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One of the big arguments used by Trump supporters trying to pretend they're totally not xenophobic has long been that they totally love immigrants who come here legally and go about things the "right" way, just not the ones who "unfairly" jump the line by crossing the border without proper papers. While no one with half a brain ever bought that, it will be significantly less believable if White House White supremacist Stephen Miller's new plan becomes a reality.
According to documents obtained by NBC's Julia Ainsley, Miller's proposal -- which would not require congressional approval -- would prevent any legal immigrants not only from obtaining full citizenship, but also put them in danger of having their green card status revoked, if they or anyone in their household have ever used any social safety net programs. Programs like Obamacare, CHIP, food stamps, Medicaid, etc. Programs that they would have contributed to, with their own tax money.
What they are proposing is that legal immigrants should contribute to these programs, with their tax dollars, but not ever be allowed to benefit from them. (This, by the way, is already the case for those who are here without green cards.)
The flipside of Miller's proposal is that it will prevent many legal immigrants from obtaining health care for themselves and for their children -- many of whom are legal citizens of the United States and just as entitled to use those programs as any other child born here.
Give us your poor, indeed.
This is not new. Immigrants have long been denied citizenship if they were deemed to be someone who would end up being a "public charge" or a burden on the state. But it goes a lot further than any previous statute has, in terms of the wide scope of programs it covers. It's part of an overall agenda in this administration to cut down the number of legal immigrants and naturalizations that are approved.
In fiscal year 2016, the last full fiscal year under the Obama administration, 1.2 million immigrants became lawful permanent residents, or green-card holders, and 753,060 became naturalized U.S. citizens, according to data from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Data from the first quarter of fiscal year 2018 indicates that the administration is on track for a decline in immigrants granted green cards by 20 percent and naturalized citizenship will drop by 10 percent by the end of October compared to fiscal year 2016.
The new proposal would mean that those like Haitian immigrant Louis Charles, profiled by NBC, will have to decide between being qualified for citizenship and taking care of those in their family who require social services:
Many are like Louis Charles, a Haitian green-card holder seeking citizenship who, despite working up to 80 hours a week as a nursing assistant, has had to use public programs to support his disabled adult daughter.
Using some public benefits like Social Security Insurance has already hindered immigrants from obtaining legal status in the past, but the programs included in the recent draft plan could mean that immigrant households earning as much as 250 percent of the poverty level could be rejected.
See, call me crazy, but I'd prefer a country full of Louis Charleses to even one Stephen Miller.
It should come as no surprise that Miller's own family came to America as the exact kind of people he would turn away -- according to his uncle on his mother's side.
"The Glosser family escaped Europe as dirt poor immigrants, joined the community, built businesses, and honestly sold goods to their fellow Johnstowners," Glosser wrote. "My nephew and I must both reflect long and hard on one awful truth. If in the early 20th century the USA had built a wall against poor desperate ignorant immigrants of a different religion, like the Glossers, all of us would have gone up the crematoria chimneys with the other six million kinsmen whom we can never know."
But then again, so did most people's ancestors . How many people do you see talking about how inspired they were, just knowing that when their ancestors arrived on these shores, they were already very well-off? Pretty much no one! People don't brag on ancestors like that, they brag on ancestors like Louis Charles. They brag on the ones who came over here with nothing and tried to make a better life for themselves and their families. That's who they're proud of, and that matters . It matters to our character as a country, to our character as human beings.
[ NBC ]
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Twerpy Racist Stephen Miller Can't Wait To Make Legal Immigrants Illegal Again
Maybe...but evil. Very evil. Like Miller.
Ah, opposite side of PA from me then. But should you ever get an inkling to visit the Rock Hall, well, you just holla!