As I read  Ted Cruz has made another run for the border. The last one was to go to Mexico during a crisis in his home State of Texas. Now he is running to the border to show the world the immigration crisis at the border. It was lights, camera, and action for old Ted. He had on an olive green shirt and a hat that had the Texas flag on it, I think, but to me he looked more like a militant than a Senator. Maybe that is the look he wanted going for himself. Of all the people to send, Why would they send Mr. I Can’t Wait To Get To Cancun?

There has been a problem at our border for most of my life. Part of the problem has been our thirst for cheap labor. In the late 1800s and early 1900s most of our immigration restrictions were against Asian refugees and refugees from Eastern Europe while favoring immigration from Northern and Western Europe. It was groups like the KKK that thought that the people from Eastern Europe were less desirable than those from other areas. White supremacy has been around a long time and it is not always pointing at Black people.  At the time Mexico was not part of the restrictions because we wanted the cheap labor. That ended in 1929 when they were restricted by making them come through certain points of entry and making them pass a test. In 1935, it finally became a crime to enter illegally. Of course that changed during WWII when we needed more labor because of the War.  Racism has been a big part of our immigration policies .

The first President that suggested a fence at the border was Carter. Carter was criticized  by both sides of the border. Ronald Reagan said “you don’t build a 9 foot fence along the border between two friendly nations.” Of course when Ronnie was elected he also increased the number of border patrols agents by 50 percent. One thing the Reagan did was come up with a forgiveness plan for 2.7 million illegal aliens. George  H W Bush added fencing at the San Diego /Tijuana border.   After 9/11  even though none of the hijackers came across the Mexican /American border all bets were off.  George  W. Bush and Obama both added fencing. I can see fencing in urban area but fencing in rural areas where they can be climbed over or dug under is not going to be a very effective deterrent to terrorism. If you want to stop terrorists you have to have the military protecting our border. I have said before, we seem to protect everyone’s border but our own. I have always wanted the military protect our border. Now, if it is just because you are a racist then you shouldn’t use the military.

What I have read, immigration does affect wages. After researching it I would have thought that it would have affected it more.  There is an affect more so in the so called unskilled jobs affecting natural born Black and Hispanics. I always want to ask the question, What would the minimum wage be now without immigration? I googled that and really did not get an answer. I would think that there would be a labor shortage which would mean businesses would have to compete for workers with the raising of wages. So who do I believe benefits the most by our immigration policies?  In all honesty, it is the people with money. At one time Trump used to employ undocumented workers. Could that be why we have never had a solution to our problem. Too many people benefit.  Mexico benefits because we have become a safety valve for them. Businesses really benefit from immigration by keepings wages down and in some cases paying people below the minimum wage. That is why I feel that the  problem has been so hard to solve. They contribute to the campaigns of the people that we expect to fix it. The Elite also benefit. Everywhere I look there are immigrants cutting lawns, cooking meals making people’s lives better for a very cheap price. If they were not here who would do the work?

 I will say that “asylum seekers” are not illegal immigrants. They are people that knock at our door asking for help. That group may deserve a posting all of their own. I will say that in the book of Matthew: Mary, Joseph and Jesus had to seek asylum in Egypt. I sure hope that is not a question some of us have to answer when we are at the pearly gates.

One thing that I noticed doing my research is that our Immigration policies have always been driven by racism. That is something that I was not surprise with. Racism is as American as Apple Pie.