The former president also told NBC News that spending billions to execute mass deportations of undocumented immigrants is justified because allowing them to remain would cost more.
The former president also told NBC News that spending billions to execute mass deportations of undocumented immigrants is justified because allowing them to remain would cost more.
When I say “we” I mean the US government or the nation as a whole. Right now you or I as individuals cannot easily have people immigrate legally because the government has deliberately made it difficult. If the government wanted to replace a bunch of deported people, it could change the rules about legal immigration. There are so many people who want to immigrate legally but aren’t allowed to that by changing the rules, the government could get as many immigrants as it could want.
If the government wanted that, they’d have been making steps towards that goal over the last several years. Instead, they’re thwarting any attempts at a path to citizenship for the people already doing these jobs and actively contributing to our economy.
I’m not saying that the government wants that. I’m saying they could do it if they did want to. The original claim I responded to was that the damage would be “irreparable” and I’m arguing that the USA is such a desirable place to live that such damage could be repaired by allowing in some of the many, many people outside of the country who do want to immigrate.
(A side note: I acknowledge that amnesty for illegal immigrants may be the best policy in practice, but I think that it is a “crime does pay” policy that rewards people for breaking the law and therefore encourages more law-breaking. I would rather deport the people who were willing to break the law and replace them with people who respected it, but that’s probably both expensive and politically unfeasible.)