I've never crossed the Mexican border so my perception is that it is like the Canadian border. Drive up, show a proper ID, answer a couple of questions and go on with your day (let's assume pre-COVID). Can't Mexicans take a day trip to Disneyland? What prevents them from taking a trip to the US and not going home? Am I completely mischaracterizing a border crossing? Do we completely shut off Southern California tourism to Mexico? If so, where are Walt's lobbyists?

It was a jab at Devin Nunes who has spent the last four years as one of Trump's (and by extension his immigration policy's) staunchest defenders while trying to hide and sue out of the limelight the fact that his family wealth comes form a dairy farm that is dependent on illegal immigrants. There are probably many other members of congress in a similar situation, he's just the most slappable (pun intended).

There are ways for immigrants to work here legally - I am one. But not on the scale that the reality of many of our industries require. I'm actually all in on a sweeping enforcement program against employers because it looks like the only realistic way to start the conversation we need to have about how many additional low skilled workers we need in this country and how best to get them here (or allow them to stay) legally.

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"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

How much would you spend if the people came i to your house and started living there? You called the police, but the police said they can’t remove them from your home.

Irrelevant to the analogy at hand.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

Are they going to do the house work, lawn care, and watch the kids for less* than I could get anyone else in the house to do it?

*That's probably not quite fair. There's probably an unreliable, meth head who's been living in the house their whole life, willing to work some of the time for similar pay.

It's not just low skill. I'm in construction. We struggle to not only find laborers, but electricians, low voltage techs. Plumbers, etc.
What's crazy about that is even here in TX, trade guys are making $100k or more. And no college debt!

But this work is beneath people. It's crazy. People would rather be a barrista serving up coffee for $10-$15/hour. I'm not mocking any service worker, just amazed at the resistance to work construction.

If you want to make that analogy work, then you have to admit that you let them into your house in the first place through the front door. And that you let them in so you could take advantage of their willingness to do your household chores for you.

And even with all that, it would be pretty fucking dumb to spending any sizable portion of your household budget to building steel shutters for your windows to keep them out, since you're letting them right in the front door.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

It's not just those who don't want to it's also some educators, I worked as a chef in a University, one day I saw someone I didn't know getting coffee and started a conversation, she was a prof from another school in town doing a lecture on why the Government needs to fund University programs for the underprivileged so they wouldn't have to work in a skilled trade. I almost lost it but bit my tongue, this is what we're up against, how do we change it?

I think it's a legitimate concern that people born into the lower economic classes have a legitimate shot at good representation in the "educated classes" by the time they reach adulthood.

That's a distinct issue from lack of supply in trade labor.

We don't want to end up with India like social strata where if you're born into a lower tier, you're funneled into lower tier work.

I imagine that professor could have held her down had you not bit your tongue.

What we need for shortage in trade supply is *well off* people who don't enjoy or don't have the aptitude for higher education to find trade work socially acceptable.

Yeah, I agree. It’s would be good for lower economic classes to not “have to” choose the trades. Options are good.

That said, it’s criminal how we’ve chosen to societally demean the trades in this country. Our obsession with every kid going to college so they don’t have to work with their hands has directly led to our ludicrous student debt crisis, our immigration issues, and a shortage of skilled tradesmen across the country.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

Its more like, spending $5000 on a high tech drone with missiles to watch your house, that works 1/2 the times. When there are solutions out there that cost far less and are far more effective.

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Just Triing
Triathlete since 9:56:39 AM EST Aug 20, 2006.
Be kind English is my 2nd language. My primary language is Dave it's a unique evolution of English.

I seem to hear about trades being pushed all the time around here. There's even a regional high school program for kids who want to go into a trade of some sort.

Shop Class as Soulcraft is a good read on this topic.

That regional program, likely used to be vocational education programs at each school teaching auto shop, carpentry, basic trades stuff, etc.

There are definitely areas that still embrace this option for kids, but nationally, we've been sending kids the message for years that losers work with their hands and winners go to college.

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Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

x100

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Trieatalot

It's a C minus world.

I appreciate Mike Rowe and what he is trying to do. You have to reach out to kids.
Bring back wood shop, home etc, to schools.

I think employers need to get more involved.
The local community College is prepping for the new Tesla plant coming here.

Somehow we have to get primary ed to change the push that it's college or bust. Likewise, find a way to show kids in lower income areas that there are other paths that can lead to a good living.

I had Lincoln Logs, Erector Sets, and shop classes to stoke my interest in construction. I'd like to figure out how to bring some of that back.

So you are saying that like most Trump accomplishments, this is a great exaggeration? His administration repaired an existing wall, but how much "new" wall did they build?

I will acknowledge that this, even if it is just repairing, is one of the great achievements of the Trump administration. The history books will remember the Obama administration for killing Bin Laden, Lincoln for freeing the slaves and Trump for repairing part of the Mexican fence. But in fairness, he did such a good job that voters decided one term was adequate to contain all of his achievements.

i would think that trump's supporters would want to leave the wall alone. it's mostly faded from the headlines, and was a bad idea to start with and a failure once it got underway. nobody was talking about it - why bring it up? it feels like a streisand effect problem to me, and i'd leave it in the bucket with stories like stormy daniels and his income taxes: be glad it's not getting any more coverage.

i would think you'd want to talk about stuff like supreme court judges, or something like that. but the wall? no.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

You think that, but the world is not viewed the same by everyone. Clearly OP considers this a rousing success so it NEEDS to be shouted from the rooftops and not hidden in cellars. I consider it stretching for reasons to validate a vote for Trump when objectively, there aren’t many good ones.

To you sir.
Say trump is defeated on Tuesday. For 4 years the Biden led country adds nothing to enhance security on our southern border. We still have some 1000 odd miles of wall left unbuilt. With 1000 miles of unprotected border, will you support the republican nominee even if he does not take up the mantle and promise to finish the job? Or even better, a comprehensive immigration legislative package is enacted and with it the flow of undocumented workers trickles down to almost nothing as worker permitting becomes a success story. What say ye about the importance of a wall then? Guess we still have the cross border drug trade to worry about with drone mules flying product over the wall and robots scurrying with kilos of coke in tunnels under the wall don't we?

Exactly what is the import of this 400 mile plus accomplishment? Share thoughts.