Talking Points re: Immigrants
Challenge #9: Biden v. Trump
Thanks, as always, to those who answered to Challenge 8: Immigrants.
Why we should close the southern border
Illegal migrants who cross into the US expect all the benefits of citizenship, like education and healthcare, without paying anything toward those services.
Unvaccinated immigrants are reintroducing polio, smallpox, and other previously eradicated diseases to America.
Open borders puts pressure on our state economies with regards to jobs.
It costs too much to process illegal immigrants through our asylum system; that money should be redirected for American needs.
Pregnant women enter the US illegally just so their babies will be born American.
Why we should not close the southern border
Mexico is our trading partner, so closing the border would threaten US jobs and businesses.
Refugees are typically fleeing violent environments or abject poverty and turn to the US for the humanitarian help we’ve provided for over 200 years.
Immigrants and migrant workers do most of the low-paying agricultural and construction jobs that American workers snub.
It would cost more to close and monitor the border than to process the asylum seekers who actually get here.
The United States cannot afford to hinder the diplomatic and security relationships it has with the other countries in the Americas, which all together are larger than any other continent than Asia.
Commentary
I don’t normally editorialize these Talking Points, but responses for closing the southern border were, to put it politely, thin on the ground. The data overwhelmingly indicates that not only do we need to keep the border open—at least as open as it is right now—but that closing it would be deleterious to our security and economy and our diplomatic and international standing.
Furthermore, with a number of Republicans openly admitting they don’t want to fix the border because it would favor Biden’s approval rating, I must needs conclude that yes, the so-called southern border crisis is merely a phony political ploy ala Barry Levinson’s 1997 Wag the Dog.
Do you agree or disagree with these responses? Let us know in the comments.
#9: Biden v Trump
A: List five reasons to vote for Joe Biden
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B: List five reasons to vote for Donald Trump
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5.
Again, remember the rules:
Logical or fact-based answers only
No religious, faith-based, or proven untruths
Keep your answers brief; pleonasm will not be read
You may work with as many study buddies as you want
Talk to family, friends, co-workers, other people—especially those with whom you don’t usually agree. Check out sources you’d normally never consider. And share your answers by next Wednesday so we can all become more literate, informed voters!
When you’re done, ask yourself: Did I learn anything? Did my needle move?
You can send in your answers three ways:
Email them to ruse2v@gmail.com | Subject: Challenge Answers. Your name and email will be confidential.
Use the submission form at https://rusmartenough2vote.com/submit-your-answers/. Your name and email will be confidential.
Leave them as a comment on here on substack.
Have a challenge question of your own? Send it to ruse2v@gmail.com | Subject: Challenge Question. Your name and email will be confidential.
And share! Send this challenge to everyone in your personal and business networks. Let’s make these thought exercises the thing-to-do for the 2024 election!