Hey lefties, I've got a big question for ya.
Do you like Trump's racist remarks about undocumented Mexican immigrants being rapists and murderers?
I know that's a pretty tough one, but a certain genius who shall remain nameless posed that brilliant little riddle to me the other day. This person apparently is of the opinion that it is possible to be a Liberal/Democrat and to still defend Donald Trump and his baseless racist claims about undocumented Mexican immigrants. He even ticked off a list of claims that sounded suspiciously like right wing talking points and challenged me to see if people around here agreed more with me or him.
So, let's do this. I've never done a meta diary before and I am not mentioning any more specifics about this person, but I do want to share some of my responses to the outrageous claims being made about immigrants and just see what you all think.
Also, while I realize that not everyone around here is a "Democrat," this is considered a liberal website and I believe that a pretty fair number of us vote Democrat way more than we vote Republican. Sure we don't always agree with the official Democratic Party line on everything and we try to support more Progressive candidates as much as we can, but the bottom is that a lot of us are still Democratic voters in some form or fashion much of the time. So, enough said about that.
I'm going to present a summary of some of the particularly odious claims being made about immigrants and then give you my responses. Tell me what you think below the orange squiggle that coincidentally resembles the chipmunk on Donald Trump's head.
Below are some of the more malodorous talking points which I intend to debunk.
1. Do you really think it's only republicans that are sick of the US having such porous boarders?
2. Do you think it's only republicans that are outraged that illegal aliens committing crimes against citizens without any recourse or penalty?
3. Do you think legal immigrants that followed the rules to become citizens aren't totally pissed off that others aren't doing anything but showing up and demanding they be treated the same?
4. Do you think hard working people who have been honest hard working citizens will work a few more hours every week and pay higher taxes so some illegal aliens can move in next door for free?
First, here is my general response. Then I give point-by-point rebuttals.
Republicans love the racist bullcrap Trump is spewing. He is #2 in the polls for Republican Primary voters, and a big pile of #2 in my mind as well. So, maybe we can actually agree on that one thing right off the bat.
Among the general electorate, though, they don't seem to be buying what Trump is shoveling. There have already been polls on head to head match ups between Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump. Most of these things are clearly just for shits and grins, because it is honestly hard to believe Trump has a serious campaign. Unless, that is, you think a bunch of juvenile-sounding tweets that make him sound like an angsty teenager are his golden ticket to the White House.
Anyway, the highest lead Hillary has against any Republican so far is against Trump. She massively trumps him, 59% to 34%. But, in the electoral college, it's even worse. According to the analysis of one of our fellow kossacks, Hillary would slap Donald's hairpiece into next week, obliterating him by 513 votes vs. 25 votes for Trump. He only wins the 5 reddest states in this scenario. Even Kansas, Nebraska, and Kentucky go for Hillary instead of Trump.
Regarding those utterly bogus talking points about Mexican immigrants, here are my point-by-point responses.
1. Our borders are not porous. By a number of measures we have more secure borders now than we have ever had. Illegal border crossings are at their lowest level in over 40 years. At the same time, deportations are at the highest level ever. Obama has deported more people and done so at a faster rate than any other President. I think there are better alternatives, include re-prioritizing deportations to truly deal with the worst offenders, but there is no doubt the Obama administration has been enforcing border controls very strictly.
2. You have nothing to back up the absurd claim that if undocumented immigrants commit a crime that there is no recourse or penalty. First of all, if immigrants commit crimes, they are put in jail just like everyone else. There are over 90,000 undocumented immigrants in U.S. jails. Second, undocumented Mexican immigrants do not commit crimes at higher rates than the general population. In fact, it's vastly lower. One study found the incarceration rate for young Mexican-American men born in the U.S. was 5.9%, while for undocumented Mexican immigrants, it was 0.7%. For the general population, the rate was 3.5%. The overwhelming majority of people who come to this country are here to find work. They often need to help support their families back home. They have no desire to cause trouble, go to jail, or get deported.
3. I don't think you have any idea what legal immigrants think about so-called illegal immigrants. My girlfriend got her citizenship after being here legally for over 10 years. But, the system is slow and broken. It needs major reform. She had many advantages, but it was still an incredible ordeal for her. She has many friends who are undocumented and struggling to come out of the shadows. I've never heard her begrudge a single person the chance to come here, find hope, or the see if there is any way they can stay in this country that they love. Many of them think of America like heaven. That's literally what some of them say.
4. The undocumented people I know are the hardest working people I've ever met. Some of them work well over 100 hours a week. They came here to work and that's pretty much all they do. A lot of them are trying to help people back home. They know they could be deported at any time. So, they make the most of every minute they are here to try for a chance at a little better life. I don't know where you get this idea that undocumented immigrants are handed free housing or that you have to work extra hours to support them. Many of them would never use welfare or even emergency medical care unless they were at the point of death. They're often afraid if they have any contact with the government or public institutions they'll end up getting caught and sent back. And, it's not like all that happens to them when they get caught is that they just get a ticket back home. When they are caught, they are usually barred from re-entry for 3 to 10 years, even if they have children or spouses in the U.S. If they get caught after that, they can go to jail for years. After they get out of jail, they will still be deported. But, they're not taken hope in a chauffeured limousine. They're pretty much taken to the nearest border check point and dumped. They're on their own from there, and if they have no money or support, they often find themselves at the mercy of criminal gangs. So, it's not exactly a fucking picnic.
Please let me know what you think in the comments below.