14 Dec 2018 Who Should We Let In?

Who Should We Let In?

Immigration is a sensitive topic to a lot of people.  It comes down to two very difficult questions. The first is, what is a country?  The second is, who should be allowed to come in?

A country is defined by the borders it sets.  But those are really arbitrary lines.  Unless it is a body water with coast line, a border can’t be seen.  A border is only as strong as the group of people who live there are able to defend it.  This is the reality for millennium.  Once they can defend the land, they determine who can come in. Some countries are pretty open, others like Japan have been very strict. 

Just because someone is born on a piece of real estate, should they be able to stay there and someone else be denied entry?  That would only be the case if people did not associate themselves in tribes.  A tribe could be ethnically based, or location based.  I don’t see borders going away or the break-up of tribal thinking for a long time, certainly not in my lifetime.

It is tough call to turn people away at the border who came a great distance. If Mexico enforced its southern border, the US would have few problems on our southern border.  

I understand the thinking of limiting people from coming in, we can’t take everybody. However, I also understand that a lot of people were born in places that are very challenging.  Should they not have the same opportunities?   Should the people of that country take charge and do whatever is necessary to make it a better place?  Of course, but that is very difficult.  It is easy to say I would do whatever it takes to keep the US what it is, I live here and get all the benefit.  I can’t comprehend what is to live is a repressive or bad country.

I don’t have all the answers on immigration.  I want compassion but also enforcement. There can be and needs to be a balance.