Monday, January 15, 2018

an emergency

  I keep hearing about the Salvadorians that are being impacted by the ending of the TPS program. I'll begin by saying this, the first word in that program is Temporary. Self explanatory ! The second word was protected. Being in a protected status they did receive help and support from the United States. That means, your tax dollars were given to these folks as an act of charity. I'm certain many of those refugees were quite thankful , at the time. That's all well and good and I wouldn't begrudge anyone in true need. These unfortunate people , fleeing their home country found refuge, Temporarily. Let's not forget that part of the bargain. I'm as equally certain these folks agreed they would love to return home as soon as it was safe. Well, it has been sixteen years and their home is safe for their return. Time to live up to their end of the bargain. That's right, they have an obligation to fill as well. There intent must have been to return to their home country one day because they did absolutely nothing to gain permanent legal status in our country ! And now it is a crisis ? When they were in crisis the United States acted, what have they done since ?
 I read that the average income for these folks today is between 45 and fifty thousand dollars. That is post tax. Yes, they are paying taxes and all that but they are still on that Temporary Protected Status. They needed to pay the taxes in order to work legally in the country. Their problem is now, they won't be in the country legally anymore. Whose fault is that ? The cost to file for naturalization is currently 725.00 dollars. But I hear that is too expensive, they can't afford it. I also read about 35% of these people own homes and have a mortgage. Strangely they can afford that. The majority of these folks own cars and trucks, they can afford them. Their children go to school and some are entering college now, they can afford that. Obviously they eat, drink and entertain themselves in some fashion. They can afford that. They couldn't afford 725 dollars over the last sixteen years to obtain legal status !
 So, the way I see this is simple. They were afforded refuge. They were given assistance in this new land. They found jobs, became successful people and contributed to our nation. That's wonderful except for what they didn't do. They did not make an effort to gain legal status. They just took the charity that was extended to them, prospered from that, and are now demanding more ! To extend permanent status to these folks would be a slap in the face to all legal immigrants. The vast majority of legal immigrants that come to this country do not get government assistance upon arrival, nor any sort of protected status. I can not imagine a valid reason for not having filed the proper paperwork to ensure I could stay in this country. Basically I bought a house on land I don't own !
 The bottom line here is, go back to home country, temporary protected status is over. You are welcome to apply for a visa from your country to come to America. You are free to file for naturalization or citizenship. Had you done that while you were here it would have been a lot easier. But you chose not to do a thing, your choice. As the old saying goes, you made your bed, you lie in it ! You had an obligation to act and did not. You accepted the charity, prospered, and have lived a good life here in America. If you wanted to stay you had to act. The failure to plan on your part,  does not constitute an emergency on my part. I, we, the United States of America did our part, be grateful for that much.        

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