I have
engaged in a long correspondence with a dear friend who is retired and living
across the Mersey from Liverpool. We’ve
kept each other updated on all of the political shenanigans on both sides of
the pond. She discusses Brexit and I
tell her about everything else. She
asked this in her most recent letter:
“It’s all
very worrying isn’t it? That wall issue. How does it work? Can the President, any president for that
matter, just make a decision like that and carry it through. Doesn’t it have to go to a vote or something? Or am I being ignorant here?”
I am in the
process of writing a response to her. It
briefly answers her question before I go into my slightly left-of-center rant. Anyway, I though I would include it here for
the blogosphere consideration.
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I wish I had better news as well about our government over here, but
the President seems to hit a new low every day.
No, you are not ignorant of what he can and cannot do. He needs to get Congressional approval for
just about anything he wants to do. On
the other hand, the President seems to be the one who is the most ignorant
about the nuances of the Constitution which he has sworn to uphold.
Since day
one when he announced his campaign, the President has demonized Mexicans and
others from Central and South America much like Hitler demonized and
scapegoated the Jews in the 30s. The
people coming up to our southern border should be seen as refugees escaping
hellish economic and human rights conditions.
Instead, the President and the fear mongers at Fox News has convinced his
followers that these people want to do nothing more than deal drugs and cause
mayhem and murder.
I can see
why the President and his followers want a wall at the southern border. I will violate my recent vow to not state his
name in correspondence at this point, but to be fair, Trump made his living as
a real estate developer building hotels and housing. These are tangible, solid objects which any
of us can point to as his accomplishments.
A wall would be just one more feat he can brag about.
So much of
immigration policy is not visible to the public at large. What could we see as a positive result of the
traditional American immigration policy? A second-generation immigrant
graduating with an advance degree? A hard-working
adult (male or female) trying to provide for his family, or sending their
earnings back home? These examples are
nice, but they aren’t easily seen by many people. It usually takes years for
any person to achieve these goals. Yet
any policy that helps people achieve these goals is the right thing to do.
That said, I
am against the idea of a wall. It runs
counter against the ideals of the Statue of Liberty. We’ve always been an open society, welcoming
all to our shores. I don’t think we can
have the Statue of Liberty at one end saying “welcome” and a wall at the other
end saying “you’re not welcome here.” It
would be like serving two masters, to use a biblical phrase which the
evangelical Christians should understand but won’t.
A wall will
also backfire on us if we believe it will keep terrorists out. Groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS could use the
wall as a recruitment tool to the disenfranchised young people all over the
world. They will point to the wall and
say, “See! America does not want
you. Join us to defeat the Great Satan.” The wall could end up being very useful to
those who hate America.
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So, those
are my thoughts on The Wall. I’m also telling
my friend that this conflict is still in its early stages despite everyone
being exhausted with what’s happened already.
So be it! Doubtless we will be drawn
into a new chapter of this saga as early as next week, or perhaps even tomorrow.
(Thank you
for reading. Perhaps it’s time for a
sound proof barrier around the White House.
There’s too much bad noise coming out of there.)
