November 15, 2018


The Immigration Difference

Donald Trump's Grandparents
One of my liberal-minded friends posted a link on their Facebook page about how Donald Trump's grandparents were immigrants, and that the immigration laws President Trump wants to enact would have excluded his own grandparents. The inference being that it's not fair to exclude anyone from coming to America. This Washington Post Article presents the seeming injustice pretty well.

Trump's grandfather (Friedrich Trumpf, pictured above) came to America in 1885. He was 16 years old. The media reports that he was an "unaccompanied minor." That is technically true, but in the context of his day, he was ready to be on his own, earning his way in the world. Boys were mature and responsible at a much earlier age in those days. Teenage adolescence hadn't been invented by pop culture yet (that all came with Frank Sinatra in the early 1940s).

Also, when immigrants came to America in days gone by, they underwent tests. Hundreds of thousands of would-be immigrants were not allowed in. The following excerpt is from a History channel web page:
Upon arrival at Ellis Island, immigrants were ushered into a room called the Great Hall and paraded before a series of medical officers for physical inspection. Most were allowed to pass by in a matter of seconds, but those whom the doctors deemed physically or mentally deficient were marked with chalk and taken away for additional screening. Questionable candidates were forced to submit to more detailed questioning and medical exams, and any signs of contagious disease, poor physique, feeblemindedness or insanity could see an immigrant denied admittance on the grounds that they were likely to become a ward of the state. In later years, doctors at Ellis Island even devised puzzles and memory tests to ensure that certain immigrants were intelligent enough to find work. New arrivals could also face rejection if they were anarchists, had a criminal record or showed signs of low moral character. 
Did you notice that phrase, "ward of the state?"  In 1885 America did not have the Socialist welfare system that is now in place. Wards of the state were absolutely not wanted. Immigrants who came to America were expected to find work, and make their way in the this new land of opportunity. 

The concept of federal welfare programs did not come to America until 1935 when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. Since then, the number of handout programs has mushroomed. Millions of people are now dependent on government support to get by. New immigrants today can tap into all kinds of "free-money" programs and services. 

Meanwhile, America pays for all of these things by going deeper and deeper into debt. America's debt has never been higher. 

Social Security, Medicare, and most every other government assistance program is projected to be insolvent in the next few years. The public pension system is headed for epic insolvency realities. How much longer can American taxpayers (not to mention their children and grandchildren) be expected to pay this expanding debt load? It remains to be seen, but the mounting debt can't continue forever, and it will never get paid. There will be a day of reckoning, and when that day comes, the free stuff will no longer be there. 

Opening the border to anyone and everyone only exacerbates America's fiscal problems. I think most Americans realize this, and it's a big part of the reason Trump was elected. The President's primary job is to protect the country. That's what he's trying to do with immigration reform. 

One other thing that many people don't seem to realize is that America has had restrictions on immigration for a very long time. Here's another excerpt from the same History Channel page:
Ellis Island’s role as a gateway for immigrants began to change in the early 1920s, when a series of federal laws ended the open door immigration policy and established quotas for the number of new arrivals to the United States. By 1925, the government had also shifted the inspection process from American ports to the U.S. consulates abroad, leaving Ellis Island to operate primarily as a detention center and deportation point for undesirable immigrants.
America is "a nation of immigrants," as the saying goes, but we have been a nation that, for a long time, has been selective about who we let in, and for good reasons.



4 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting this Herrick. It amazes me how the media has turned Trump's immigration policy into hateful anti-immigrant rhetoric. Having a vetting process before an immigrant is allowed to immigrate is not hateful, it is lawful and good for the security of our country. Thank you for your viewpoint.

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  2. It's encouraging to see conservative articles on the internet. Thank you, and may we never lose the right of free speech no matter how many crazy liberals spout insanity for the
    $22 per hour that they are paid to do so. How can selling out to the Nazis be worth it?

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  3. Thank you for your informative article. My grandmother came to this country from Scotland in the 1920's to marry my grandfather. She had to go through Ellis Island and was subjected to many health and mental abilities tests. She was glad she passed. 😊

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  4. Many thanks for your comments here, Rick, magnoliasntea, & bayougirl.

    By the way, bayougirl.... Donald Trump's mother, Mary Anne McLeod Trump, was born in Scotland, on the Isle of Lewis. She was the youngest of ten children. Her father was a farmer and fisherman. They were not prosperous people. She immigrated to America in 1930 and worked as a domestic servant to a wealthy family for the first few years.

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