mjedlin66 wrote:evilanne wrote:Congress should have settled everything back in September rather than kicking the can down the road but they were more focused on getting through the mid-terms and taking multiple breaks rather than finishing the job. I think our Representatives & Senators should lose 1 week of pay for every day of Government shut down (in whole or in part).
I'm tired of hearing the same arguments on immigration year after year--the same ones for over 3 decades now. They waste $$Millions/Billions on many things every year, so I don't think barrier funding is unreasonable. Maybe this time will be different and they will actually fix something. I'm not holding my breath.
Consider for a moment that building a real wall along the border would easily cost in excess of $50 billion. Why? Because there has been no comprehensive design. The impact on flood flow and ecology hasn't even been glanced at in any real manner. Considerations of soil differences, erosion, waterways, earthquake resistance, and similar issues haven't been adequately studied.
In addition, any wall you build will be easily defeated. The steel prototype that was touted by the Trump administration can be cut through with a battery powered sawzall. Even a concrete barrier can be climbed over with a ladder and a rope.
Finally, most of our illegal immigrants are visa overstays. The drug dealers often use tunnels or come right through our checkpoints. The people who sneak across the desert are most often just desperate farmers- and for them, a much more liberal work visa program is the obvious solution.
So we're going to build a prohibitively expensive wall that will create more problems than it will solve, AND we still won't have addressed the urgent need for an easy work visa.
Great.
There is so many issues with Visa overstay's. They come as a B2 Visitor, and then immediately claim asylum, and stay in the system for almost ten years. I deal with this stuff all the time. Immigration laws need to be changed, but a lot of our arrests and deportations come from criminals entering EWI (entering without inspection), across the Texas and Arizona Border. Especially the aggravated felons. I'm glad someone is finally addressing immigration, but I do agree it should have been first, before tax reform.
This year will be immigration and infrastructure. I wrote legislative policy on mostly veteran bills, and it was unanimous for the most part. But as soon as you say immigration in Congress, no one wants a definitive stance for midterms/elections, so they kick the question/can always down the road. We're finally coming to terms in America that there is roughly 10-30 million unaccounted for people, who need some type of status.
This issue though shouldn't affect people at TSA, the SS, our IRS, or other federal agencies, but it does. I feel for all furloughed, but we knew the risk working for the government. Hopefully, 2019 will bring us a pay raise/promotion and step increase and a bonus.