Disjointed US immigration policy needs an overhaul
TRick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle he fuss over immigration reform always has been underlined by hypocrisy. Politicians, including the current president, talk about crime and drugs and portray huge groups of immigrants as a menace to American society. Trump’s pushing ahead for the southern border wall that was a centerpiece of his xenophobic campaign. In contrast, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis is leading the way to allow more foreign workers in the country for seasonal jobs.
Trump’s position along with Tillis’ point to the problems with a confused, hypocritical immigration policy that neither Democrats nor Republicans seem to want to fix.
Even as Trump shouted about “illegal immigrants” from the campaign halls across the country for a year, many large American businesses that have long exploited low-paid foreign workers were worried. If Trump stood by his rhetoric, those businesses would be faced with having to hire more Americans at higher wages for jobs such as agricultural harvesting.
Of course, Trump’s never been one to let a promise stand in his way, though his White House is bringing pressure on hightech companies not to hire foreign-born workers and displace potential American workers. And Trump’s people are focusing on the H1B visa program which is used by high-tech companies to allow foreign workers employment with U.S. companies. The point is to fulfill a promise, and it wasn’t a bad promise, to improve employment opportunities for Americans.
Tillis wants to change the H2B visa program under which those seasonal workers are permitted to work in the United States. There is an annual cap of 66,000, but Tillis is pushing to allow U.S. companies to hire some of their past foreign workers without those workers counting toward the maximum. In other words, more foreign workers would be allowed.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for America’s failure to address the nation’s disjointed and contradictory immigration policies. Enforcement of immigration laws varies from region to region and state to state, no matter what laws may be on the federal books.
What Trump should do is push to overhaul immigration laws into policies that make sense, that recognize the reality that there are entire immigrant families living and working and raising children in the U.S. who would be good citizens. Policies could be welcoming without allowing sudden influxes of immigrants that would upset local economies.
The U.S. needs to grow up about its immigration policy or lack thereof. Tillis’ cause doesn’t seem particularly wrongheaded, but it reflects the patchwork that overall immigration policy is. That needs to change, and Trump could leave an important mark if he turned that quilt into a cohesive tapestry. ne of my stories that I wrote I called “The White Flower.” Most of the story was cut out and never published in the paper. A short version was put into my book. I have decided to rewrite it in the full version for the upcoming book of “More Memories of the Old Geezer.”
As I remember, it started on a Friday afternoon as school was letting out. We were informed that Monday was Teacher’s Day and that we were supposed to bring them a flower. School was let out for the weekend and everyone hurried home so they could get outside and play. I remember walking home with that flower on my mind. I had no flower, nor money to buy one.
A thousand thoughts must have run though my mind trying to think of a way to get a flower. I could think only of one woman in the neighborhood that had flowers. She didn’t like me and when I got in her yard she threatened me with the police. I got home and changed clothes and went outside. In those days, poor boys had clothes that they wore to school and clothes they played in.
I went outside and sat on the doorsteps trying to think who had flowers in the neighborhood beside the woman who didn’t like me. I could see the flowers in the back yard running all the way out to the railroad tracks. I got up and started up the street to see if she would give me a flower. I got to the edge of the yard, but turned and went back to my porch and sat down on the steps again.
On one side of the trail that led to the outhouse and the rail road she had flowers, and on the other side was weeds and tall grass. I remember thinking maybe she would let me cut the grass for a flower. I got up and started back up to the woman’s house.
I started up the steps to knock on the door when she shoved the door open, “What do you mean coming up on my porch?” she yelled at me. I was on the top step but when she yelled at me, I turned and fell down them, hitting the ground. I got up, and saw my elbow on my right arm was bleeding.
She let out a laugh that scared me into thinking she was coming at me. I began to back up trying to tell her what I wanted. “You,” she shouted, “if you ever come up on my porch again.” She picked up a broom and started toward me. She stopped turning and said, “I will go now and call the police to you.” She turned back inside and I went back and sat down on the steps of my house. My arm was bleeding so I went inside and cleaned it off. I told my mother that I had fell. After a good wash off with alcohol and painted with iodine I was ready to go hunting again for a flower.
I remembered that a lady who lived down on the railroad tracks had some flowers every year. I hadn’t been down there in quite awhile. I headed down Excelsior Street toward the railroad. When I got close to the house something was LONIE ADCOCK Jim Powell of Young Harris