New Years Day Post #1: Solutions versus cruelty | Immigration

Border wall of containers ordered by Republican Governor of Arizona Dan Ducey.  Photo: Ivan Pierre Aguirre for the New York Times.

These days I'm pretty depressed about the state of the US, given the virulence of the divide between Republicans and Democrats and a failure to focus on improving the quality of life of US residents versus cruelty and performance.

There is no question that things are far different from the time when states were considered opportunities for innovation--laboratories of democracy.

The quality of life outcomes for states under Republican rule are decidedly negative (2022 Scorecard on State Health System Performance: How did states do during the COVID-19 pandemic?, Commonwealth Fund, "SUMMARY OF 23 QUALITY OF LIFE INDICATORS — ARE RED OR BLUE STATES BETTER?," Applied Sentience, "Blue states rank better than red in livability: What does that mean?," San Jose Mercury News).

Perhaps the easiest indicator to track is life expectancy.

And long tax revenue capture.  Generally red states get a lot more back in government spending than they pay out.  While blue states pay more and get less.  Red states are the "takers" ("Blue high-tax states fund red low-tax states," Associated Press).

Immigration.  I think one of the most important entries I've written in the past couple years is on "the border crisis" -- immigration -- which Republicans call an absolute crisis. 

 It's a policy issue where Republicans get to show their cruelty ("GOP governors with presidential ambitions court Trump's base with cruelty to migrants," NBC News).

But sadly to reduce the power of the opposition, federal government practices even under Democrats can be pretty cruel.  

It amazes me because the states on the southern border with Mexico--Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California--drive a significant part of their economies through trade with Mexico.  California, being a Democrat run state, acts opposite of the other states.  

For example, Texas' biggest trading partner is Mexico and when they do things like tamper with border crossings it has significant negative effect ("Texas Ends Rule That Left Trucks Waiting For Hours To Cross Mexico Border," Forbes Magazine).  It's like Brexit leading to a significant drop in the UK's economic output, something every reputable economist said would happen.

But the Republican position on immigration makes it hard for Democrats, and makes it almost impossible for policy creativity.  Obama wasn't the greatest--he thought that being tough would get Republicans to work with him, but they didn't.  And Biden has some of the same issues.

The fact is that immigrants are an important source of labor, are motivated, increase the country's diversity, and add population in the face of lower birth rates.  Immigrants can be an important source of revitalization in otherwise shrinking cities etc.

End of Policing by Alex Vitale is pretty bracing.  Eight chapters discuss how we've criminalized certain social matters, and how police response to those problems mostly makes the outcomes worse.  

One chapter is on immigration (US Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and in it he suggests that the US consider dealing with immigration comparable to the European Union, which has free movement within the EU's 27 countries.

I think it's brilliant.  

Creating an American Union of the US and Central and South American countries.  What it would require is creating a kind of "American Union" with Central and South American countries.  Where citizens of participating countries could register and could immigrate/work in other participating countries, and it wouldn't require citizenship in the "receiving" country.  I think it would also allow for temporary rather than permanent emigration.  People could come to the US, make some money, go back home.

At the same time, like the EU, the US should invest in creating "cohesion" programs of investment in Central and South American countries, so that conditions of poverty, political unrest, and negative public safety could be reversed, reducing the demand to emigrate.  

-- "A solution to the immigration crisis on the Southern border, but it's too politically fraught," 2021

And a Caribbean Union.  When I wrote the piece I was focused on the border with Mexico, but the same goes for the Caribbean.  It's unjust that Cuba emigrants have special privileges in coming to the US, and proximity to the US creates the same kinds of tensions for countries like Haiti, Dominican Republic, etc.

Puerto Rico.  And we really should give statehood to Puerto Rico, and create new programs of investment and energy independence for that colony.

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The Salt Lake Tribune, now a nonprofit, has an initiative called the "Innovation Lab," where they focus on longer term issues with an aim of producing articles offering "solutions."

I don't think the issue is the need for solutions so much as a willingness to be focused on solutions and action.

And big time innovation is outside of the mindset of most public officials and community stakeholders.