Countdown to Default
Tic tic tic. Bill’s coming due.
Immigration System
Congress acts like they have no way to address their concerns with immigration, while they sit in a broken system that’s not been updated in over 35 years. Do your job, Congress.
Biden’s Immigration Plan
The Biden Administration introduced a new immigration policy that makes no one happy. Among other policy plans, it would restrict people from applying for asylum at the U.S. Border, instead telling people to stay where they are and apply for asylum from home.
Completely ignoring that the reason people need asylum is because their home is no longer safe.
Do better, Joe.
Shameful
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis chartered airplanes to fly immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. People on the fights say they were told they were going to Boston, and were lured from a shelter in San Antonio with food, promises of help and expedited papers.
None of that help was waiting for them. No notice was given to Martha’s Vineyard or Massachusetts to prepare help for these people.
https://www.npr.org/2022/09/15/1123109768/migrants-sent-to-marthas-vineyard
It’s a despicable move to use human beings as props and pawns in a political stunt. People who fled their homelands. Policy disagreements are one thing. But toying with human lives for attention is disgusting. Instead of helping people, DeSantis used them and lined up no help for them.
DeSantis should be ashamed. But I’m not sure he’s capable of that.
Freedom and Rights, but for Whom?
As we start the Fourth of July weekend, I reflect on the promise of America and what we see happening today.
“All men are created equal.” That’s the promise. And we still struggle to live up to that, with more restrictions being pushed on LGBTQ people, promotion of Christian theocratic norms, women’s body autonomy vanishing overnight in many places, voting laws that discriminate based on systemic racial issues, immigrants made to feel like they’re not wanted, and more.
As a financially secure, straight, cisgender, white male, it’s not me that these discriminatory laws and practices and hatred are after- but lots of people I love.
“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” America is set up to be majority role with rights of the minorities protected. But we’re losing both of those. The majority of Americans disagree with many recent rulings and laws. Yet the system has been rigged to ram through minority opinions. And the minority rights that are supposed to be protected are being eroded.
Minority rule without protecting rights- that’s fascism. A word thrown about so much lately that’s it’s lost its impact.
I truly love America. I love the promise of what it should be. That’s why we keep pushing to make it better.
So as you think about or celebrate America’s birthday this year, ponder: is America what it should be? If not, what am I going to do about it?
