Who Should We Allow Into Our Country? (open discussion, all views welcome)

This is a casual discussion event open to all views and perspectives. Respect for others is a must (or at least try).

Immigration and securing our borders has been one of the hottest issues of Trump’s presidency. There is a wide range of factors that could play into a well thought out immigration policy, but most of the conversation I ever hear on this are the two extreme positions: “Deport all illegals!”, and “Open borders for all!”. Both of these positions are rather dense IMO. The heart of the question I would like to explore is simply: Who should we allow into our country?

Should undocumented/illegal immigrants be automatically viewed as “criminals”? What if they are only illegal as a result of poor laws/policies, where they otherwise would not be? Let’s rewind back to the days of slavery for a moment. If a slave is the legal property of another person (per the laws of the land) and that slave runs away, would you consider that slave to now be a “criminal”?

Should there be immigration restrictions against specific countries? Perhaps countries containing organizations of people that would like to destroy our country if given the chance?

Are you concerned with immigrants taking over our jobs from natural born citizens? Is there a fear of too many people of one foreign culture could gradually replace your culture?

For me, I’m for Near-open borders with a few hard exceptions, such as screening for criminals or countries containing terrorist organizations. Anyone who wants to come here to work hard and live the American dream should be given an easy path to citizenship (so long as we abolish minimum wage laws). Some other views on immigration that are guaranteed to enrage people on both sides, and I’m looking forward to having it!

What are your thoughts? Come join us for a fun discussion! All views and beliefs welcome the more diversity of opinions the better.

Rule Of Etiquette: The goal is to have a productive free-flowing discussion, while also giving everyone a fair chance to participate accordingly. If you have any trouble getting a word in, please use the "Raise Hand" feature. We have a loosely enforced 3 minute timer but please be mindful of your time and the number of people waiting, and know that you can always put yourself back in the rotation for additional talking points. It is also encouraged to engage with others on your turn so that we can have more of a free-flowing dialog, rather than each of us just taking turns on our soap boxes.

Hope you can join us!