CommentsALPERN AT LARGE--As I stated in my last CityWatch article, the heart-rending photo of a drowned father and daughter brings home the risks and calamity of those trying to flee for their lives and for their futures.
Enter the blame game--President Trump blames the Democrats in allowing too many incentives encouraging Central American refugees to come here and risk their lives (LINK: ), and Democrats blame the President for not allowing more refugees into the United States.
The argument of incentives versus enforcement is probably a circular one with no end. There are some who want NO enforcement, and others who want NO entry of foreign refugees. It's safe to suggest that most Americans are in the middle:
1) We can't refuse all refugees, but we can't allow all refugees, either, to enter the United States. Kindness is who we are, but kindness has to be extended first to American citizens, whose tax revenues will be diverted away from the needs of American citizens to pay for these refugees.
2) There was once a time when all legal immigrants and refugees had to have sponsors to enter the United States, and if there are private sponsors to pay for the health, education and welfare of immigrants and refugees, much of this problem (but not all) goes away.
3) Many Americans are confused--after Vietnam and Iraq, and other earlier ventures throughout the world, colonialism was eschewed by the West. Furthermore, taking over other nations and/or absorbing these other nations shortcomings prevented the citizens of those nations from resolving their own problems.
4) The issues of globalism and income inequality are, arguably, worsened in the United States and the West by absorbing large numbers of foreign and relatively unskilled labor to the detriment of the middle class. Furthermore, without borders there are no nations?
5) Questions surrounding the role of Mexico and Guatemala, with their key geographic potential barriers and their own influx of foreign refugees affecting the economy and culture of the United States (especially and including African Americans, who are particularly affected by an influx from beyond the southern border):
a) Shall we move these hundreds of thousands of current and potential future refugees to Canada, or to some other nation, without the consent of that nation?
b) Shall we claim the land, resources, or other "payment" from nations to the south, for forcing their problems to affect us? (It should be remembered that former President Bill Clinton replaced the leadership of Haiti during a previous refugee crisis, and then returned the many Haitian refugees to Haiti based on American interests and sovereignty.)
c) Shall we ask other nations to the south (perhaps starting with Guatemala, which is friendly to the United States and is located at a key juncture point between Central and North America) to have referendums to become territories of the United States, and to allow American troops and business interests to control the borders, and invest in the resources of those nations?
Both the House Democrats and the President are continuing to spar over the $4.5 billion in aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Charges of racism, cruelty, and both economic and humanitarian irresponsibility are (of course!) coming from both sides.
But somewhere in the middle probably lies the answer. Doing nothing is NOT an option, and the questions of walls, incentives, and who are funding these migrant caravans require transparency and debate.
It is doubtful that either President Trump, House Majority Leader Pelosi, or Senate Minority Leader Schumer are the right people to make these decisions--all of them are too cute, and the hidden agendas of both globalists and those who want cheap labor (to say nothing of drug cartels and sex traffickers) remain lurking to the peril of all.
Blaming the other side is merely human nature ... but what combination of initiatives will actually resolve the problem?
Or will we have to wait until the elections of 2020 to figure out how to proceed?
(CityWatch Columnist, Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He is also a Westside Village Zone Director and Board member of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Outreach Committee, and currently is Co-Chair of both its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure and Planning Committees. He was co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chaired the nonprofit Transit Coalition and can be reached at [email protected]. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
