Land of Immigrants
The USA is a land of immigrants which was founded by people fleeing religious persecution during the mid to late 15th century. The US is also a land of opportunity and innovation starting with the Industrial Revolution in the area of camera/ photography and then movies/ cinemas, telephone/ telegraphs/ wireless for messaging, which burst into the 20th and 21st centuries with an innovation-based growth such as the internet, dot-com, social media and now AI/ machine learning in software and rapid drug development and market in Pharma, healthcare and biotechnology with mRNA vaccines and biologics for cancer oncology.
However, earlier immigration was based on employment or family reunion via a legitimate legal process. This was managed by a government bureau called the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) which was then under the Dept of Justice (www.justice.gov) and was closely tied with welcoming immigrants via legitimate legal process at an affordable but shocking application low-cost fees of less than $100 per permanent resident visa (“Green card”).
In 1986, the then republican President Reagan, who was also the former governor of California, a border state offered amnesty to people who had entered the country illegally thereby justifying and pardoning an illegal act with amnesty and absorbing the entire en-masse resulting in breaking the Social Security system in the late 1980s and early 1990s forcing the then Democratic President Bill Jefferson Clinton to enact Medicaid Medicare reform of 1994 where people had to work for a minimum of 40 quarters (10 years) to become eligible for social security and Medicaid (federal medical benefits for those on social security welfare) was dropped on the laps of state governments.
In the surreal world of American partisan politics, two wrongs make 1 right. Mathematically speaking two negatives give you a positive. The dot com boom of the late 1990s and early 2000s resulted in a federal deficit becoming cash flow positive which was followed by the disastrous BUSH tax cuts which offered near-zero taxation for wealthy individuals and corporations who funded the greatest disastrous president (GW Bush Jr.) since the founding of the republic in 1776.
Post September 11: Kamadenu (cash cow) called USCIS
After 9/11, the entire Bureau of Citizen and Immigration Services and present-day USCIS United States Citizenship and Immigration Service were placed in the newly minted government agency called Dept of Homeland Security which oversees Customs and Border Patrol, USCIS and 22 other body agencies were amalgamated together in 2002. The user fees for both permanent and temporary visas were increased to several thousands of dollars along with a thorough medical and physical examination with biometric fingerprinting and iris scanning rather than the government-funded agency. USCIS turned out to become a cash cow for the cash-strapped US govt agency DHS which pays exorbitant fees for securing the homeland. But what really happens is that with a porous or non-existent southern border, 100,000 (several lakhs) refugees and asylum seekers flood and overwhelm the Customs and Border Patrol processing centers along the US-Mexico Border. The southern border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas have been screaming for the federal government in Washington to secure the border.
Manifest destiny: coast to coast
The US won the Revolutionary War against then-superpower England and established the world’s first republican government in modern history since the assassination of Julius Caesar in ancient Rome. With that grew the entrepreneurial spirit for new discovery and land was available in plenty to be taken first from Native American tribes (Indians) then the British (original 13 colonies), French (Louisiana purchase), Spanish/Mexicans (Texas to California, Guam and Puerto Rico), Russians (Alaska which was then called American Siberia) and then Japanese (Hawaii and Pacific Islands).
Immigration during the interwar period: American Civil War (1865) to the start of the Vietnam War (1964)
The American Civil War (1861-65) was won by the North (“Union”) and the frontiers was conquered against waring Native American tribes of the prairie (Great Plains) resulting in the Pax American frontier which stretched from Miane/ Florida in the Atlantic Ocean to the Alaska/ California on the Pacific Ocean (eg Hawaii), the US government needed to build railroads to connect such waste territories and imported Chinese laborers to do the most difficult tasking of cutting and railing railroads for steam locomotives in an era where dynamite was not invented yet and only cordite (gun powder) and manpower was used to remove mountains to lay railroads. After 2 decades of railroads which stretched from coast to coast, the US government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which was to prevent the immigration of Asians into the US and they faced immediate deportation.[1][2]
Preceding the 1965 Immigration Reform The policy of the US Government was primarily to import legal immigrants to the US where white European Caucasians Irish, Slavic (Eastern European), Italians, and Puerto Ricans from legacy Spanish possession. There was an inherent bias towards favoring a more Eurocentric (white Caucasian) against non-white (colored or mixed race) immigration until these policies were reversed by President Johnson when he signed the Immigration Reform Act of 1965 due to pressure from civil rights leaders. Nearly 100-year restrictions on Asians, Africans, Middle Eastern and Latin Americans, and all other people from those countries were removed. Over the last 6 decades, the US has imported nearly 1 million legal immigrants each year through family-based and 144,000 legal immigrants in employment-based categories. Although the number of immigrants coming for education in American Universities are nearly 3MM each academic year. This resulted in a huge backlog of immigrants awaiting their legal. Papers to become current and get the ever-elusive green card. To most sleepwalking woke liberals Asian Indian diaspora who always end up shooting themselves in the foot by voting for Democratic politicians to office need to wake up.
Setting the stage: Migrant crisis in Southern Border
During the mid-1800s there was a rapid US expansion of those states which were under the Spanish empire, Mexico, and French holding in northern America (West of the Mississippi) with the Lousiana and westward march of Americans to the Pacific coast in the 1800s US ingested a huge portion of population and land area from Mexico. During the 1980s plenty of Mexicans who traced their ancestors to the present-day USA made a decision to move to the USA and general amnesty to nearly 3 million people was provided by President Ronald Regan who is said to quipped “Aren’t there Mexicans in Texas.” The floodgates were opened during the 1990s to suppress the blue color low wages (construction restaurant farming) and an even lower standard of living for working-class Americans.
Karma is a Bitch
Migrant Crisis on the Southern border: In a Karmic retribution, nearly 3-4 lakhs people flood the Rio Grande Riber barrier separating US Mexico (Southern) and other border crossing points stretching across Texas to California. Primarily these migrants people are those fleeing civil war and oppressive governments from the Middle East/ Africa to Latin American countries and also from the Rest of the World making the long arduous trek from the jungles of Central America across the Sonora Desert to the promised land, the United States of American the modern-day version of the land flowing with milk and honey.
Each year about 300-400,000 illegal immigrants enter year, the USA, seeking asylum from political (mainland China and Venezuela), religious (Tibetans Buddhists, Coptic Christians, etc.), ethnic (such as Armenians and Kurds) fleeing brutality and prosecution by the Turks and Banana republics ravaged by internecine gang wars. The Governor of Texas Greg Abbot who had been pleading with the Biden administration to secure the southern border came up with a bright idea to ship out 100-200,000 migrants in comfortable AC buses from Texas to sanctuary cities Boston, Cape Cod, Chicago, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City (NYC) some of the key Northern states who are called sanctuary cities for providing temporary accommodation while awaiting relief and decision from the broken immigration system mismanaged by USCIS and DHS under the Biden (Obama 3.0) administration.
The first buses of migrants started to arrive in NYC in April 2022. And by August 2023, Mayor Eric Adams is throwing the towel demanding the $12B cost of hosting 120,000 illegal immigrants seeking asylum over the next 3 years facing backlash from the local residents who see a decrease in funding to the agency to accommodating the growing/ gnawing at the vitals of the financials.
SANCTUARY: Illegal migrants arriving in NYC are overwhelming the city and its hotels. This was the scene at the Roosevelt Hotel.pic.twitter.com/GOvxHvHi6u
— @amuse (@amuse) July 30, 2023
The richest Sanctuary City of New York turning into a dump yard for illegal immigrants and open prostitution while the finger-pointing has started between local, city, state, and federal officials.
School reopens doors to 21,000 immigrant children who are welcomed by Dept of Education while turning away lawful citizens and permanent residents.
“About 100,000 men, women, and children seeking asylum have arrived in New York City since early 2022, with more than half currently staying in 198 emergency shelters across the five boroughs of New York. Mayor Eric Adams has finally thrown the towel on the face of the Governor of New York Kathy Hulchal, rather than the federal government in Washington DC.[3]
The first day of Class was on Sept 6th, when New York students returned to class in the nation’s largest public school system. For 21,000 migrant kids, speaking dozens of different languages, it was their first day in any New York City public school. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul described the influx of unregistered, unvaccinated, and educationally unprepared students as “an unexpected challenge” for her state.[4]
Meanwhile, the cases of drugs, sex, and prostitution are raising their ugly head in broad daylight with protesters marched along the notorious “Market of Sweethearts” in Queens[5], lamenting the prostitution-plagued neighborhood looks like Bangkok’s infamous red light district — and “doesn’t feel like New York anymore.” People from all walks of life are being solicited.[6]
Hull before the impending storm: Debt fueled economic crisis 2.0
Precession or the ripple effect was described by R. Buckminster Fuller the famed inventor of geodesic dome-style architecture can be extrapolated to the current dire economic crisis afflicting most if not all the sanctuary cities. Ken McElroy stated that with increased interest rates on loans and the local state and federal government cuts on spending by the city-wide agency budget cuts has resulted in decreased funding to agencies and directly affected with increased crime rate, thereby raising taxes on lawful residents and property owners[7]. The vicious cycle of high-interest rates, lack of rules, and a law-based democratic system at the federal level and Mayor Adams parroting the talking points of the federal government agencies and a debt-based spending spree has led to lower property values and increased setting the stage for mortgage crisis 2.0. Precession chart by Ken McElroy on the impending economic crisis and extrapolating to affected NYC and other major metropolitan sanctuary cities.
Conclusion
Most of the illegal immigrants are hard-working workers who want to contribute and continue to live a normal life providing color and vibrance to the tapestry of the American Dream. But they are being prevented from doing so by lawmakers who are not resolving the immigration crisis and providing incentives for them to break the law and fueling anti-American, anti-immigrant rhetoric resulting in a massive debt-fueled economic crisis 2.0 which is looming larger and larger. Meanwhile, octogenarian President Biden who is visibly showing signs of senility seems to be like the former Roman Emperor Nero while the whole rules and law-based system is being burning. As a wise old historian have said, all great empires collapse from within first and before succumbing to external invasions.
Reference:
[1] Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) – National Archives
[2] Chinese Railroad Workers Project – Stanford
[2] New York is a Hot Mess and Everyone is Pointing Fingers – Sep 04, 2023, FAIR
[4] Some NYC schools forced to turn away kids on first day of school as influx of migrants joins classrooms – Sep 07, 2023, NY Post
[5] Prostitution in NYC’s ‘Market of Sweethearts’ prompts virtual tours and protests from concerned moms: ‘Really eye-opening’ – Sep 09, 2023, NY Post
[6] Queens hooker hangout compared to Bangkok red light district, critics gripe ‘this doesn’t feel like NY anymore’ – Sep 10, 2023, NY Post
[7] Democrats Unveil Massive New Amnesty Bill for 75% Of Illegal Aliens – Jun 10, 2023, FAIR
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Dear Pgurus team,
Given Sri Iyer’s background as an Indian- American, I urge the P-Gurus to take a strong stand on the discriminatory and hypocritical american government’s stand on country-wise green card (which sees allocation of green card as an allocation to group rather than individuals) which keeps Indians in decades, if not century long queus.
While I m very appreciative of Mr. Iyer’s initiative, I would like to see more action and advocacy to help Indians in America
Regards
Mukund