Subj : Re: Immigration then and now
To   : Mike Powell
From : Jeff Thiele
Date : Sun Sep 04 2022 14:27:03

On 04 Sep 2022, Mike Powell said the following...
 MP> > What was border security like in the 1880s when your family arrived in t
 MP> > US? Were the borders more, or less, open than they are now? How did that
 MP> > affect our national sovereignty? What was the driving force behind the c
 MP> > in border policy? Answer those questions correctly and I think you'll ha
 MP> > much more accurate understanding of "America First."
 MP> Considering that most immigrants were coming across the Atlantic by
 MP> boat... the boats would arrive and the immigrants would be processed
 MP> through processing stations like Ellis Island, where the ship master
 MP> would present paperwork that was supposed to account for each
 MP> immigrating person aboard his ship.  They were not all automatically
 MP> accepted or "set loose" in NYC. Some where quaranteened for observation,
 MP> others were turned away outright. Having a job already lined up, or
 MP> relatives already in the country, was a plus.

Was a visa required? Did arrival need to be pre-arranged in any way? Were
people turned away by default unless they had reason to be here, or were they
allowed in by default unless there was reason to believe that they should not
be here?

 MP> If someone crosses the southern border now, at a legal crossing point,
 MP> they go through at least some of the same treatment.

It's actually more stringent now.

 MP> But not all of
 MP> them cross at legal crossings, and not all of those that don't get
 MP> caught.

True. But the refugees who cross seeking asylum generally turn themselves in
at the first opportunity. Their situation makes them seek out the authorities
rather than avoid them. They are doing things the legal way.

A big part of the anti-refugee propaganda is making them out to be illegal
immigrants, which they are not.

 MP> Apparently many of the legal ones do not have sponsors or jobs
 MP> lined up.

There are organizations that will sponsor them.

 MP> Otherwise, the government would have turned them over to said
 MP> sponsors before the local governors got a chance to ask them if they
 MP> want to travel to NYC, Chicago, DC, or another proclaimed "sanctuary
 MP> city" and put them on a bus.

Organizations that will sponsor them are usually located in larger cities.

I like how you threw "sanctuary city" in there. "Sanctuary cities" are
distinguished by their treatment of illegal immigrants, not refugees. You've
been brainwashed into thinking that refugees are illegal immigrants, when
they are not.

 MP> > Illegal immigration is a problem and does neet to be dealt with, but the
 MP> > solution to that problem should not be taken out on legal refugees.
 MP> Similarly, illegal immigrants should not be lumped in with legal refugees
 MP> as "refugees."  You make a distiction here.  Others often do not.

The Border Patrol also makes that distinction, and regularly deports illegal
immigrants.

Jeff.

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