Quote:
Originally Posted by clarknova
There's nothing wrong with that. The problem is the immigration process has completely changed from the days of Ellis Island (and Angel Island). Back then, poor people who were constantly shat upon by Europe (and Asia), were allowed to come here legally in the hopes of a better future for them and their children.
However, we don't allow poor people in anymore. So if you live in a dirt farm in Guatemala, and wish you could learn to read and write and make a better life for you an yours... you're pretty much SOL.
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The borders haven't quite been as open and welcoming as you paint them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History..._United_States
But that aside, just because something was done a certain way in the past is not an argument that it should always be done that way. The United States has over
300,000,000 people at this moment-- and if the borders were fully open, that number would explode even more-- and it wouldn't be lifting those people up, it would be dragging the rest of the country down, depressing wages and increasing welfare. The deep, deep trouble this country is in is NOT going to be helped by allowing in millions more poor, undereducated people. IMHO, there is no shame is saying "we're sorry conditions are bad in your country, but we're full now."
A man is standing in an elevator car with 30 people in it-- the floor is sagging, the cable is creeking, but 50 more people are trying to squeeze their way in the car. "Why not," he asks "we've always let people in before."