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politicalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Trump’s hardline policy on immigrant children has become a tes

SystemSystem Posts: 11,014
edited June 2018 in General

imagepoliticalbetting.com » Blog Archive » Trump’s hardline policy on immigrant children has become a testing time for the White House

The polling is not good for the President. According to a CNN poll two-thirds of Americans disapprove of the practice of taking undocumented immigrant children from their families and putting them in government facilities on US borders, Only 28% approve.

Read the full story here


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  • Options
    asjohnstoneasjohnstone Posts: 1,276
    It's an appalling look, but so it endless incidents of school kids being massacred by gunfire and Americans seem OK with that. I suspect it'll not move any votes.

    Frankly I'm surprised I haven't read on Twitter that it's all fake news and these kids are actors hired by the Mexican government and the Clinton foundation.
  • Options
    asjohnstoneasjohnstone Posts: 1,276
    FPT

    "I don't understand why children are being separated from their parents. Either they are legal migrants and the family stays together in entering the USA, or they're illegal migrants and the family stays together in not entering the USA."

    The families are not simply bounced from the border, the parents are charged with illegal entry into the United States, that's the nub of the change the mandatory criminalisation of people caught crossing the border.

    The parents aren't simply thrown back south, they go to jail. The kids can't go to jail, hence they go into the care of the state. (in this case a big cage).

    It's brutal, but it'll work very quickly. Why risk going north when this may happen?
  • Options
    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,149
    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.
  • Options
    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,983
    edited June 2018
    Even if over 60% of Americans oppose this very controversial and very tough immigration policy Trump can point out that a majority of Republicans and hence his base backs it. It is also not a million miles away from the increasingly tough line on migrants being pushed in Europe by the likes of Salvini in Italy and Kurz in Austria and Orban in Hungary either.

    Plus of course it will not be Trump on the ballot in the midterms but Republican Congressmen, Governors and State Legislatures
  • Options
    brendan16brendan16 Posts: 2,315

    FPT

    "I don't understand why children are being separated from their parents. Either they are legal migrants and the family stays together in entering the USA, or they're illegal migrants and the family stays together in not entering the USA."

    The families are not simply bounced from the border, the parents are charged with illegal entry into the United States, that's the nub of the change the mandatory criminalisation of people caught crossing the border.

    The parents aren't simply thrown back south, they go to jail. The kids can't go to jail, hence they go into the care of the state. (in this case a big cage).

    It's brutal, but it'll work very quickly. Why risk going north when this may happen?

    Either the United States has a border and enforces it or it does not. It's brutal as you say - but of course it's the fault of the parents for trying to enter the US illegally while dragging their kids through a potentially dangerous border crossing.

    Many many people try legally to get a green card and legal permanent residency and then US citizenship. Same with entry into Europe. If crossing the Mexican border or the Med and landing gives you effectively the same thing why should anyone bother going via the legal route?

    You could equally argue that it is cruel to jail any parent who commits a crime in the UK - in case their child has to go into care?

    In the end if you care about your kids and their welfare - don't break the law including immigration law.

    That doesn't of course absolve the US government from looking after these kids properly - but parents who commit crimes shouldn't just be absolved of them because they have children?
  • Options
    TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840

    It's an appalling look, but so it endless incidents of school kids being massacred by gunfire and Americans seem OK with that. I suspect it'll not move any votes.

    Frankly I'm surprised I haven't read on Twitter that it's all fake news and these kids are actors hired by the Mexican government and the Clinton foundation.

    I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not but if not Anne Coulter has pretty much said they are child actors, although Anne is one of the craziest conservative pundits in the USA, among some quite tough competition, she does represent a viewpoint that some people have...
  • Options
    TheJezziahTheJezziah Posts: 3,840
    https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1008739891612672002

    The clip stops but even the host on a Fox news show looks like he is about to question that or at least point out they (Fox or maybe him) are not actually endorsing that point of view.
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    williamglennwilliamglenn Posts: 48,052


    The clip stops but even the host on a Fox news show looks like he is about to question that or at least point out they (Fox or maybe him) are not actually endorsing that point of view.

    The host is none other than David Cameron’s one-time special advisor and Brexiteer Steve Hilton.
  • Options
    asjohnstoneasjohnstone Posts: 1,276

    It's an appalling look, but so it endless incidents of school kids being massacred by gunfire and Americans seem OK with that. I suspect it'll not move any votes.

    Frankly I'm surprised I haven't read on Twitter that it's all fake news and these kids are actors hired by the Mexican government and the Clinton foundation.

    I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not but if not Anne Coulter has pretty much said they are child actors, although Anne is one of the craziest conservative pundits in the USA, among some quite tough competition, she does represent a viewpoint that some people have...
    It was intended be be sarcasm but clearly the US is so screwed up that I can't do sarcasm anymore. "child actors", that woman is frankly mental.

    Should I be worried that I find her very attractive..........
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938

    It's an appalling look, but so it endless incidents of school kids being massacred by gunfire and Americans seem OK with that. I suspect it'll not move any votes.

    Frankly I'm surprised I haven't read on Twitter that it's all fake news and these kids are actors hired by the Mexican government and the Clinton foundation.

    I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not but if not Anne Coulter has pretty much said they are child actors, although Anne is one of the craziest conservative pundits in the USA, among some quite tough competition, she does represent a viewpoint that some people have...
    It was intended be be sarcasm but clearly the US is so screwed up that I can't do sarcasm anymore. "child actors", that woman is frankly mental.

    Should I be worried that I find her very attractive..........
    Pillow talk would be... errr... different.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938
    brendan16 said:

    FPT

    "I don't understand why children are being separated from their parents. Either they are legal migrants and the family stays together in entering the USA, or they're illegal migrants and the family stays together in not entering the USA."

    The families are not simply bounced from the border, the parents are charged with illegal entry into the United States, that's the nub of the change the mandatory criminalisation of people caught crossing the border.

    The parents aren't simply thrown back south, they go to jail. The kids can't go to jail, hence they go into the care of the state. (in this case a big cage).

    It's brutal, but it'll work very quickly. Why risk going north when this may happen?

    Either the United States has a border and enforces it or it does not. It's brutal as you say - but of course it's the fault of the parents for trying to enter the US illegally while dragging their kids through a potentially dangerous border crossing.

    Many many people try legally to get a green card and legal permanent residency and then US citizenship. Same with entry into Europe. If crossing the Mexican border or the Med and landing gives you effectively the same thing why should anyone bother going via the legal route?

    You could equally argue that it is cruel to jail any parent who commits a crime in the UK - in case their child has to go into care?

    In the end if you care about your kids and their welfare - don't break the law including immigration law.

    That doesn't of course absolve the US government from looking after these kids properly - but parents who commit crimes shouldn't just be absolved of them because they have children?
    I have a lot of sympathy with this view: ultimately, we should be in the business of rewarding people who play by the rules.

    My big issue - as a US resident - is that the system is designed to have no penalties for those who hire or benefit from (cheap, no insurance needed) illegal immigrants.

    The consequence of this is that those (like property developers) who have business models based around hiring illegal immigrants to keep costs down, keep demanding them. There is huge demand for undocumented labour in the US, and there are next to no penalities for hiring illegals. This keeps demand high, and therefore people flowing in.

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work, then I believe you (a) are not going to solve the problem, and (b) are acting imorally, in that you are creating demand for an illegal product.

    To use an analogy, imagine there were no penalties whatsover for drug taking and possession, but appalling penalties for dealing. It would be insane, yes? That is the situation in the US today.
  • Options
    RobDRobD Posts: 58,961
    rcs1000 said:


    I have a lot of sympathy with this view: ultimately, we should be in the business of rewarding people who play by the rules.

    My big issue - as a US resident - is that the system is designed to have no penalties for those who hire or benefit from (cheap, no insurance needed) illegal immigrants.

    The consequence of this is that those (like property developers) who have business models based around hiring illegal immigrants to keep costs down, keep demanding them. There is huge demand for undocumented labour in the US, and there are next to no penalities for hiring illegals. This keeps demand high, and therefore people flowing in.

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work, then I believe you (a) are not going to solve the problem, and (b) are acting imorally, in that you are creating demand for an illegal product.

    To use an analogy, imagine there were no penalties whatsover for drug taking and possession, but appalling penalties for dealing. It would be insane, yes? That is the situation in the US today.

    The pandering to illegal immigrants (sanctuary cities and the like) is particularly annoying given the time and energy I have to expend to ensure I'm here legally. Why should an illegal immigrant get residency/citizenship when I'm going to be unceremoniously kicked out when my visa expires?
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938
    RobD said:

    rcs1000 said:


    I have a lot of sympathy with this view: ultimately, we should be in the business of rewarding people who play by the rules.

    My big issue - as a US resident - is that the system is designed to have no penalties for those who hire or benefit from (cheap, no insurance needed) illegal immigrants.

    The consequence of this is that those (like property developers) who have business models based around hiring illegal immigrants to keep costs down, keep demanding them. There is huge demand for undocumented labour in the US, and there are next to no penalities for hiring illegals. This keeps demand high, and therefore people flowing in.

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work, then I believe you (a) are not going to solve the problem, and (b) are acting imorally, in that you are creating demand for an illegal product.

    To use an analogy, imagine there were no penalties whatsover for drug taking and possession, but appalling penalties for dealing. It would be insane, yes? That is the situation in the US today.

    The pandering to illegal immigrants (sanctuary cities and the like) is particularly annoying given the time and energy I have to expend to ensure I'm here legally. Why should an illegal immigrant get residency/citizenship when I'm going to be unceremoniously kicked out when my visa expires?
    The 'sanctury cities' are all ones where there are massive amounts of building work going on, and contractors don't want to lose all their cheap employees. In California, after the tech companies, the major political donors are all building firms. Coincidence?
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938
    @RobD

    In the US, employees are expected to fill in an I-9 demonstrating a right to work. However, employers are not required to check that any of the paperwork the I-9 refers to is actually correct, and there have been successful legal cases brought against employers who were overzealous in checking the eligibility of workers.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,149
    RobD said:

    rcs1000 said:


    I have a lot of sympathy with this view: ultimately, we should be in the business of rewarding people who play by the rules.

    My big issue - as a US resident - is that the system is designed to have no penalties for those who hire or benefit from (cheap, no insurance needed) illegal immigrants.

    The consequence of this is that those (like property developers) who have business models based around hiring illegal immigrants to keep costs down, keep demanding them. There is huge demand for undocumented labour in the US, and there are next to no penalities for hiring illegals. This keeps demand high, and therefore people flowing in.

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work, then I believe you (a) are not going to solve the problem, and (b) are acting imorally, in that you are creating demand for an illegal product.

    To use an analogy, imagine there were no penalties whatsover for drug taking and possession, but appalling penalties for dealing. It would be insane, yes? That is the situation in the US today.

    The pandering to illegal immigrants (sanctuary cities and the like) is particularly annoying given the time and energy I have to expend to ensure I'm here legally. Why should an illegal immigrant get residency/citizenship when I'm going to be unceremoniously kicked out when my visa expires?
    The point of sanctuary cities is to let illegal immigrants interact with the local authorities without fear of getting deported. That's what you want, isn't it? I mean, if an illegal immigrant sees you getting mugged, do you want them to report it to the police or not?
  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    brendan16 said:

    FPT

    "I don't understand why children are being separated from their parents. Either they are legal migrants and the family stays together in entering the USA, or they're illegal migrants and the family stays together in not entering the USA."

    The families are not simply bounced from the border, the parents are charged with illegal entry into the United States, that's the nub of the change the mandatory criminalisation of people caught crossing the border.

    The parents aren't simply thrown back south, they go to jail. The kids can't go to jail, hence they go into the care of the state. (in this case a big cage).

    It's brutal, but it'll work very quickly. Why risk going north when this may happen?

    Either the United States has a border and enforces it or it does not. It's brutal as you say - but of course it's the fault of the parents for trying to enter the US illegally while dragging their kids through a potentially dangerous border crossing.

    Many many people try legally to get a green card and legal permanent residency and then US citizenship. Same with entry into Europe. If crossing the Mexican border or the Med and landing gives you effectively the same thing why should anyone bother going via the legal route?

    You could equally argue that it is cruel to jail any parent who commits a crime in the UK - in case their child has to go into care?

    In the end if you care about your kids and their welfare - don't break the law including immigration law.

    That doesn't of course absolve the US government from looking after these kids properly - but parents who commit crimes shouldn't just be absolved of them because they have children?
    Sending them all back to the country of origin seems a more proportionate punishment. OK they might try again, but that has to be better than what is being done. Be swift and uncompromising in sending them all back and surely that will get the message across if not as quickly and brutally.

    And of course it would seem they aren't looking after them properly, therefore a bigger wrong is being committed by the state in the name of some idealised justice.

    I try not to overly judge countries on their immigration policies, since ultimately it has to be up to a country how open they want to be and oftentimes critics implicitly or explicitly act as though any amount of sending people back is unconscionable, but surely some methods, even if effective, are not justified just because a crime has been committed?

    If I stomped on your foot I'd be in the wrong and should expect consequences, but that wouldnt make it reasonable or proportionate to chop my legs off at the knee. It'd be effective and I wouldn't do it again, but it'd be a bit of an overeaction.

  • Options
    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    A story about staff at Microsoft demanding it end it's work with the US Border Patrol I see.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44543352

    It says 'more than 100' demanded such though. Is that news? Surely they have tens of thousands of employees?
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    So it's the big day in the Commons on the meaningful vote. I have to admit while I've been critical of May either being deceitful or careless in her tactics on the matter previously, I am far from convinced by Grieve's latest comments about seeking a sensible compromise.

    I believe that the government over promised on its compromise last time, which is not good, but they did compromise to some degree and it was rejected, and if that was, reasonably or not, as far as they could go in compromising with the other side of the debate, it feels like Grieve is being disingenuous by acting as though he is willing to meet the Gov halfway when they would claim they've already done so and wants them to come three quarters of the way .

    What he says the amendment does not do seems pretty in line with what the opposition say it will do.
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    SandyRentoolSandyRentool Posts: 20,596
    kle4 said:

    So it's the big day in the Commons on the meaningful vote. I have to admit while I've been critical of May either being deceitful or careless in her tactics on the matter previously, I am far from convinced by Grieve's latest comments about seeking a sensible compromise.

    I believe that the government over promised on its compromise last time, which is not good, but they did compromise to some degree and it was rejected, and if that was, reasonably or not, as far as they could go in compromising with the other side of the debate, it feels like Grieve is being disingenuous by acting as though he is willing to meet the Gov halfway when they would claim they've already done so and wants them to come three quarters of the way .

    What he says the amendment does not do seems pretty in line with what the opposition say it will do.

    I would like to see the amendment pass, primarily to embarrass the government. However, it runs the risk of parliament then deciding that any deal is better than no deal and us ending up with a dog's breakfast of a Brexit.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938

    RobD said:

    rcs1000 said:


    I have a lot of sympathy with this view: ultimately, we should be in the business of rewarding people who play by the rules.

    My big issue - as a US resident - is that the system is designed to have no penalties for those who hire or benefit from (cheap, no insurance needed) illegal immigrants.

    The consequence of this is that those (like property developers) who have business models based around hiring illegal immigrants to keep costs down, keep demanding them. There is huge demand for undocumented labour in the US, and there are next to no penalities for hiring illegals. This keeps demand high, and therefore people flowing in.

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work, then I believe you (a) are not going to solve the problem, and (b) are acting imorally, in that you are creating demand for an illegal product.

    To use an analogy, imagine there were no penalties whatsover for drug taking and possession, but appalling penalties for dealing. It would be insane, yes? That is the situation in the US today.

    The pandering to illegal immigrants (sanctuary cities and the like) is particularly annoying given the time and energy I have to expend to ensure I'm here legally. Why should an illegal immigrant get residency/citizenship when I'm going to be unceremoniously kicked out when my visa expires?
    The point of sanctuary cities is to let illegal immigrants interact with the local authorities without fear of getting deported. That's what you want, isn't it? I mean, if an illegal immigrant sees you getting mugged, do you want them to report it to the police or not?
    Worth mentioning here is that the evidence shows an *inverse* correlation between the proportion of immigrants and the levels of crime: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/immigrants-do-not-increase-crime-research-shows/

    Of course, I suspect that's because immigrants are attracted to cities with lots of opportunities, and cities with lots of opportunities tend to have lower crime rates.
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,480
    .
    rcs1000 said:

    brendan16 said:

    FPT

    "I don't understand why children are being separated from their parents. Either they are legal migrants and the family stays together in entering the USA, or they're illegal migrants and the family stays together in not entering the USA."

    The families are not simply bounced from the border, the parents are charged with illegal entry into the United States, that's the nub of the change the mandatory criminalisation of people caught crossing the border.

    The parents aren't simply thrown back south, they go to jail. The kids can't go to jail, hence they go into the care of the state. (in this case a big cage).

    It's brutal, but it'll work very quickly. Why risk going north when this may happen?


    You could equally argue that it is cruel to jail any parent who commits a crime in the UK - in case their child has to go into care?

    In the end if you care about your kids and their welfare - don't break the law including immigration law.

    That doesn't of course absolve the US government from looking after these kids properly - but parents who commit crimes shouldn't just be absolved of them because they have children?
    I have a lot of sympathy with this view: ultimately, we should be in the business of rewarding people who play by the rules.

    My big issue - as a US resident - is that the system is designed to have no penalties for those who hire or benefit from (cheap, no insurance needed) illegal immigrants.

    The consequence of this is that those (like property developers) who have business models based around hiring illegal immigrants to keep costs down, keep demanding them. There is huge demand for undocumented labour in the US, and there are next to no penalities for hiring illegals. This keeps demand high, and therefore people flowing in.

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work, then I believe you (a) are not going to solve the problem, and (b) are acting imorally, in that you are creating demand for an illegal product.

    To use an analogy, imagine there were no penalties whatsover for drug taking and possession, but appalling penalties for dealing. It would be insane, yes? That is the situation in the US today.
    The other way around, surely ?
    It is more as though drug dealers, who conincidentally donate large amounts to politicians, face no penalties and users face draconian ones, even for drug use three or four decades back, or for a first offence ....
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,480

    It's an appalling look, but so it endless incidents of school kids being massacred by gunfire and Americans seem OK with that. I suspect it'll not move any votes.

    Frankly I'm surprised I haven't read on Twitter that it's all fake news and these kids are actors hired by the Mexican government and the Clinton foundation.

    I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not but if not Anne Coulter has pretty much said they are child actors, although Anne is one of the craziest conservative pundits in the USA, among some quite tough competition, she does represent a viewpoint that some people have...
    It was intended be be sarcasm but clearly the US is so screwed up that I can't do sarcasm anymore. "child actors", that woman is frankly mental.

    Should I be worried that I find her very attractive..........
    Yes. Therapy doesn’t come cheap.
  • Options
    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,480
    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work...

    It is perhaps also worth pointing out that the demand for the extraordinarily lucrative drugs trade, which has played havoc with law enforcement in Mexico, and created the conditions where many would be migrants can credibly claim to be seeking asylum, is almost largely from the US.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938
    Nigelb said:

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work...

    It is perhaps also worth pointing out that the demand for the extraordinarily lucrative drugs trade, which has played havoc with law enforcement in Mexico, and created the conditions where many would be migrants can credibly claim to be seeking asylum, is almost largely from the US.

    This is a classic example of what I call "the sole actor fallacy": in this case, the idea that Mexico alone is responsible for the flow of migrants/drugs.
  • Options
    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,907
    Will a focus on illegal immigration really hurt Trump? Not sure about that tbh.
  • Options
    AlastairMeeksAlastairMeeks Posts: 30,340
    So the hypocrisy about immigration controls is truly transatlantic. Both the British and American publics want stringent immigration controls but not their consequences.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938

    So the hypocrisy about immigration controls is truly transatlantic. Both the British and American publics want stringent immigration controls but not their consequences.

    Well, the greatest lie is that most illegal immigrants come to the US via trekking across the border in Texas. In reality, the bulk come from "tourists" who "forget" to go home.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,974
    Good morning, everyone.

    So far, every one (admittedly, just three) of my World Cup match bets has failed. Cunningly, I've been playing with very small stakes, but still.

    Any word on the CDU/CSU situation?
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    OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,960

    So the hypocrisy about immigration controls is truly transatlantic. Both the British and American publics want stringent immigration controls but not their consequences.

    In a way that’s not surprising, and underlines one of the problems about referenda vs representative government. Ask a ‘simple’ question and you’ll get a simple answer, but very rarely in life are things that simple.
  • Options
    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181
    I'm starting to think we made an error not putting Corbyn in charge of Brexit negotiations.

    When it comes to having cake and eating it, he's rather good.
  • Options
    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938

    Good morning, everyone.

    So far, every one (admittedly, just three) of my World Cup match bets has failed. Cunningly, I've been playing with very small stakes, but still.

    Any word on the CDU/CSU situation?

    I believe that the CSU has given the CDU two weeks to reach agreements with other EU countries to limit the flow of refugees into Germany.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,302
    rcs1000 said:

    brendan16 said:

    FPT

    "I don't understand why children are being separated from their parents. Either they are legal migrants and the family stays together in entering the USA, or they're illegal migrants and the family stays together in not entering the USA."

    The families are not simply bounced from the border, the parents are charged with illegal entry into the United States, that's the nub of the change the mandatory criminalisation of people caught crossing the border.

    The parents

    It's brutal, but it'll work very quickly. Why risk going north when this may happen?

    Either the United States has a border and enforces it or it does not. It's brutal as you say - but of course it's the fault of the parents for trying to enter the US illegally while dragging their kids through a potentially dangerous border crossing.

    Many many people try legally to get a green card and legal permanent residency and then US citizenship. Same with entry into Europe. If crossing the Mexican border or the Med and landing gives you effectively the same thing why should anyone bother going via the legal route?

    You could equally argue that it is cruel to jail any parent who commits a crime in the UK - in case their child has to go into care?

    In the end if you care about your kids and their welfare - don't break the law including immigration law.

    That doesn't of course absolve the US government from looking after these kids properly - but parents who commit crimes shouldn't just be absolved of them because they have children?
    I have a lot of sympathy with this view: ultimately, we should be in the business of rewarding people who play by the rules.

    My big issue - as a US resident - is that the system is designed to have no penalties for those who hire or benefit from (cheap, no insurance needed) illegal immigrants.

    The consequence of this is that those (like property developers) who have business models based around hiring illegal immigrants to keep costs down, keep demanding them. There is huge demand for undocumented labour in the US, and there are next to no penalities for hiring illegals. This keeps demand high, and therefore people flowing in.

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work, then I believe you (a) are not going to solve the problem, and (b) are acting imorally, in that you are creating demand for an illegal product.

    To use an analogy, imagine there were no penalties whatsover for drug taking and possession, but appalling penalties for dealing. It would be insane, yes? That is the situation in the US today.
    There are many things I find illogical about the US immigration system.
  • Options
    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,182
    ydoethur said:

    I'm starting to think we made an error not putting Corbyn in charge of Brexit negotiations.

    When it comes to having cake and eating it, he's rather good.
    The way things are going, he could yet be in charge of the Brexit process.
  • Options
    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,302

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,182
    rcs1000 said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    So far, every one (admittedly, just three) of my World Cup match bets has failed. Cunningly, I've been playing with very small stakes, but still.

    Any word on the CDU/CSU situation?

    I believe that the CSU has given the CDU two weeks to reach agreements with other EU countries to limit the flow of refugees into Germany.
    What irony, if FoM is reformed just as we leave the EU...
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181

    ydoethur said:

    I'm starting to think we made an error not putting Corbyn in charge of Brexit negotiations.

    When it comes to having cake and eating it, he's rather good.
    The way things are going, he could yet be in charge of the Brexit process.
    Er, no. That would be going a lot too far.

    I just think putting a man who screams about his principles and then quietly and effectively sacrifices the lot without people noticing to get what he wants would be a rather good negotiator. Also, people like him personally and consistently underrate him. With Davis, people dislike him and every time you think he can't top the last cock up, he somehow does it.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,937
    Oh, FFS. What is their alternative? What is their plan?

    On a tangential issue: the Airports Commission report would have relied on future projections of usage of the various UK airports. Due to (IMO) stupidity, nothing has been done on the report in three years since it was published.

    But it would be interesting to see how those projections matched the reality of growth over the last three years ...
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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,280
    Wow I had missed the LDs rising without trace. Double figures not a huge leap to late teens..

    What were their figures 2010 pre-GE?
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,480
    The dehumanisation of those subject to draconian policies is standard procedure for those who wish to gain their acceptance:
    https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/19/trump-border-children-inflammatory-rhetoric-655479
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938
    Tax on what?

    Without context it's meaningless: turnover? profits? donations? time spent on internet forums?
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,480
    It would be amusing if Cohen flips on Trump because the Don is too cheap to pay his legal bills:
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-cohen-wants-trump-to-pay-his-legal-fees-1529447136
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    RogerRoger Posts: 18,891
    54% of Republicans support taking very young children away from their parents and putting them in cages....

    What a sad place Trump's America has become.
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    OblitusSumMeOblitusSumMe Posts: 9,143

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system.

    http://www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/immigration-detention-in-the-uk/
    Looks like we now rarely detain families and when we do we keep them together.
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,182
    Roger said:

    54% of Republicans support taking very young children away from their parents and putting them in cages....

    What a sad place Trump's America has become.

    https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1009126377587724288
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,202
    rcs1000 said:

    Tax on what?

    Without context it's meaningless: turnover? profits? donations? time spent on internet forums?
    The last one looks particularly iniquitous. But Hungary is in increasing danger of not being an operating democracy.
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    FoxyFoxy Posts: 44,578
    Jezzfest sweeping the nation? Dirty sleazy Tories on the slide.

    :)
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,149

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,359
    Nigelb said:

    It would be amusing if Cohen flips on Trump because the Don is too cheap to pay his legal bills:
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-cohen-wants-trump-to-pay-his-legal-fees-1529447136

    Surely it is more a case that Trump knows it costs his nothing to pardon Cohen (well at least financially, politically that's another matter)
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,480

    Roger said:

    54% of Republicans support taking very young children away from their parents and putting them in cages....

    What a sad place Trump's America has become.

    https://twitter.com/paulkrugman/status/1009126377587724288
    In Trump's case that would be an entirely rhetorical question.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938

    Nigelb said:

    It would be amusing if Cohen flips on Trump because the Don is too cheap to pay his legal bills:
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-cohen-wants-trump-to-pay-his-legal-fees-1529447136

    Surely it is more a case that Trump knows it costs his nothing to pardon Cohen (well at least financially, politically that's another matter)
    Donald Trump can only pardon federal crimes. I believe Cohen is being prosecuted by the New York AG, under NY law.
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    ydoethurydoethur Posts: 67,181

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
    Pedant hat ON.

    Immigration controls in the UK date from the Aliens Act of 1905.

    Pedant hat OFF.
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,149
    ydoethur said:

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
    Pedant hat ON.

    Immigration controls in the UK date from the Aliens Act of 1905.

    Pedant hat OFF.
    Nice catch.

    More on the Aliens Act:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_Act_1905
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    Casino_RoyaleCasino_Royale Posts: 55,302

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
    Thanks.

    It’s a view.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,974
    F1: Ladbrokes really taking their time with the French markets. Four were up on Monday, six yesterday, now just ten. Peculiar.

    Anyway, nothing initially tempting.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,202
    Nigelb said:

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work...

    It is perhaps also worth pointing out that the demand for the extraordinarily lucrative drugs trade, which has played havoc with law enforcement in Mexico, and created the conditions where many would be migrants can credibly claim to be seeking asylum, is almost largely from the US.

    There was a border Congressman on R4 yesterday who said that there were now more people returning to Mexico than were coming, mainly because the Mexican economy is booming and opportunities were plentiful. The problem was with less successful central American States. He was a Republican but could not support treating children like this. That 54% figure is deeply depressing, even if you ignore the fact that many former Republicans now call themselves independents.
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,182

    ydoethur said:

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
    Pedant hat ON.

    Immigration controls in the UK date from the Aliens Act of 1905.

    Pedant hat OFF.
    Nice catch.

    More on the Aliens Act:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliens_Act_1905
    Seems to have been partly driven by the declining conditions in Russia Pale of Settlement, forcing Jews to leave.
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    TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 114,359
    rcs1000 said:

    Nigelb said:

    It would be amusing if Cohen flips on Trump because the Don is too cheap to pay his legal bills:
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/michael-cohen-wants-trump-to-pay-his-legal-fees-1529447136

    Surely it is more a case that Trump knows it costs his nothing to pardon Cohen (well at least financially, politically that's another matter)
    Donald Trump can only pardon federal crimes. I believe Cohen is being prosecuted by the New York AG, under NY law.
    Ah.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,202
    ydoethur said:

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
    Pedant hat ON.

    Immigration controls in the UK date from the Aliens Act of 1905.

    Pedant hat OFF.
    Queen Victoria died in 1901 so how does this make Robert wrong?
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,974
    Mr. 1000, cheers.
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    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,636

    rcs1000 said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    So far, every one (admittedly, just three) of my World Cup match bets has failed. Cunningly, I've been playing with very small stakes, but still.

    Any word on the CDU/CSU situation?

    I believe that the CSU has given the CDU two weeks to reach agreements with other EU countries to limit the flow of refugees into Germany.
    What irony, if FoM is reformed just as we leave the EU...
    +1
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    rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 58,182
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    Scott_PScott_P Posts: 51,453
    edited June 2018
    Brexit has become England’s white whale. A beast to be pursued at all and any cost and damn the consequences. Naturally, like many dismal causes, this one comes wrapped in a flag and loudly proclaims its love of country and its unfettered belief in a glorious, liberated, future without demonstrating even the slightest awareness of the trouble that comes with this. It is a kind of monomania that, in response to every setback or difficulty, demands a faster, purer, harder Brexit. If in doubt – though the Brexiteers are not over-burdened by that commodity – double-down.

    It confirms the sense there is something intrinsically recessional about Brexit. It is a cause for a Britain the Brexiteers themselves do not think worth prizing and it is hard to avoid the thought that matters and may one day make a difference.

    Brexit must, again, happen. But while Brexit may be forgivable, the Brexiteers are not.


    https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/06/brexit-has-become-englands-white-whale/
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    RogerRoger Posts: 18,891
    edited June 2018
    One of the things I've always liked about the EU is that it has demanded decent standards of its members as a qualification for joining and belonging. Whether some countries have been forced kicking and screaming to abide by these values doesn't matter. The EU stamp guarantees standards.

    Even those who claim we didn't need the EU to guarantee our behaviour because we are above those standards anyway miss the point that by being a part of that club we helped to force those standards in places that couldn't take them for granted
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    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,636
    edited June 2018
    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
    Pedant hat ON.

    Immigration controls in the UK date from the Aliens Act of 1905.

    Pedant hat OFF.
    Queen Victoria died in 1901 so how does this make Robert wrong?
    You need to read @edmundintokyo's 2nd post in the thread above.
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    BenpointerBenpointer Posts: 31,636
    Morning comrades. Anything of note going on in the HoC today?
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    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,056
    Doesn't the Hungarian government supported migration rights for Hungarians ?
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    edmundintokyoedmundintokyo Posts: 17,149
    edited June 2018
    DavidL said:

    ydoethur said:

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
    Pedant hat ON.

    Immigration controls in the UK date from the Aliens Act of 1905.

    Pedant hat OFF.
    Queen Victoria died in 1901 so how does this make Robert wrong?
    Robert's right, I'm wrong, I said something about the "post-WW1" system.
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,202

    It's an appalling look, but so it endless incidents of school kids being massacred by gunfire and Americans seem OK with that. I suspect it'll not move any votes.

    Frankly I'm surprised I haven't read on Twitter that it's all fake news and these kids are actors hired by the Mexican government and the Clinton foundation.

    I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not but if not Anne Coulter has pretty much said they are child actors, although Anne is one of the craziest conservative pundits in the USA, among some quite tough competition, she does represent a viewpoint that some people have...
    It was intended be be sarcasm but clearly the US is so screwed up that I can't do sarcasm anymore. "child actors", that woman is frankly mental.

    Should I be worried that I find her very attractive..........
    That would be the Ann Coulter who called the Republican race for Trump long before anyone else and got mocked for it?
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    TOPPINGTOPPING Posts: 41,280

    Morning comrades. Anything of note going on in the HoC today?

    I think the “HOC/42/HE5 Breakfast Cereal - milk saturation levels” vote is around 3pm.
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    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,907
    Roger said:

    One of the things I've always liked about the EU is that it has demanded decent standards of its members as a qualification for joining and belonging. Whether some countries have been forced kicking and screaming to abide by these values doesn't matter. The EU stamp guarantees civilised standards.

    Even those who claim we didn't need the EU to guarantee our behaviour because we are above those standards anyway miss the point that by being a part of that club we helped to force those standards in places that couldn't take them for granted

    Hungary and perhaps some other Eastern European countries are testing that theory now.
    I agree with you that the EU has supported the export of more liberal values, democratic institutions, rule of law etc. and I hope they stand firm on this.
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    JosiasJessopJosiasJessop Posts: 38,937
    Roger said:

    One of the things I've always liked about the EU is that it has demanded decent standards of its members as a qualification for joining and belonging. Whether some countries have been forced kicking and screaming to abide by these values doesn't matter. The EU stamp guarantees standards.

    Even those who claim we didn't need the EU to guarantee our behaviour because we are above those standards anyway miss the point that by being a part of that club we helped to force those standards in places that couldn't take them for granted

    I agree with that.

    *If* Hungary bring in a harsh law, it'll be interesting to see how the EU react.
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    NigelbNigelb Posts: 62,480
    DavidL said:

    Nigelb said:

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work...

    It is perhaps also worth pointing out that the demand for the extraordinarily lucrative drugs trade, which has played havoc with law enforcement in Mexico, and created the conditions where many would be migrants can credibly claim to be seeking asylum, is almost largely from the US.

    There was a border Congressman on R4 yesterday who said that there were now more people returning to Mexico than were coming, mainly because the Mexican economy is booming and opportunities were plentiful. The problem was with less successful central American States. He was a Republican but could not support treating children like this. That 54% figure is deeply depressing, even if you ignore the fact that many former Republicans now call themselves independents.
    One has to factor in those Republicans who believe Trump's lies in respect of Democrats' responsibility for his policy:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-trump-seems-to-be-saying-more-and-more-things-that-arent-true/2018/06/19/c1bb8af6-73d5-11e8-805c-4b67019fcfe4_story.html
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    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,056
    Roger said:

    One of the things I've always liked about the EU is that it has demanded decent standards of its members as a qualification for joining and belonging. Whether some countries have been forced kicking and screaming to abide by these values doesn't matter. The EU stamp guarantees standards.

    Even those who claim we didn't need the EU to guarantee our behaviour because we are above those standards anyway miss the point that by being a part of that club we helped to force those standards in places that couldn't take them for granted

    Yet the EU colluded with the German government and the German car makers to ignore its own rules leading to the premature deaths of many thousands of people.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,974
    Mr. Roger, the Hungarian Government reportedly plans to tax any organisation that's pro-migration, and the Italian Government is drawing up a register of Roma with a view to deporting the lot of them.

    Not sure the EU is the stepladder to the moral high ground you think it is.

    Mr. Borough, if MPs seek to rule out 'no deal' then the EU will simply dictate terms and the UK's only option will be to sign.

    Similarly, a second referendum (having done their best to thwart the first) would simply provide an incentive to the EU to offer the worst possible deal so that the electorate has the 'opportunity to change its mind'.

    Grieve et al. are undermining the UK's negotiating position, such as it is, and giving succour to the other side of the table. They've lost the vote but want to win the process.
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    Genius - Get the public credit of opposing it while keeping onside those who support it by not really opposing it.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,974
    Mr. Richard, have any of those German car companies been fined yet, or is that sort of thing only for the Untermensch?
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    DavidLDavidL Posts: 51,202
    Nigelb said:

    DavidL said:

    Nigelb said:

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work...

    It is perhaps also worth pointing out that the demand for the extraordinarily lucrative drugs trade, which has played havoc with law enforcement in Mexico, and created the conditions where many would be migrants can credibly claim to be seeking asylum, is almost largely from the US.

    There was a border Congressman on R4 yesterday who said that there were now more people returning to Mexico than were coming, mainly because the Mexican economy is booming and opportunities were plentiful. The problem was with less successful central American States. He was a Republican but could not support treating children like this. That 54% figure is deeply depressing, even if you ignore the fact that many former Republicans now call themselves independents.
    One has to factor in those Republicans who believe Trump's lies in respect of Democrats' responsibility for his policy:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-trump-seems-to-be-saying-more-and-more-things-that-arent-true/2018/06/19/c1bb8af6-73d5-11e8-805c-4b67019fcfe4_story.html
    Quote:

    "According to an analysis by The Post’s Fact Checker through the end of May, Trump had made 3,251 false or misleading claims in 497 days — an average of 6.5 such claims per day of his presidency."

    We truly live in extraordinary times.
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    AnazinaAnazina Posts: 3,487

    No betting angle particularly but out of interest what happens to kids in the British immigration system?

    The one silver lining to this is that Trump is acting like a kind of cartoon super-villain discrediting a lot of banal state-perpetrated evil that's been going on since governments started trying to manage which humans lived on which side of their imaginary lines.

    You favour global free movement?
    Yes. Or as @rcs1000 frames it, a return to a Victorian immigration policy.

    The post-WW1 system is a massive failure. It's arbitrary, immoral, and the costs are unfathomably immense - something like 100% of world GDP - ie but for this disastrous experiment in command-and-control, the world would be something like twice as rich as it currently is.
    Thanks.

    It’s a view.
    Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

    Yes it is a view, just like nearly every other post on here. It is a view. It is.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938

    Mr. Richard, have any of those German car companies been fined yet, or is that sort of thing only for the Untermensch?

    To be fair, slightly under the radar, the Germans have been arresting an increasing proportion of VW group management: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44517753
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,983
    Roger said:

    One of the things I've always liked about the EU is that it has demanded decent standards of its members as a qualification for joining and belonging. Whether some countries have been forced kicking and screaming to abide by these values doesn't matter. The EU stamp guarantees standards.

    Even those who claim we didn't need the EU to guarantee our behaviour because we are above those standards anyway miss the point that by being a part of that club we helped to force those standards in places that couldn't take them for granted

    The EU can only keep those 'standards' while members agree. With the interior ministers of Germany and Italy, the Chancellor of Austria, the President of Hungary etc all taking a very tough anti migration line the EU's open borders policy is hanging by a very thin thread indeed
  • Options
    DecrepitJohnLDecrepitJohnL Posts: 13,300

    rcs1000 said:

    Good morning, everyone.

    So far, every one (admittedly, just three) of my World Cup match bets has failed. Cunningly, I've been playing with very small stakes, but still.

    Any word on the CDU/CSU situation?

    I believe that the CSU has given the CDU two weeks to reach agreements with other EU countries to limit the flow of refugees into Germany.
    What irony, if FoM is reformed just as we leave the EU...
    Careful -- Nick Ridley lost his job for suggesting the EU was a German racket.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,974
    Mr. 1000, cheers for posting that. Surprised it isn't making a slightly bigger splash.
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    Didn't John rentou crunch the numbers and see there were a few who didn't vote last time? Feels like they could be crucial.

    For what it is worth I think the Gov has decided there's no point trying to compromise further as Grieve won't accept anything, despite his claims to the contrary, and that they will just lose as the temptation to bloody the Gov proves too enticing for a couple of lab leavers. After all, if a couple of tories say the amendment won't bind the Gov etc, that's cover for them changing their vote while saying they still believe what they said before.
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    AlistairAlistair Posts: 23,670

    It's an appalling look, but so it endless incidents of school kids being massacred by gunfire and Americans seem OK with that. I suspect it'll not move any votes.

    Frankly I'm surprised I haven't read on Twitter that it's all fake news and these kids are actors hired by the Mexican government and the Clinton foundation.

    Ann Coulter did that on telly.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938
    HYUFD said:

    Roger said:

    One of the things I've always liked about the EU is that it has demanded decent standards of its members as a qualification for joining and belonging. Whether some countries have been forced kicking and screaming to abide by these values doesn't matter. The EU stamp guarantees standards.

    Even those who claim we didn't need the EU to guarantee our behaviour because we are above those standards anyway miss the point that by being a part of that club we helped to force those standards in places that couldn't take them for granted

    The EU can only keep those 'standards' while members agree. With the interior ministers of Germany and Italy, the Chancellor of Austria, the President of Hungary etc all taking a very tough anti migration line the EU's open borders policy is hanging by a very thin thread indeed
    Although it is worth mentioning that there is a very different migrant policy between Lega Nord and the Hungarian government (to pick one). Lega Nord believes that the Hungarians - among others - should take their share of North African refugees, while the Hungarian government believes they are Italy's problem.
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    HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,983
    Kate Hoey, Frank Field, Graham Stringer any one of them could put May over the top
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    AnazinaAnazina Posts: 3,487
    kle4 said:

    Didn't John rentou crunch the numbers and see there were a few who didn't vote last time? Feels like they could be crucial.

    For what it is worth I think the Gov has decided there's no point trying to compromise further as Grieve won't accept anything, despite his claims to the contrary, and that they will just lose as the temptation to bloody the Gov proves too enticing for a couple of lab leavers. After all, if a couple of tories say the amendment won't bind the Gov etc, that's cover for them changing their vote while saying they still believe what they said before.
    I think the government will win, thanks to so-called ‘Labour’ MPs voting with the Tories.
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    DavidL said:

    Nigelb said:

    DavidL said:

    Nigelb said:

    By all means, prosecute those who try and come to the US illegally. But if you do not impose penalties on those who cause the demand for illegal work...

    It is perhaps also worth pointing out that the demand for the extraordinarily lucrative drugs trade, which has played havoc with law enforcement in Mexico, and created the conditions where many would be migrants can credibly claim to be seeking asylum, is almost largely from the US.

    There was a border Congressman on R4 yesterday who said that there were now more people returning to Mexico than were coming, mainly because the Mexican economy is booming and opportunities were plentiful. The problem was with less successful central American States. He was a Republican but could not support treating children like this. That 54% figure is deeply depressing, even if you ignore the fact that many former Republicans now call themselves independents.
    One has to factor in those Republicans who believe Trump's lies in respect of Democrats' responsibility for his policy:
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/president-trump-seems-to-be-saying-more-and-more-things-that-arent-true/2018/06/19/c1bb8af6-73d5-11e8-805c-4b67019fcfe4_story.html
    Quote:

    "According to an analysis by The Post’s Fact Checker through the end of May, Trump had made 3,251 false or misleading claims in 497 days — an average of 6.5 such claims per day of his presidency."

    We truly live in extraordinary times.
    That's a lot claims to make, never mind them being misleading - he should talk less.
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    another_richardanother_richard Posts: 25,056
    rcs1000 said:

    Mr. Richard, have any of those German car companies been fined yet, or is that sort of thing only for the Untermensch?

    To be fair, slightly under the radar, the Germans have been arresting an increasing proportion of VW group management: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44517753
    When you see large numbers of people, including top politicians, go to jail for corporate manslaughter you'll know they're taking things seriously.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938

    Mr. 1000, cheers for posting that. Surprised it isn't making a slightly bigger splash.

    I think the EU is useless in this regard, but the Germans (rather quietly) are trying to do the right thing.
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    AnazinaAnazina Posts: 3,487
    Canada latest jurisdiction in North America to legalise cannabis.

    Tick, tock.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-44543286
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    rkrkrkrkrkrk Posts: 7,907

    Mr. Roger, the Hungarian Government reportedly plans to tax any organisation that's pro-migration, and the Italian Government is drawing up a register of Roma with a view to deporting the lot of them.

    Not sure the EU is the stepladder to the moral high ground you think it is.

    The EU is a force pushing against both those things happening, and may yet be strong enough to ensure that they don't. I would imagine that at least some of what is being talked about is illegal under EU law.
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    kle4kle4 Posts: 91,717
    Anazina said:

    kle4 said:

    Didn't John rentou crunch the numbers and see there were a few who didn't vote last time? Feels like they could be crucial.

    For what it is worth I think the Gov has decided there's no point trying to compromise further as Grieve won't accept anything, despite his claims to the contrary, and that they will just lose as the temptation to bloody the Gov proves too enticing for a couple of lab leavers. After all, if a couple of tories say the amendment won't bind the Gov etc, that's cover for them changing their vote while saying they still believe what they said before.
    I think the government will win, thanks to so-called ‘Labour’ MPs voting with the Tories.
    Frankly there should be more splits on the issue. Brexit, be it hard or soft, does not fit into standard party lines for either of them.
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    rcs1000rcs1000 Posts: 53,938

    rcs1000 said:

    Mr. Richard, have any of those German car companies been fined yet, or is that sort of thing only for the Untermensch?

    To be fair, slightly under the radar, the Germans have been arresting an increasing proportion of VW group management: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44517753
    When you see large numbers of people, including top politicians, go to jail for corporate manslaughter you'll know they're taking things seriously.
    It's difficult to prove mens rea for anyone other than the principles in an affair like this. Negligence and indifference, rightly or wrongly, are hard to prosecute.
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    Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 60,974
    Mr. kle4, the verbal diarrhoea could be strategy. If you swamp an easily outraged media with things to whine about, that stops real issues cutting through the white noise, and means there's new whining coming every day, so momentum is less likely to build because the topic of conversation keeps shifting.

    Of course, he might just love the sound of his own voice.
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