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JanusIanitos's avatar

Tens of millions in a few months? Nothing has ever even approached that in our history. Best figures I can find says that there are ~47m people in the US that were born elsewhere. More than half of them are citizens. You're claiming that the number of non-citizens that would cross the border in just a handful of months would eclipse the number that have come here over the course of generations. It's absurd. It's not even logistically possible.

Using conservative hyperbole is wholly inappropriate. Especially with the use of the word "swarmed" in said hyperbole.

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Mark's avatar

If the hypothetical "blanket amnesty" was enacted as discussed upthread, then no, I don't think a ten-figure influx of migrants anticipating the next amnesty is out of the question for the ensuing six months.

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JanusIanitos's avatar

That's simply not based in reality and frankly is delusional.

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Mark's avatar

Well you're right that it's not based in reality. It's based on a hypothetical. Read upthread for the appropriate context. Nonetheless, the bottom line: Just as signaling relaxed border policy during the 2020 campaign and in 2021 executive orders led to an unprecedented boom in border crossings, amnesty for those already here illegally would signal pending amnesty for those yet to come. And you know, it's not my place to tell you if that's the right public policy or not. But I can say with greater confidence that it's not the right policy for those who want to win elections.

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michaelflutist's avatar

The last amnesty was accompanied by much tougher conditions for new undocumented arrivals. Any new one would quite obviously be, too. But the boogeyman is gonna get us...

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JanusIanitos's avatar

Hypotheticals still exist under an understanding of reality. I am fully aware of the context of the discussion and it was with that understanding that I stated that your view on this is absurd. Your take is delusional.

If we want to talk about the electoral impact of policies we need to actually have a grounded understanding of reality to make that assessment. It is easy to flippantly toss out absurd numbers to support whatever policy positions align with our worldview, but that doesn't make it a view based in reality. Being negative is not synonymous with being realistic, even if outcomes for us on the left can often be disappointing.

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Mark's avatar

If splitting hairs about the numbers I floated as a hypothetical helps you believe you're on the right side of public opinion, then by all means, die on that hill.

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JanusIanitos's avatar

Don't straw man. I never stated an opinion on the electoral repercussions of an amnesty law. I stated an opinion that your numbers were delusional and that they were inappropriate because they and your language to communicate said numbers were all but lifted from conservative talking points.

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