Letter to the Editor: Answers given
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I laughed out loud when I read the letter titled "I need answers鈥�" The author obviously isn't looking for answers but confirmation of the misinformation coming from the likes of Rep. Mooney and Newsmax.
First, if someone precedes a claim with "some people say" or "according to legal experts," they are employing a Fox News strategy to give legitimacy to whatever claim you want to make. Who says? What experts? Some say our reality is just a video game and we are just characters in it. Does that make it true?
"Invasion" is a word right out of extreme media outlets. Yes immigration has risen significantly since January 2020 (including Trump's' last year in office) but I'd hardly call it invasion. Immigration has been a hallmark of the U.S. since before its founding and moves in cycles. Almost half of border apprehensions are now of people from South America, primarily due to political instability in Venezuela.
Is immigration all bad? Should we close all borders? Immigrants aren't putting us out of work with unemployment at record lows. In fact, they are helping to keep inflation (now around 3%) in check by doing a lot of the menial work Americans don't want to do for low pay. See what closing the borders does to the price of strawberries, artichokes, and most every other kind of produce. Despite the invasion, U.S. wages after inflation have risen at their fastest pace in the past 3 years than in the previous 35.
Does immigration boost crime? Crime among Latin American immigrant communities is significantly lower than you find in Tampa, Charlotte, or Knoxville. Yes crime is associated with illegal immigration but nowhere near what is generated by homegrown childhood poverty, domestic violence, and drugs trades. If you want to significantly reduce the number of people who "die, become drug pushers, sex slaves, human trafficking and lose all their money to cartels," double funding for foster kids and after school programs.
And immigration has nothing to do with efforts to impeach Biden. It is just an effort to try to link him to dubious dealings of his son. Evidence to date of guilt? Zero. But it has nothing to do with immigration unless "some people say" it does.
Is immigration really, really one of the major problems facing this country? I would argue it's not even in the top 5. Let's fix the deficit, kids' addiction to screens, political extremism, climate change and a disappearing middle class.
And I'm not even going to touch the complaint that Biden is "breaking the law and oath he took as president." If that was a critical concern, there would be a different front runner for the Republican presidential nomination.
Eric Thacker
Parkersburg