Trump's new Green Card policy isn't new ...

[dogtag]

Being able to support yourself and your family so as not be a burden
on the State has been the order of the day for immigrants since
the law was passed sometime in the 1800s.
When I and my Wife came in 63 (19 that is) we had to prove our
ability to sustain ourselves. Not too hard seeing as it was pretty
obvious that we were both well educated. Neither I or my wife
have ever claimed any kind of welfare. I claimed unemployment
twice in all the intervening years, and both times for less than
a few weeks. No Country needs deadbeats, Why the policy was
abandoned was no doubt a democrat idea and it needs to be restored.
There'll no doubt be much Gnashing of liberal teeth and rending
of garments, but screw 'em. Do it.

[Vern Humphrey]

Would we adopted this across the board.

You hear liberals bleating, "You can't raise a family on Minimum Wage!"

You're not SUPPOSED to raise a family on Minimum Wage. Minimum Wage jobs are needed to let unskilled people get a foot on the economic ladder, work their way up and THEN start a family.

[Sandpebble]

I'm with you on this there DogTag .... as I'm sure most here are as well.

Thing is you're all going to bitch about the Democrats ignoring this policy in the past....

but why weren't you bitching when the Bush administration was ignoring it ? ... just a polite question ...

[dogtag]

It was Johnson who changed the rules. Up to that
point immigrant preference was given to first World
countries. He stood that policy on it's head by giving
preference to third world countries.
We now live with the results.

[Allen]

It was Johnson who changed the rules. We now live with the results.

And they (the democrats) live with the votes.

[Art]

Before 1964 Immigration Law actually was racist, and xenophobic and Chauvinistic.

The 1964 act, among other things, repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act which in the 1924 act had been broadened to include all east and south Asians. You'd have a hard time in this country convincing most folks that Asians aren't a productive portion of society. It wasn't just Asians either. The 1920s changes also applied to a lot of eastern and southern Europeans, especially Italians, all Slavs and Jews. So if you think almost all immigration should come from a piece of territory covering Scandinavia, Germany, the Low Countries, France and the British Isles that law was for you.

Now to the matter at hand. The law not only says that a person emigrating to this country has to prove he/she is not likely to become a public charge it also says that that individual, to be deportable, has to have been billed by the entity welfare was received from to be deportable. The New York Welfare Department (for example) would have had to send a bill to a welfare recipient for assistance recieved to make that person deportable. I can tell you that from the time I started working for the old INS in the early 1970s that provision was never, and I mean never enforced. The registration provisions were never enforced either.

[dogtag]

A great meal is made with the best ingredients.
The same is true of a country.

[Vern Humphrey]

A great meal is made with the best ingredients.
The same is true of a country.

Which is why we have a right to insist on the best. What's wrong with requiring emigrants

1. Be able to support themselves
2. Be able to speak English
3. Have an education -- points awarded for a graduate education.

[Allen]

Which is why we have a right to insist on the best. What's wrong with requiring emigrants

1. Be able to support themselves
2. Be able to speak English
3. Have an education -- points awarded for a graduate education.

And this is the way it use to be. To be admitted to the U.S. you needed to have a damn good reason to be here and you had to have a skill.

It has never made sense that anyone other than a citizen could collect welfare/food stamps and then only on a limited basis.

[Art]

Which is why we have a right to insist on the best. What's wrong with requiring emigrants

1. Be able to support themselves
2. Be able to speak English
3. Have an education -- points awarded for a graduate education.

Not a darn thing.

The most important thing is willingness to embrace the culture and institutions of this country and that means understanding that here it is not acceptable to kill female relatives that embarrass you, or understanding we have "age of consent" laws for a reason. Maybe you should accept that old vendettas ought to be left in the "old country." How about it being understood that, while the San Genaro Festival or Cinco De Mayo, Oktoberfest or the St Patrick's Day Parade may be fun, (I love festivals mostly dedicated to eating and drinking) you give up allegiance to whatever nation you came from and that you have to respect the traditions and institutions of this country and not expect everyone else to kowtow to your personal preferences or prejudices.

Nations are made up of very fallible human beings; But this country, an heir to the best traditions of the U.K. while expanding and improving on them, over time, is the greatest experiment in the history of the world, and the most successful. If this was such an oppressive place millions and millions of people wouldn't want to participate in it. Watch those protests in Hong Kong. Thousands of people protesting tyranny, waving the "Star Spangled Banner," and "The Union Jack" while, in imperfect English, singing "The Star Spangled Banner."

[dogtag]

I think those Hong Kongers have inherited the British
Bulldog mentality. They're not going to let go of their freedom
without one helluva fight.
The Chinese might overpower them, but it won't be easy and
it won't be quick.