20. “For me, turning 21 is more about having a dream come true, being able to help my parents with their papers, a gift for them and thanking them for everything they’ve done.”
Hernandez, whose parents are from the Mexican border town of Nogales, Sonora, was born just minutes away in the American town of Nogales, Ariz., making her a U.S. citizen. When her parents decided to make a permanent move to Taos, there was no recourse for them to become green card holders — at least, not until their daughter turned 21, when she would be old enough to petition immigration officials to allow her parents to become legal permanent residents.
Under the current immigration system, generally, U.S. citizens age 21 or older can sponsor their parents to become green card holders, even if they have been living in the country illegally.
But under legislation President Donald Trump unveiled last week, that avenue would be cut off, creating a sense of urgency for Hernandez, who will turn 21 in December. Even if she turns in her application before Congress votes on the legislation, if the proposal passes and becomes law, her case could still be denied if it is pending when the new rules take effect.
Quite a few New Mexico communities are sanctuary communities.
As the direct attacks from the Trump administration continue to escalate nationwide, San Miguel County has taken a huge step in opposing and sending a clear message that, in New Mexico, we value our immigrant families and we will fight together to protect them.
Recently, the San Miguel County Commission passed a resolution declaring the county a “sanctuary county.” Amid the threats by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to crack down on “sanctuary cities and counties,” Nuevo Mexicanos up north still went ahead and called for the protection of undocumented families and moved to prevent collaboration between local law enforcement and immigration agencies.
Valued commenters earlier today said that there have been no front-page posts on immigration. That is a serious omission; I haven’t checked to make sure it is the case, but I don’t recall any. Immigration really isn’t something I can offer knowledgeable commentary on, and there are plenty of issues on which I can. Maybe one of our lawyers would offer a guest post?
Open thread, also too.
schrodingers_cat
Thanks CR. I am not a lawyer but am an immigrant and know several, none of our paths to citizenship/GC were easy. Although the challenges were different. It is an easy issue to demagogue because few citizens have a direct experience with the issues involved. There is so much lies and ignorance surrounding this issue.
Baud
To repeat, Trump’s war against immigrants is the only part of his agenda that is somewhat succeeding.
Gin & Tonic
A couple of years ago my son made the strategic error of falling in love with a delightful young lady from Mexico City, who was at the time a grad student in NY. She managed to get some type of visa that allows her to work for now (I don’t pry as to exactly what type), but thus restricts her to NY. The job doesn’t pay that well, but she can’t easily find another because of her status. Now my son will be going to grad school in Boston, and she has to stay in NY. Things are complicated for them and are about to get worse.
Needless to say, last November’s election has appalled and terrified both of them. It seems that was only the start. I feel awful and can’t do anything to help.
schrodingers_cat
@Gin & Tonic: There is a special work visa for NAFTA countries, I forget what it is called.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It’s the only part of his agenda that he has complete control over.
Cheryl Rofer
It fits Martin Niemöller’s poem: First they came for the immigrants, which seems to be what ICE is doing. For Trump’s goals, immigrants are the most powerless. His government can gain strength from persecuting them so that they can go on, eventually, to the rest of us.
schrodingers_cat
@Cheryl Rofer: First target, the undocumented, then those on temporary visas, then GC holders, then naturalized citizens, then children of immigrants (so called anchor babies). They want to return to the 1920s, the so called historic norms they love to cite, when immigration was restricted to northern European countries.
Cookie Monster
@schrodingers_cat: The ignorance surrounding immigration is truly astounding — I even know US born children of immigrants who are incredibly ignorant on the subject (and in some cases, surprisingly unsympathetic…).
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard some variation of “well, they’ve had years to become citizens and fix things” and explained there simply is no path to citizenship in those cases. So many are convinced you just show up and apply.
Cookie Monster
@schrodingers_cat: Some of them — Bannon is one — want no immigration. Not just racist but ultra-xenophobic too. q.v “Brexit” Britain.
Another Scott
Thanks Cheryl.
I posted this downstairs, in case anyone missed it – Will Bunch – How can Kelly save Trump when he was a human rights disaster at DHS?
(via LOLGOP on Twitter)
Cheers,
Scott.
schrodingers_cat
@Cookie Monster: They think it is like showing up at the DMV to get a driver’s license.
Frankensteinbeck
@Baud:
Trump voters consider it the most important part of his agenda, which is why despite all the rest of the bullshit, they tell you he’s the only politician who has truly delivered in their lifetimes.
zhena gogolia
Everyone should read Carol Anderson’s piece about white resentment in the NYT today.
Mary G
When I was in college in the early 70s, I worked at San Onofre State Beach in California, which straddled a big immigration checkpoint in the bottleneck of I-5. Eventually I took the 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift, so I could let people walk through and tell them how to avoid the security at the nuclear plant and Nixon’s house.
NotMax
@Mary G
Two repositories of toxic waste.
Bill Arnold
@schrodingers_cat:
Two observations, both of course arguable, for argument’s sake:
– A lot people, including a lot of big and smart money, will be deeply and personally offended if the self-styled “nationalists” go down this path.
– That right-wing propaganda edge? Fading rapidly, then it may become a net liability. The US press (parts of it) in particular is often calling the more obvious tricks in near real time, and they’re just warming up. France, we’re not, but sophistication levels re attempted manipulation are improving in key parts of the populace.
Mary G
@NotMax: We got rid of both of them in the end, except for the nuclear waste, of course. That’ll never leave.
Mary G
@zhena gogolia: Man, the butthurt comments on that article are deplorable. “We’re not the racists, you’re the racists” on steroids.
Another Scott
@zhena gogolia: I think she’s entirely too pessimistic.
E.g. Trump hit new low with white non-college voters:
The next Presidential election is a long way off. We should be concentrating on state races in Virginia and New Jersey this year, and state and congressional races next year. The presidential race in 2020 will take care of itself, and in our favor, if we get politics moving in the right direction now…
Cheers,
Scott.
zhena gogolia
@Mary G:
But if you click on “reader’s favorites” you get the sane comments first.
Peale
Thank you for reading our comments. I was actually kind of shocked that the immigration issue seemed to be missing. Barely a mention at Kos, or Huffpost. Salon is at least running Anis Shivani’s pieces on rethinking policy. Yeah, Salon, and not always friendly, but at least it’s something.
We need to talk about this issue whenever it comes up, if only so that we learn to talk more clearly. What democrats have been doing has not been working. After we get done looking for the White Working Class Voters and How to Win them Back, we could start talking about the mysterious First and Second generation citizen voter and why they aren’t voting. Might be more productive, but obviously what democrats have been doing isn’t actually working.
schrodingers_cat
@Bill Arnold: I am not saying that they will succeed but that’s what they want to do.
rikyrah
@zhena gogolia:
excellent piece. And, to be honest, the truth in it….explains fully why I have no phucks to give about trying to ‘understand’ Dolt45’s voters.
PHUCK THEM.
we have to fight…we gotta fight.
period.
Frankensteinbeck
@zhena gogolia:
The press is starting to inch around to maybe noticing that racism is a thing. It astonishes me, as blindness to racism has been their religion up until now. Is it because Trump does not attend barbecues with them? Have they spent so many thinkpieces asking why Trump voters support him that it’s filtering through that the answer is always ‘racism’? How far is this going to go? Yes, they’re going to desperately want to normalize the GOP after Trump is gone, but once the scales have fallen from your eyes, it is damned hard to stop seeing.
schrodingers_cat
@Another Scott: I agree with you. They will succeed if we are apathetic and/or depressed. I intend to fight back.
ETA:@rikyrah: Mind meld
schrodingers_cat
I am working on a post about this on my blog, I will post a link here.
Peale
What kind of amazed me this week is that people don’t quite understand that the diversity lottery isn’t some kind of free giveaway to applicants where they automatically win a green card and don’t have to have an education or any work to experience. I’m also surprised that there isn’t much in the way of longitudinal studies of this group. Anecdotal articles about, say, people with advanced degrees working as nannies and at Home Depot since they aren’t sponsored. But nothing concrete after 20 years of whether or not this program is worth saving.
dmsilev
@Frankensteinbeck:
I think it’s more that in the past, there was sort of a genteel racism if you will, which was a lot easier for people like the media establishment to either let slide or quietly agree with. Trump, on the other hand, doesn’t do genteel. He’s overt, blatant, and the more in-your-face the better. Harder to overlook.
schrodingers_cat
@Peale: I actually know 2 people who won the diversity lottery, one from Mali and the other person was from Nepal. One was a grad student in chemistry and the other in food science IIRC, on student visas before winning the lottery.
rikyrah
I’m glad that you did a post on this.
Immigration isn’t really my topic. Only really know personally one immigrant-he’s married to my best friend of college, so I have followed the immigration story through him.
But, for me, it comes down to race.
Those of us, on this side, who looked at whom Dolt45 was surrounding himself with – KNEW..
PHUCK, WE KNEW..this path was coming.
They used the cover of ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION..but, always knew that was bullshyt.
Then, they said it was going to be about the deportation of CRIMINALS, and now, we see THAT was bullshyt.
It’s about a bunch of White Racist Muthaphuckas who want to turn back the clock, because too many non-Whites have been let into this country.
THAT is the bottom line, and those of us who think that the composition of America 2017 is just fine, need to be willing to call brass tacks on this racist azz bullshyt.
Everyday, I’m reading some story about some immigrant – ALWAYS NON-WHITE- being sent away from this country – because of their existence…
NOT because they were criminals…but, because they exist…
I live in a city with a substantial WHITE illegal immigrant population…yet, I’m not reading stories about them being herded up at CHURCH…OR SCHOOLS…I know the neighborhoods where they live…so, how come ICE isn’t rolling up on them?
AND< we need to have hearings on these ICE muthaphuckas thinking that they can roll up anywhere and terrorize people.
mai naem mobile
It took.my parents 10 years to get citizenship and $50K in legal fees(in the 80s/early 90s). This wasn’t even for all my family. During the process my siser turned 18 so she had to go back to where we are from for some paperwork purpose. My other sister and her family’s process was 18 years long. Most Americans have no clue the hoops they make you jump through . BTW, you cannot be on any government services (i.e welfare/medicaid) before you get your citizenship – it’s a question on the paperwork to get your citizenship and you better be paying your taxes. Also,you have a have a physical for the paperwork by a physician who is authorized by DHS. It drives me bonkers that Americans don’t vote and take their citizenship for granted. The worst IMHO are the kids of immigrants whom don’t vote. Disgusting after what their parents wentry through.
Suzanne
@Gin & Tonic: My cousin married a lovely woman he met in college who is from Lithuania, studying on a student visa. It was really dicey for them for a while, and they didn’t want to get married before they were ready just to make sure she could stay in the country. They ended up marrying when they felt it was right and thus he was able to sponsor her (not sure if that is the right term), but it sucked for like two years, since she couldn’t really work once the student visa ran out, but she didn’t want to go back to Lithuania and not be able to come back. So he was basically supporting her after they graduated until she was able to get a real job.
It is really stressful to be in a relationship with someone in that situation. I can see how couples would feel under pressure to marry, even if it wasn’t the right thing for them, or not the right time.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mary G: These people need to be given a choice: STFU, or leave the country.
Brachiator
I hate Trump and everything he stands for, especially his immigration policies. But many of the people coming here are not undocumented, they are illegal immigrants who simply ignore immigration laws. Now, Democrats can whine that these laws should be null and void because, history, but the only thing that this has done is inflame conservative voters and made them intransigent. Conflating legal immigration and illegal immigration is bullshit and accomplished nothing, and certainly has done nothing to protect immigrants.
Worse, Trump has responded to the deliberate, willful stupidity of Democrats by ramping up his immoral deportation practices and by suggesting new immigration policies that are more overtly racist and elevates white nationalism to official White House policy for the first time since the Woodrow Wilson administration.
The battle to fix this is going to be nasty. The sad irony is that Trump’s proposed rules are so vile that they would have excluded the parents and grandparents of many white people who are now jumping on the anti-immigration express.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
Same as it ever was, sadly.
tobie
I’ve just returned from a brief trip to New Mexico, which seems like a model of successful integration of/welcome to immigrants from Mexico and elsewhere, as opposed to a state like Arizona that is filled with anti-immigrant fervor. Strange how two neighboring states can be so different. And how terrifying for DREAMERS approaching the age of 21, whose hopes may be dashed because of the monkey in the White House and the incendiary rhetoric of the GOP and right-wing media.
Adam L Silverman
Actually I’ve done several posts on immigration, the border, changing attitudes towards immigrants. How quickly you all forget…
https://balloon-juice.com/2016/06/23/the-price-of-the-politicization-of-policy/
https://balloon-juice.com/2016/08/24/lines-on-the-map-the-human-geography-of-the-uss-southern-border/
https://balloon-juice.com/2017/01/27/what-has-been-will-be-again-2-the-us-does-not-and-has-never-really-lifted-a-lamp-beside-the-golden-door/
O. Felix Culpa
It’s all about – spoiler alert – Making America White Again, even though this country never was that except in their selectively amnesiac minds. Immigration policy, ICE deportations, the wall, returning to long prison sentences, DOJ investigation of affirmative action policies, voter suppression…it’s the complete white supremacist package.
ETA: What rikyrah said at #30, also too. Further edited for clarity.
Uncle Ebeneezer
I would love for there to be a guest FP’er specializing on Immigration. Given that the attacks on Immigrants are some of the most blatant offenses (and the toughest to counter) by the 45 administration, I think every major Liberal Blog needs someone covering this beat, and educating it’s readers on the history as well. Someone Latinx or undocumented, preferably.
We’ve had a ton of local activism here in Los Angeles for obvious reason, but it’s been striking how difficult it has been to get white liberals really engaged on this issue. If you do find somebody to do it, I’d love to see a post on the 1930’s deportation of Mexicans. I had no idea that the US mass deported 1-2 MILLION Mexican-Americans (more than half of which may have even been legal US citizens!) in a scenario early similar to today’s environment.
Since we are talking Immigration, here’s a Times profile of an amazing activist I’ve had the pleasure of working with:
And a great piece on the Anti-Immigrant sentiments of the Sheriffs’ Depts.:
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: Not forgotten, credit where credit is due. I was specifically talking about after creepster Miller’s latest press conference.
Yarrow
Thanks for the post. This is a huge issue and definitely in the “first the came for….” category. We all need to be paying attention and actively speaking out against what is happening.
@rikyrah:
Absolutely it’s racist. The immigration thing is a poor smokescreen for what they’re doing.
Yep. And don’t forget the 100 mile “border zone” that means the CBP can pretty much do whatever they want. Two-thirds of the American population lives in that zone and several states are all or almost all inside it.
mai naem mobile
Dolt 45 uses J-visas for resorts. You want to help working class people – get rid of the JVisa for resorts and other non- rural non-mom and pop.businesses. They’re supposed to be ‘cultural exchange’ kind of visas where somebody can come in for a short period of time and experience America. What Dolt the Pig does is use it because you don’t have to pay payroll taxes or follow labor laws. Ofcourse,J1 visas aren’t touched in his proposal because why should Dolt 45 ever pay a dime extra anywhere or anytime.
eclare
@Suzanne: Coworker’s daughter did that with her boyfriend from Spain (they had been dating about three or four years). I think he was having issues with his work visa, and the lawyer told them, if you are thinking of getting married, now would be a good time. Two weeks later, “I do”. That was two years ago, I’m sure they are glad that they did.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott:
Having the DOJ screw Harvard over its admission policies and criteria has little effect on white non-college educated voters.
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: @Yarrow: Xenophobia is not always racist, non-English speaking white immigrants with rudimentary English skills also bear the brunt of discrimination.
Adam L Silverman
@zhena gogolia: It was an excellent piece.
Full disclosure: I am an Emory alumnus.
Gin & Tonic
@Suzanne: The way things are now, they couldn’t marry anyway, because her only income is in NY, and he will be in Boston with no (or negligible) income. And marrying but living 200 miles apart, even if the marriage is for love, is certainly something that will raise red flags with ICE.
Yarrow
@schrodingers_cat: True, but they are less likely to be singled out of a crowd because of how they look.
Adam L Silverman
@schrodingers_cat: You do understand we have a backlog of things to cover?//
Gin & Tonic
@Adam L Silverman: All the money you get paid and you’re sitting here coming up with excuses.
tobie
@rikyrah: @Yarrow:
I’m increasingly convinced they use trade (NAFTA, Chinese imports, etc) as a cover for their racism, too. It’s far easier to blame non-white laborers in Mexico and China for the problems of American manufacturing than automation and the transition to a digital economy.
Brachiator
Coulda sworn I had a post about immigration here.
Must have got stopped at the border.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: I’m just raking it in from this place. Bigly! Let me tell you.
Peale
@schrodingers_cat: yep. And if they needed to take an English test, they’d pass it.
The people I think who’ll be most hurt by this are refugees. It’s not just the limits to the numbers of refugee admissions that are the issue. That sucks, but that can always be reversed. The refugees often arrive with broken up families and jump through hoops to reunite. This is basically saying, we’ll only take doctors and engineers. So if your family was driven out of Bhutan, you’d better have come from the elite, or you’ll be staying in camps. Hopefully there will be well funded research universities in those camps if you needed to leave your kids behind.
Other immigrants, I’m not certain what the impact will be. For people who come on h1bs and somehow find a sponsor for permanent status, I’m not certain. Companies aren’t hiring non-English speakers to take jobs as H1Bs, and education tends to run in families, so it’s possible that the immigrants who take that path can reunite somehow. Forced nuclear families aren’t going to sit well.
Adam L Silverman
@Brachiator: It was in detention. I have gotten it released on its own recognizance.
Brachiator
@Peale:
No. Trump has already shamefully closed the door on increasing refugees, including people who may have aided US personnel. Our official policy is pretty much, “too bad that your country is jacked up, even if because of US action or inaction. Goodbye and good luck.”
schrodingers_cat
@Adam L Silverman: I do.
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah:
Brachiator
@Adam L Silverman:
I thought that I had avoided any words that might trigger detention.
Thanks
Davebo
@Adam L Silverman: Almost enough to convince me to turn off my ad blocker.
Not quite, but almost!
Another Scott
@Uncle Ebeneezer: One doesn’t have to go back to the ’30s, of course. There was an infamous program under Eisenhower in the 1950s with similar wide-ranging abuses.
Agreed that these issues need much more visibility in the wider blogosphere, and I appreciate s_c and Adam’s efforts in that task.
Cheers,
Scott.
Peale
@tobie: china is actually a problem. It only wants to import raw materials. If you want to market finished within China, you’ll need permission. That permission can be mighty slow in coming if you don’t have a plan to partner with someone within China to manufacture it for you.
For nafta, yeah, it’s funny how the point of renegotiating NAFTA seems to be about punishing Mexico, when Mexico hasn’t actually been cheating. But clearly those Mexicans need to be punished in ways that Canada doesn’t need to be. Funny that. Conveniently weird.
Davebo
@Adam L Silverman:
My ancestors were Scottish so yeah, they really didn’t speak english.
Adam L Silverman
@Davebo: I think you’re missing a sarc tag or three.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: Please make checks payable to…//
Adam L Silverman
@Davebo: Must have been from Auchtermuchty.
Another Scott
@Adam L Silverman: Eh? I’m not following.
In her FTFNYT piece, she says:
If they’re “presents” for his supporters, they don’t seem to be enough to keep them happy – witness his falling support in the Quinnipiac poll.
At least that’s how I read it, and what I was referring to.
What am I missing?
tl;dr – More words please. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Davebo
@Adam L Silverman:
What? Have you been to Glasgow? Hell even in Edinburgh those people are unintelligible!
I’ve had a year long relationship with an Aberdonian and I’m convinced it’s lasted this long because I just don’t understand half of what she says.
Suzanne
@tobie:
The difference is that New Mexico has a great deal more “longtime” immigrants and has had more immigration for longer than Arizona, so there are more multigenerational families. Arizona had a population explosion over the last 30 or so years (it has a reputation for being an older population due to snowbirds, but it is actually much younger than average), and the immigrant population here is much newer, and much needier in terms of jobs, social services, education, etc. So it is hard.
Davebo
@Adam L Silverman:
Auchterarder. Nice golf courses though and a fabulous restaurant.
Adam L Silverman
@Another Scott: If you’re a non-college educated white person the announcement that the DOJ is going after Harvard’s admission’s criteria isn’t going to get you too juiced up. Now if you create some sort of inquiry into whether local/municipal regulations disproportionately effect whites, then you’re getting somewhere.
HRA
My parents were immigrants. I grew up in an immigrant society where their relatives and friends were immigrants. I have a photo of my Dad with the passengers on a Cunard ship as it sailed into NYC harbor. I have the name and the year on the photo. His name is not on the passenger list. He was illegal. I have a good portion of his story of how he fled the US to Canada and came back with my Mom and me to the US after my sister married an American. He was a Canadian citizen and then became a US citizen to fulfill his dream.
Immigration laws are always changing as I have learned through the trials it has taken other relatives to get to the US legally. There are too many stories to write about here.
BTW When my parents and I got to the Black Rock station to enter the US from Canada, we were not let in until we were examined by a doctor.
efgoldman
@Another Scott:
For the hardest of his hard core mouth breather, knuckle dragger, ignorant RWNJ supporters, nothing less than pushing all the ni[clang]s, spics, jooz and slant eyes off the edge of the continent will do.
Adam L Silverman
@Davebo: I lived in Scotland for about 3 and 1/2 years. Some of the regional accents are worse than others, such as Auchtermuchty. By and large I had little trouble understanding the accents.
Adam L Silverman
@Davebo: Been there. Nice place.
Cheryl Rofer
@Suzanne: Although Arizona came into the Union slightly after New Mexico, and both were once part of Mexico, the demographic parts of their history are quite different. Santa Fe was a major Mexican city, and the Camino Real, to Mexico City, came through New Mexico, along the Rio Grande, to Santa Fe and north. Arizona was, relatively speaking, a backwater. Spanish families settled in New Mexico, and some of our residents can trace their families back to around the time of the Mayflower.
I’m not at my best researching at this time of night, but I am recalling that the terms under which the two states came into the Union were different. Arizona gave preference to the most recent immigrants, the Anglos, as we call them in this part of the world. New Mexico was more egalitarian. One may add all the caveats about colonialism, but IIRC, Arizona made that preference legal to some degree.
Frankensteinbeck
@tobie:
One of the ongoing studies of Trump voters found that they change their opinions about trade to whatever currently matches propaganda. They never cared about it, except when it was used as a dog whistle for racism.
tobie
@Peale: No doubt China protects its markets, but I’m still not sure how decisive that has been in the loss of manufacturing jobs in the US. A few months ago Brad DeLong had an article on the US manufacturing that was quite interesting. According to him manufacturing went from representing something like 30% of the economy in 1970 to 8% today, but he claims that trade deals accounted for less than 1% of this decline.
This actually tracks with a lot of what Robert Reich had to say about trade until he changed his tune during the primary. Trade policies are incredibly complicated, and it’s far easier to prey on people’s fears than to explain the intricacies of any deal.
Davebo
@Adam L Silverman: I don’t even play golf but Andrew Farlies is the best eatery in Scotland. Hell, I may have to take up golf again! Still, aside from Glenn Eagles Auchterarder is a pretty pathetic spot.
Frankensteinbeck
@Adam L Silverman:
Very MUCH on the contrary. The higher end the prize, the more furious they are that black people get something they supposedly didn’t earn. Since it is obvious to them that only an infinitesimal number of blacks could legitimately earn entrance to Harvard, the idea of affirmative action in what they think is the nation’s most prestigious school is rage-stoking proof to rural whites that blacks are showered with largess for being lazy.
tobie
@Suzanne: @Cheryl Rofer: Thanks for these insights! It’s really interesting to learn about the settlement history of two neighboring states and how that’s affected their economic and political outlook.
NotMax
@Davebo
Hoots mon, but that’s an exclusive category. Lots to love about the place but not exactly up to its oxters with fine cuisine choices.
;)
Mike J
@NotMax: There’s a pizza joint in the grassmarket in eburg that I used to eat in twice a week. Two streets up from the pubic triangle (where I lived).
Tenar Arha
@schrodingers_cat: In the 1920’s it wasn’t simply No. Europeans only, it was White Anglo Saxon Protestants. Lots of Roma, Catholics, Greeks, Jews, Socialists and Communists were shut out. And in the 1930’s-1940’s they died. This makes me very angry. Especially because that’s what that quisling Miller wants to come again.
That fool is under some kind of ahistorical misperception that encouraging xenophobia will not effect him. If I thought it would help, I’d require him read up on the history of lynching or even how the Nazis treated the rich, ennobled, assimilated Jewish families. However, I strongly suspect that he’d still end up sitting in the corner in a dunce cap.
Suzanne
@tobie: The two states are entirely different, actually. Arizona is, surprisingly, much more urban. Phoenix is the fifth-largest city in the US, and the economy here suffered immensely in the Great Recession due to real estate collapsing, much more so than anywhere in New Mexico. The city had been growing faster than anywhere else in the country, and then it fell apart. We also have many more undocumented immigrants, and the shit really hit the fan when the economy collapsed. Ripe for tension.
Mr. Suzanne is a bilingual speech-language pathologist, and he works in public schools. Most of his students are either DREAMers or are first-generation immigrants (uncharitably called “anchor babies”), and most are moderately to severely disabled. He has worked exclusively in Title One schools in his career. It is heartbreaking seeing how many of these families struggle.
Uncle Ebeneezer
One other thing I’d like to see more often on the Left is an emphasis on the MORAL question of our immigration laws. Well-They-Broke-The-Law is far too often the central framing of these discussions even by those who are on the more compassionate side of the issue. Tearing a person from their home, separating them from their family, putting them in detention and through a legal system with little/no protection of their rights with zero transparency of the process and possibly sending them “back” to a country they may not have been to in decades (one they possibly fled because of imminent danger of cartels etc.) is a punishment that is woefully disproportionate to them simply not having proper documentation.
Uncle Ebeneezer
@rikyrah: Yup. See the Sheriffs story linked at #39. You don’t have to scratch the surface far to see it’s racism all the way down. I’ve seen these anti-immigrant folks and 45-supporters at local immigration actions and even I can see their barely-hidden racism from a mile away.
cckids
Related to the topic at hand; I read a FB post from a friend of my mom’s; I have always thought her completely apolitical, doubt that she ever votes (lady’s in her 70’s now). And tonight she has this post about ICES, being all thankful to the president and vice president, how things are changing for the better, etc, etc. I was rolling my eyes and thinking “your daughter-in-law is from Costa Rica!”, and mentally composing a snide reply when I scrolled thru another post and realized . . .
she wasn’t talking about ICE, but ICES – International Cake Experts Society. She’d just been to some cake-decorating event. Really, really glad I kept my fingers silent.
Mnemosyne
@Uncle Ebeneezer:
Many people on the right don’t seem to understand that Javert is the villain in “Les Miserables.” He’s a fanatic who ruins people’s lives by relentlessly chasing them down for the smallest of crimes.
danielx
@schrodingers_cat:
From earlier thread – kittehs are doing just fine – thriving indeed. They are bottomless pits, food-wise, but it’s no great wonder considering the calories they burn off on an hourly basis. They continue to excel in all aspects of cuteness, tempting their humans to shock them (I mean, kittens in a dryer on the freshly dried WARM clothes?)
Also beginning to wonder what Boris has hiding in his family tree, as it were. He is exceedingly fuzzy, as can be seen in this candid shot – my man knows how to show for the camera. But the fuzzy coat is not kitten-soft, it’s coarse, with an inner coat that does not feel all that much softer. Not unhealthy, just weird. Anyone ever seen anything similar?
John Weiss
OT: What’s with the deafening colon cancer screening AD? I didn’t think that JC would permit such nonsense. Thank the gods for headphones: I can just throw ’em on the floor.
Gads. If this sorta bullshit keeps up, I’m leaving.
jw
eclare
@danielx: Cute pictures! Boris sure can strike a pose.
SgrAstar
@zhena gogolia: That piece is fantastic, zg. Thanks for mentioning it here.
Marguerite Hill
@rikyrah: Exactly! Kudos! Truth!
I also noticed much ado about the German exchange students who were deported. The CBP & ICE are waaaaay outside their lane & must be reined in. Their actions are unnervingly similar to the slave era bounty hunters and slave hunters.
I have said to close friends (too many times to count & certainly enough to polish their nerves) that Dolt & his minions – especially Sessions, Price, Kelly, Bannon & Miller – have an intense desire, a psychotic maniacal thirst to harm every demographic that voted for Hillary Clinton & every non-white immigrant, documented or undocumented. From Day 1, Papaya Pol Pot (he loves those dictators doesn’t he?) has been about removing a certain sector from this country. His intent from the get-go was racist and xenophobic, and his blind followers have executed his horrifying vision with contemptible callousness and cruelty.
The evangelicals are quiet despite the Bible teaching to be hospitable toward the stranger, to care for widows and orphans, to do unto others as you would have them to do unto you. And *** I WISH! *** some simpletonian would dare to mention Jeremiah Wright’s name in my presence so I can preach my sermon about hypocrisy!
As a team (Together, Everyone Achieves More) we can defeat the GOP, depose the Orange foolius, and begin the work of restoring our country to his Constitutional principles
barb 2
Then there is Trump’s wife. And her parents. Immigrants — oh I forgot — they are white.
Basically, Trump is a racist — but we know that. In this day and age — make America great (white) again. Too bad the Indians didn’t machine gun the Pilgrims when they arrive on the Mayflower and the next boat load of immigrants. I’m a pure American Mutt — a little bit of everything, including Native American and Spanish Jews who immigrated from France to Maryland a few generations ago.
Back to Melanoma Trump — by some accounts, there is something fishy about how she got to the US and stayed here. She threatens to sue anyone who questions who visa and line of work. Hummmmm
Trump has a long racist history — from his earliest days through his ownership of gambling houses. He was not pleased to have an African American working as an accountant in his Atlantic City establishment. He wanted to fire the accountant based on the color of his skin. Trump thought Jews should be accountants (more racism from the Orange monster). Trump is also prejudiced against anyone who isn’t super rich (billionaire) or movie star famous. But then he only loves himself. (Book — The Making of Donald Trump).
Trump has the unique ability to bring out the very worst in people. Josh Marshall (TPM) wrote an opinion piece about the deep dark hole of hate in Trump and how he brings out the worst in his fans.
schrodingers_cat
@Peale: If Cotton-Purdue bill becomes a law
1. All the previous GC backlogs are wiped out (the so called people waiting in the line, whose intent to immigrate has been approved but are waiting for a GC number to be available)
Intent to immigrate is perhaps the hardest part of the GC application, the next step is just a waiting game ( every country has a quota of how many GCs are allocated to it every year)
2. The point system is blatantly unfair too, to get the most points you need a PhD in STEM from a US institution and Nobel Prize and you have to be between 25-31.
3. It keeps the # GCs available by employment the same, but drastically cuts down all the other categories
4. Immediate family is your spouse and children below #18
So no skilled immigrants are fucked.
Laura
@Uncle Ebeneezer: Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones is ALL IN WITH BOTH FEET on “helping” BC and ICE in detaining arrestees and contracting with DHS to provide space in the county lockups. His rationale is that as a LEO, he’s obliged to enforce all laws -local, state and federal even though there is no obligation to do so.
There’s plenty of federal dollars just sloshing around, so Jones’ departments budget reflects that he has locked down as many dollars as he can get, and will happily do the bidding of the president and the AG.
Uncle Ebeneezer
@Laura: Ugh. That sucks.
“His rationale is that as a LEO, he’s obliged to enforce all laws -local, state and federal even though there is no obligation to do so.”
Yeah this always drives me bananas when cops and their supporters pull this card. As if cops don’t routinely use their discretion in deciding which offenses NOT to pursue/charge. See, for example, the roughly 80% of times I’ve been pulled over for speeding, driving without a license on me etc.
Denali
This issue is important to me as well, but complicated. My son lives with and has had two children by a Hungarian women in Hungary. She doesn’t want to come to the United States and Hunarian politics are become increaingly far right wing. She has not treated us particularly well, but I would like our grandchildren to be able to visit us without a hassle. Life gets strange sometimes.
Boatboy_srq
@Mnemosyne: Consider that so many Reichwingnuts read Dickens not as social critique but as instruction, and the inability to identify villains in other works from the same period and perspective becomes, if not more understandable, at least less illogical/amoral.