DREAM ON... YEAH, KEEP DREAMIN' BOY

[RayThom]

A young man I'm friendly with, and a well regarded employee of the local Starbucks -- I'll call him Tony Undocumendez -- has been a resident of the USA since the age of three. An honor student all through ELHI and now a DACA student on the Dean's list (so far) in college. His biggest dream is to joint the USAF and become a pilot -- he's currently working on his PPL.

Recently, he had become increasing concerned about his status for a Green Card -- a requirement for US military service -- so, once again, and a few weeks ago, he talked to his (R)State Senator hoping for some assistance in speeding up the process. Tony mentioned there were no promises made but he felt good about the meeting.

OK, so over the last few day I haven't seen Tony's always cheerful face behind the counter. When I asked the manager where he was she said he was at home, and somewhat out of work because his DACA "working papers" have been suspended until they receive thorough and proper vetting. (Oh, by the way, he helps support his family by working.) Call me cynical but I can't help but feel Tony's working status problem is closely connected to his Green Card meeting with the Senator, and possibly the political advantage he stands to gain, by "blowing the whistle" on an erstwhile constituent.

This whole immoral Trump immigration policy deal stinks like an SBD fart. Any thoughts?

[Scooter]

[rubato]

But but but, they're BAD DUDES! BAD HOMBRES! Some of them have parking tickets or were deported and cam back to visit their children who are living in the U.S. They're all drug dealers and mother-rapers, like the GOP have been telling their constituents for 20 years.


Liberals, so soft on crime, so sad.

No more "catch and release".

yrs,
rubato

[rubato]

With all those terrorists you're letting in there is going to be a crime wave of deadly attacks by fanatic Syrians and Somalis. Just mark my words.

Any minute now.


yrs,
rubato

[Big RR]

The sad part of this is that he's the sort of person I think we would want to keep here. For all intents he is American who has lived here all his life, enjoyed our schools and excelled in his education; he would be a productive person who could easily give back much to the country (and sounds like he is more thn willing to do so). But, we need to play politics with people's lives.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Here's some hope for your guy RayThom:

(CNN)Juan Carlos Hernandez-Pacheco, a beloved restaurant manager, is headed back to the southern Illinois town where he has lived as an undocumented worker for the past two decades, his attorney told CNN on Wednesday. Victor Arturo Arana said Hernandez paid a $3,000 bail at an immigration hearing after being held for weeks at a federal detention center in Missouri. Some residents of West Frankfort, a small mining town surrounded by cornfields, will be ecstatic to see the well-liked manager of a popular Mexican restaurant. Many, including the mayor, have been writing letters to the immigration court in support of Hernandez. Hernandez, 38, was arrested February 9 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Full article is blocked for me but here's a link I hope will work.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/e7fd805d-d ... urant.html

[Burning Petard]

The Gail Collins column in the NY Times today explains there are three different Donald Trumps. First is Unscripted Trump "who obsesses about crowd size and expresses complete astonishment that constructing a national health care plan is hard. That is the one we worry will start a nuclear war." Second is Reasonable Chatting Trump. This is the one you meet in small meetings. Everybody likes him. "He's going to be totally open to all your suggestions, nod frequently and leave you with the impression that you've scored a huge breakthrough. But he will not remember a thing that you discussed. In fact, he will have forgotten everything the minute you said it." Third is the guy with the teleprompter. "We will call him Somewhat Normal Republican Trump or SNORT. . . . "

And then there is reality. the latest Fred On Everything column http://fredoneverything.org/what-to-do- ... d-to-them/
argues in Fred's usual snarky style, that the promised removal of illegal aliens will not happen, because it is flat impossible. What IS actually happening is a white racist strategy to keep them out of the middle class and unassimilated into the mainstream American culture.

snailgate.

[Lord Jim]

to keep them out of the middle class and unassimilated into the mainstream American culture.

A strong case can be made that the GOP should be in favor of bringing illegal aliens into the middle class...

If more of them were in the middle class, then more of them would vote Republican, and the Democrats wouldn't be so keen to keep them on the registration rolls...

[Burning Petard]

Some are complaining about the POTUS remarks about DACA. The press (I'll never get back to you on that) said he absolutely will give an answer about DACA on Tuesday.

I am mildly surprised that there is a controversy here. The D in DACA stands for Deferred. POTUS seems to be the only one who accepts defer does not mean never.

[MajGenl.Meade]

I think we should revamp the venerable "student exchange" programs.

For each one of the kids (or indeed adults) we accept, we export to the country of origin one neo-Nazi. We know who they are, right?

I see no downside. We take in hard studying, hard working chaps and chapettes who want to pay taxes. The overall population number is kept stable. And the largely unemployed and unwashed, not to mention ignorant as mud, proto (oh, actual) fascists get to hold their demonstrations in the midst of the kinds of people they want to demonstrate against.

Net result - happiness.

[BoSoxGal]

That's a very unkind policy re: the origin countries.

[MajGenl.Meade]

That's a very unkind policy re: the origin countries.

Well, I skipped over the part where the native-born kill the imported racists and have a big party

[BoSoxGal]

What the hell happened to the Republican Party? How can ANY of them claim a connection to the 'great' Ronald Reagan?!

[rubato]

They discovered 20 years ago that preaching fear and hatred of illegal immigrants was the most powerful inducement for their voters. never mind that they had to lie about the economic impact, never mind that they had to lie about the effect on crime, never mind that they had to ignore the fact that the net illegal immigration was negative (more are leaving than arriving) since 2008. "Hate and Fear foreigners" appeals to something deep in the GOP psyche. Trump got the nomination because he hit that note the hardest and longest and whipped up the worst 90% of the party. Ask the average GOP voter and they will tell you that illegals soak up benefits, have free college educations &c.

And then there is reality. the latest Fred On Everything column http://fredoneverything.org/what-to-do- ... d-to-them/
argues in Fred's usual snarky style, that the promised removal of illegal aliens will not happen, because it is flat impossible. What IS actually happening is a white racist strategy to keep them out of the middle class and unassimilated into the mainstream American culture.

I agree, it is important to them to create a permanent underclass who can't complain if they are cheated out of wages or made to work unreasonably hazardous jobs. This is also why they are so keen to get rid of sanctuary cities; the GOP wants illegals to BE here but be afraid of law enforcement. This was how farm labor worked in the U.S. for decades. They want a large population who cannot claim the most basic civil rights.

yrs,
rubato