What It Costs to Be Smuggled Across the U.S. Border

[ubicaritas]

you couldn't be more wrong. I just don't understand this need to do the Fox News Spin on this. I mean, you are actually trying to imply that immigrants sneaking across the border aren't in dire straits. I just don't understand why you need to be so disingenuous.

In order to "cough up" the ten grand most of those families are literally selling 100% of everything they own as well as working and saving FOR YEARS.

In order to cross the border those families are seriously putting their lives and safety at risk. When was the last time you walked 50 to 100 miles through the desert with the fear of bandits beating, robbing, raping, and/or killing you and your family?

I don't know about you, but the average person does not do the above unless they are in dire straits.

Thousands of dollars in Central America is like hundreds of thousands in the US.

 

[Rion]

1. Because of what it does to migrant families when they come here: separating them, probably permanently, and locking children away in tent city concentration camps in the desert.
2. Because the polic(y/ies) fail(s) to take into account the reasons why people come here.
3. Because the polic(y/ies) punish people who have otherwise done nothing wrong except make the "mistake" of seeking refuge here during a racist president's term (example: DREAMers and asylum seekers)
Ringo

I don't think racist means, what you think it means, my friend.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Yeah, you're "largely indifferent" despite calling yourself a Christian. That says a lot more about you than you know.

"We can't afford to take them in". No, but we can certainly afford billions in tax cuts and breaks to billionaires.

Maybe you're not as much of a "soldier of the King" as you'd like for us to believe....
Ringo

I wish them the best. I wish their countries the best in dealing with whatever social problems they are facing. Americans have problems of their own to contend with, and the US government doesn't prioritize those, who will? Unfortunately, we have so many people in positions of power who fanatically support the interests of foreigners over their own countrymen. They seem to think that it somehow makes them morally superior to all the rest of us provincially minded simpletons who actually think the government ought to serve the interests of its own citizens. I don't ever Nancy Pelosi ever speaking for eight hours on the floor of the house on behalf of Americans...

Right, I keep forgetting how pathetically poor we all are -- that's why Mexico's paying for The Wall, amirite?

You know, there's an easy way Trump could keep his promise, if Congress would cooperate. Mexico received $26 billion in remittances last year. Even a modest tax on that would raise a pretty penny.

Do you think it owes you one?

Well, yes. I am a US citizen. It is the duty of the US government to provide for my security. Protecting the country's borders is what the government is for.

 

[Ringo84]

I wish them the best. I wish their countries the best in dealing with whatever social problems they are facing. Americans have problems of their own to contend with, and the US government doesn't prioritize those, who will? Unfortunately, we have so many people in positions of power who fanatically support the interests of foreigners over their own countrymen. They seem to think that it somehow makes them morally superior to all the rest of us provincially minded simpletons who actually think the government ought to serve the interests of its own citizens. I don't ever Nancy Pelosi ever speaking for eight hours on the floor of the house on behalf of Americans...

In fairness, that's a more reasonable response than I expected.

But you "wish them well" but are essentially saying "me first over the fur'ners!" How is that not selfish?

If it's true that we are "endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights", then don't those inalienable rights apply to everyone? The Constitution was written for Americans, but that doesn't mean it applies only to Americans. Rights are universal, and if they're inalienable, they apply to "foreigners" just as surely as they apply to us.

The truth is that these issues don't have to be zero-sum. If we take care of ourselves while families are separated at our border and children are mistreated, then that is as much on our hands as suffering of "our own". Both are equally important. These people need our help, whether they're "foreigners" or not, and I intend to make sure that they get it.
Ringo

 

[TLK Valentine]

You know, there's an easy way Trump could keep his promise, if Congress would cooperate. Mexico received $26 billion in remittances last year. Even a modest tax on that would raise a pretty penny.

A tax that only Mexicans pay... interesting.

Or would it be a tax on anyone who sends money to Mexico? That'll hit Americans and American businesses as well, tho...

Well, yes. I am a US citizen. It is the duty of the US government to provide for my security. Protecting the country's borders is what the government is for.

Shouldn't the government be providing for the security of everyone in its borders?

 

[dgiharris]

Thousands of dollars in Central America is like hundreds of thousands in the US.

not quite that bad.

I employ people from South and Central America. On average, the conversion is between a factor of 2 to 6 depending on the country.

You can't just go to Central or South America with $25,000 and feel like a millionaire. Sorry, not quite. Sure, the dollar definitely goes for more down there, but it is nothing crazy like 100 to 1 like you are stating. It is more like 3 to 1 or 4 to 1 or in some cases 6 to 1.

The best way to think about it is to figure out how much a cup of coffee or a dinner plate costs at your normal local restaurant down there. A lot of times, you can get a nice dinner for $3 USD which when you compare that to an American restaurant would come out to $15, so in that case it is like 5 to 1...

 

[Ana the Ist]

1. Because of what it does to migrant families when they come here: separating them, probably permanently, and locking children away in tent city concentration camps in the desert.

What's racist about that?

2. Because the polic(y/ies) fail(s) to take into account the reasons why people come here.

We don't grant asylum because a person is unemployed, or they face generalized violence/crime, or they face poor prospects/conditions.

3. Because the polic(y/ies) punish people who have otherwise done nothing wrong except make the "mistake" of seeking refuge here during a racist president's term (example: DREAMers and asylum seekers)
Ringo

The vast majority of those showing up to claim asylum don't appear for their asylum hearings.

Now...you'll find a variety of excuses online, from "they didn't get the summons in the mail" to "they already thought they were granted asylum"...but let's be serious...

If these people are capable of networking their way through multiple nations...even if they don't speak the language...they can figure out how to show up for court. If I'm supposed to believe they're smart enough and industrious enough to positively contribute and not suck on the collective teat...then they have to be able to figure out a court hearing.

I mean we separate them from their children and suddenly they're real interested in our legal system....ask them to show up for an asylum hearing and then turn them loose in the US......then you never hear from them again.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

But you "wish them well" but are essentially saying "me first over the fur'ners!" How is that not selfish?

I expect my government to protect and advance my interests as a citizen. That's what the government is for. Citizens of other countries presumably have governments and national institutions to guard their interests. Show me a government that gives preferential treatment to foreigners, I'll show you a government that oppresses its people.

If it's true that we are "endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights", then don't those inalienable rights apply to everyone? The Constitution was written for Americans, but that doesn't mean it applies only to Americans. Rights are universal, and if they're inalienable, they apply to "foreigners" just as surely as they apply to us.

Rather than going of on a philosophical tangent about the nature of rights, suffice it to say that entry into a foreign country is not a right, either under the Constitution or under international law. It is a privilege granted at the discretion of the host country.

The truth is that these issues don't have to be zero-sum. If we take care of ourselves while families are separated at our border and children are mistreated, then that is as much on our hands as suffering of "our own". Both are equally important. These people need our help, whether they're "foreigners" or not, and I intend to make sure that they get it.

What the President has articulated is that basis of immigration policy should not be the needs of the immigrants, but the needs of the American people. They are, after all, the ones who elected him.

 

[TLK Valentine]

I expect my government to protect and advance my interests as a citizen. That's what the government is for. Citizens of other countries presumably have governments and national institutions to guard their interests. Show me a government that gives preferential treatment to foreigners, I'll show you a government that oppresses its people.

At what point do you demand what your interests are and the government says, "sorry, we need to do this, instead"?

Rather than going of on a philosophical tangent about the nature of rights, suffice it to say that entry into a foreign country is not a right, either under the Constitution or under international law. It is a privilege granted at the discretion of the host country.

True, but dealing with those people who enter fairly and humanely is both a legal and moral obligation to the host country.

What the President has articulated is that basis of immigration policy should not be the needs of the immigrants, but the needs of the American people. They are, after all, the ones who elected him.

And when he articulates what those needs are and how best to fulfill them, you believe and obey him fully and without question, correct?

 

[Chinchilla]

Spoiler Alert: It cost the family over ten grand. The media likes to give the impression that people crossing our southern border are desperately poor, perhaps on the brink of starvation. People who can cough up that kind of money are not in such a dire situation.

Because they are , they take loans from terrorist organisation groups that's why refuges are mostly males 20-30 years old . Then that male is paying the debt to the mafia and after he has paid it they let him smuggle his family also .