In this, we are all losers. 
Time will tell - but I like the current odds better than the recent odds. 
Bruce S had the smartest comment.
1 Like
Two U.S. military C-17 aircraft recently deported migrants to Guatemala, both landing at the Guatemalan Air Force Base in Guatemala City. The first flight, carrying 79 Guatemalans (48 men and 31 women), arrived around midnight, followed by the second flight the next morning. A third flight, intended for Mexico, was denied entry into Mexican airspace, highlighting Mexicoâs strong objections to unilateral deportation decisions.
These flights demonstrate the immense scale of the undocumented immigration issue. With an estimated 11.3 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., deporting 79 individuals per flight is a symbolic action at best. Even at this rate, achieving significant reductions would take decades and require vast resources, raising doubts about the feasibility and effectiveness of mass deportations as a long-term solution.
Most undocumented immigrants, 48% of the total, originate from Mexico, with the remaining 51% coming from countries like Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, India, and China. Canada contributes less than 1%, primarily due to visa overstays.
According to think tanks like the CATO Institute and Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), undocumented immigrants provide essential economic contributions to the U.S. They fill critical labor gaps, pay billions in taxes, and contribute an estimated $12 billion annually into Social Security, despite being ineligible for most government benefits, making them net contributors to the system.
Mexico, meanwhile, relies heavily on $58 billion in annual remittances sent home by its citizens abroad. However, trade agreements like NAFTA (now USMCA) have severely impacted Mexicoâs agricultural sector by exposing small farmers to subsidized U.S. imports, leading to job losses and fueling migration to the U.S.
The sheer magnitude of the undocumented immigration problem requires practical, sustainable solutions. Mass deportations, with their limited impact and high costs, cannot resolve the root causes. Instead, addressing economic disparities, reforming immigration policies, and creating legal pathways for migration are more effective ways to reduce migration pressures and promote long-term stability.
1 Like
Thank you, Rafael, for an intelligent comment on this situation. With regard to these mass deportations, the phrase âcutting off your nose to spite your faceâ comes to mind.
1 Like
âA third flight, intended for Mexico, was denied entry into Mexican airspace, highlighting Mexicoâs strong objections to unilateral deportation decisions.â
Excuse me, but Mexico ALLOWED people across BOTH their southern and northern borders without passports. Who are they to now deny these same people into their country again?
Arthur, not to stir up a hornetâs nest here, but the heart of this migration issue isnât about Mexico letting people through or denying a military flight, itâs about economics and survival. Just look at the numbers: the GDP per capita in the U.S. is $82,769, compared to $13,804 in Mexico, and less than $6,000 in Guatemala and Honduras. Meanwhile, Canada sits at $53,247. That gap is huge, and for a lot of folks down south, migrating is about putting food on the table and keeping their families alive.
If we keep rattling Mexicoâs cage with intimidation tactics, weâre liable to see some serious unintended consequences. Mexico is our biggest trading partner, with over $780 billion in trade every year, and messing with that could backfire big time on our own economy. Think about itâso much of what we depend on, like cars, electronics, and produce, comes straight from Mexico. Disrupting that flow could jack up prices and hit American jobs hard. Plus, it could mess with the USMCA deal, which keeps trade running smoothly between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. When that balance gets thrown off, itâs not just Mexico that suffersâwe do too.
Instead of poking the bear, we ought to be thinking about solutions that actually work. That means tackling the reasons people migrate in the first place,like poverty and lack of opportunity, and finding ways to work with Mexico, not against them.
How much economic activity was Laken Rileyâs life worth? How about Jocelyn Nungarayâs? Rachel Morinâs? Kayla Hamiltonâs? Ned Byrdâs? Lizbeth Medinaâs?
Those are just some of the names I found on the first page of search results for âmurders by illegal immigrants.â All happened within the last two years. At least one of the murderers had been deported nine times!
All of those people would be alive today if the border had been kept secure.
Iâm so sick of people saying we canât enforce our laws. The false compassion of âeveryone who wants to can come inâ has a cost. What about compassion for our fellow citizens? What about compassion for those who obey the law and come legally? The truly compassionate thing is to tell the truth.
Laws must be enforced. The border must be secured. I donât care how difficult or expensive the task. We can have a conversation afterwards about how much legal migration is acceptable and beneficial. But thatâs a pointless conversation when the law is being ignored.
bbgun06, I hear you, and I agree. As a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, I understand the deep pain of losing loved ones to senseless violence. Anyone responsible for these awful crimes needs to be held accountable. Losing good people in such senseless ways is heartbreaking, and no one should have to go through that.
âLaws must be enforced.â
Why only the ones that affect the laborers and service workers? Why not the businesses that hire them? Itâs illegal and a federal crime to hire undocumented workers. Why the misplaced blame? I know why, do you? Would these workers still come across the border if they knew no one would ever hire them?
The US government, state governments, family and corporate businesses have been looking the other way for decades while the American junkies got their food cheap their toilets cleaned cheap their illegal drugs cheap and their field labor insultingly cheap.
Future news may be absorbed by stories of American addicts being weaned off of their cheap drugs, food and services and Iâm sure the withdrawal will be smooth and compassionate.
Dave, you must be talking about the Simpson-Rodino Act of 1986. Iâm familiar with it because, when I had a small factory in Los Angeles, it made me pay close attention to my workersâ immigration status. Under this law, itâs illegal for businesses to knowingly hire undocumented workers, and the penalties can be steep. Employers can be fined up to $10,000 per unauthorized worker for repeat offenses, and those who show a pattern of hiring undocumented labor can even face jail time.
The problem isnât the law itself, itâs that itâs not enforced as it should be. There arenât enough resources to investigate businesses, and employers often claim they didnât know workers were undocumented, especially if fake documents were used. Political and economic pressures also make enforcement tricky, as industries like agriculture and construction depend heavily on immigrant labor. The laws are there, but without enough willpower or bipartisan agreement to back them up, enforcement ends up being inconsistent at best.
Right you are, Raf.
Itâs important to consider, in my view, however, that we now have American jack-boots entering soft targets in the US, and an increasingly significantly number of deluded and lazy populace rejecting critical thinking, science and âel mal ajenoâ.
Bipartisan agreement was available when Senate Republicans blocked the border security bill last year as they campaigned on border chaos. Anger begets power, and itâs sobering to think we have flown past the turn around point, dangerously low on the real fuel we need to complete the flight.
What you donât understand is that, if a bus is used, they must drop the passengers just across the border. In a plane they drop them much farther in-country. Itâs a longer hike back to the US BORDER.
ALSO, using military acft, they wouldnât, technically, need to land. Strap on a parachute and toss 'em out, Gary Cooper style. The planes are already set up for in-flight egress. If the toss-ees donât figure out the rip cord, they wonât be sneaking across the border againâŚ
Probably a better deterrent than building a wall too.
NOT saying I advocate the tossing, but I do believe the deterrent value would be extreme.
Btw, I say this with tongue lodged firmly, well, sorta firmly, in cheek.
Oh, businesses that hire illegal immigrants certainly should be prosecuted also.
Most big businesses want immigration because it drives down wagesâŚ
This topic was automatically closed after 7 days. New replies are no longer allowed.