In this episode of Change My Mind, we sit down with guest host Savannah Wallace to discuss immigration reform and the removal of all illegal immigrants from the United States. We discuss the impact of deporting all illegal aliens, why it s a good idea, and why we should all be deported.
00:01:27.000I came here to have a productive conversation, and usually when I encounter someone in my field, they are also working to have a productive conversation.
00:01:34.000But the way that you throw in the little tidbits that are demeaning, the way you have very circular argument and you throw stats, that's what makes me a little apprehensive to continue speaking with you.
00:01:45.000Oklahoma University, home of the Sooners and the location for the latest installment of Change My Mind, the series where we reason through our positions on controversial topics, which today is Deport All Illegals.
00:02:01.000That's right, all, and as you can imagine, it inspired some inspired acts.
00:02:11.000Of course, none of them had any intention of sitting down and, you know, talking.
00:02:19.000It's much easier to yell racist and scurry off.
00:02:23.000Of course, they didn't necessarily represent the majority.
00:02:26.000There were plenty of students who did want to sit down for some face-to-face time.
00:02:31.000So many, in fact, that we couldn't begin to get to all of them.
00:02:34.000Plenty of them were genuinely productive conversations.
00:03:12.000If you don't mind moving a little, you can face forward, but I got to hold the mic up because we've had people try and run off with the mic too, so I got to hold it.
00:03:48.000So let me explain to you kind of just so we're not talking past each other.
00:03:51.000Let me first tell you kind of what it's not.
00:03:53.000It's not gotcha, scoring points, dunking clips, which I know we see a lot online.
00:03:59.000This was actually created about a decade ago to be sort of the anti-cable news, where people can actually have conversations that you don't see in media, where hopefully they're done in good faith, and it's, of course, used in its entire context.
00:05:09.000If someone matches the profile, for example, of a hit and run and you're detained and questioned and they find out it's not you, is that a violation of your rights?
00:05:17.000No, but the deportations that are happening across the country are going a little more deeper than that.
00:05:24.000Unfortunately, that seemed to be a very surface-level example.
00:05:27.000Sure, I understand why you would say that.
00:05:29.000And if that was the only way we're deporting people, sure, I don't have a problem with it.
00:06:18.000I think it's a very situational occurrence.
00:06:21.000I find myself disagreeing with the mass deportations that are happening, which is why I wanted to come here today and ask you what your definition of illegal is and who fits that crisis.
00:06:30.000Someone who's come to this country illegally.
00:06:37.000Yeah, anyone who is in this country illegally, who committed the crime, the misdemeanor of coming to this country illegally or visa overstays, which make up a percentage of that.
00:08:35.000I don't know if anybody is a Latina woman.
00:08:37.000They love a little bit of possessiveness, but I say it as a term of endearment.
00:08:40.000She went through the naturalization process.
00:08:42.000I fell in love with her when I saw a picture of her with her, she was actually going through the process of pictureing for the Statue of Liberty and a MAGA flag that she had.
00:08:53.000And both of them actually are far more aggressive than I am in deporting illegal aliens because they appreciate the citizenship.
00:08:59.000They appreciate being a part of this great country.
00:09:01.000So I don't really think that that's inconsistent.
00:09:03.000As a matter of fact, I think it's the rule, not the exception.
00:09:06.000But going back to the question, why, or sorry, who would you deport then?
00:09:47.000If we're talking about the colonial era and how, you know, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and all of those things, my question would be: who can be illegal on stolen land?
00:10:00.000So you're saying that no one is here legally?
00:10:44.000Unfortunately, I don't think that anyone should be deported unless maybe someone's being extradited back to a country of origin.
00:10:51.000So saying if someone has committed a crime and maybe the UK or something, maybe they, the people who robbed, what's it called, the Louvre, and they stole all the crowns and yeah, I know, I still can't believe that that happened.
00:11:02.000You're like, how do you not catch these people?
00:11:06.000But I would say, unfortunately, I don't think that anyone deserves to be reported unless they're being extradited back to their country of origin because they are committing crimes in their country of origin and they are escaping because they don't want to face imprisonment.
00:11:20.000What if they're committing crimes here?
00:11:22.000I think that the term that comes to mind is that America is a country, a third world country with a Gucci belt.
00:11:32.000So if we have enough funding to say, maybe deport all of these illegal people, then why don't we have enough money to fix our justice system?
00:11:42.000Yeah, and this is one of the things where people just move the goalposts or present a red herring.
00:11:47.000I think we need to fix the justice system as well.
00:11:49.000But going to this, you see there's a solution for everything.
00:11:51.000Illegal aliens not only commit crimes, and that's why I brought it up at a much higher rate than native-born citizens, they also cost the taxpayer $150 to $450 billion a year.
00:12:02.000It is a serious problem, and obviously, you know about our debt and our deficits.
00:12:07.000Or it sounds to me like you're saying you wouldn't even deport people who've come here illegally, that's a crime, and are committing extra crimes while here.
00:12:18.000I think that the prison system here in America is well equipped to maybe handle the reformation of those citizens.
00:12:25.000But I think that when your only option is to escape a country, when you're seeking political asylum, it's not necessarily the easiest thing in the entire world to obtain citizenship before you go to the country that you want to be in.
00:12:41.000Yeah, but why are they entitled to go to any country they want?
00:13:45.000It would be incumbent upon you because it's not just, it's not as though there's no net laws if it's $150 to $450 billion here to the American taxpayer.
00:13:54.000Make the case to the struggling American right now who's paying taxes out the wazoo that someone who comes here pays no taxes, shares nothing in common with the culture, language, commits crimes, according to your definition, should still be allowed to stay and be supported by their tax dollars.
00:14:10.000Make that case, because that actually is, if we're going to come up with a solution, you need to make that case.
00:14:47.000Why should the American taxpayer keep footing the bill for current criminals who are also illegal aliens?
00:14:54.000Those are the people who are affected.
00:14:55.000Well, it's almost as if you're insinuating that illegal citizens do not pay taxes at all.
00:15:01.000Because you can receive employment here in the United States.
00:15:04.000There's little checkbox that you have to put on job applications.
00:15:07.000I didn't say that, but go ahead with this trick.
00:15:10.000I never said that none of them pay taxes.
00:15:12.000Well, it's interesting the way that you phrase it because it's almost insinuating that illegal citizens don't pay taxes.
00:15:18.000I would say it's interesting the way you interpret it because what I said is they cost the American taxpayer $150 to $450 billion.
00:15:23.000Now I could tell you, provide you the reference, if you want to take these with you so you don't have to take my word for it, that there's about a 17, that's including the 17% offset of taxes that are paid from the illegal aliens.
00:15:34.000So even including that number, it's $150 to $450 billion.
00:15:38.000Whether they all pay taxes or very few of them pay taxes is irrelevant.
00:15:51.000I'm finding that your argument is very circular.
00:15:54.000So realistically, I'm realizing that there is no way to change your mind unless you are willing to break the cycle that is your circular figure.
00:16:48.000So why do you think you don't understand it?
00:16:50.000Because your argument is very circular.
00:16:51.000Okay, explain to me how it's circular.
00:16:53.000Because it seems as if you're not willing to, when I said that it's almost as if that you were insinuating that no one who is an illegal citizen is paying taxes.
00:17:04.000You immediately brought up statistics saying, well, there is a 17%.
00:18:23.000Is it fair to argue against the point or to present a case against the point that I actually made rather than one you've prepared to make a case against?
00:18:37.000It is very hard to have a productive conversation with you when you continue to interrupt me and speak over me and then say that, well, I'm moving the goalpost and then given no time to maybe have a rebuttal to that.
00:20:10.000So we, social work, by definition, we try to work with the person and understand where they are coming from, how they have formed that opinion, and then how we can either agree, disagree, reach commonality.
00:20:23.000So that's why I was asking you questions about your wife and why you called her your lady and how that was a little possessive.
00:20:30.000And that's why I got a little offended because you were interrupting me before I could finish articulating my thought process.
00:20:36.000I was trying to understand who you are and where you're coming from where you're coming from with this argument.
00:20:44.000That way we could have a productive conversation.
00:20:47.000But when you continue to throw stats and you have a very circular argument, it's very hard to understand who you are as a person and achieve a productive conversation.
00:20:56.000I can have a conversation with you, but I don't have to agree with you.
00:21:11.000When you say listening to people and finding out where they're coming from, perhaps when you ask questions, listening to the answers, and taking an interest in the reasoning, the rationale, the logic behind it, and not misrepresenting what they say, that would help.
00:21:24.000That would serve you better than social work.
00:21:27.000Because I don't think you've listened a lot.
00:21:29.000Well, what I mean is if you ask me my opinion, and then I answer and you go, that's interesting.
00:21:33.000sounds possessive or that sounds well yes i think that to the ordinary person identifying your lady as my lady would sound possessive But maybe that's a cultural norm that I'm not accustomed to.
00:21:59.000I came here to have a productive conversation, and usually when I encounter someone in my field, they are also working to have a productive conversation.
00:22:06.000But the way that you throw in the little tidbits that are demeaning, the way you have a very circular argument and you throw stats, that's what makes me a little apprehensive to continue speaking with you.
00:22:47.000can rewind it well all countries i don't know if you're aware like they all have borders and they all have laws and becoming a citizen Mexico is far far, actually, we have one of the most lenient policies out there.
00:23:02.000Well, I think that's maybe your interpretation.
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00:27:38.000Let me ask you: why do you think that many of them don't?
00:27:42.000I honestly don't have an answer to that because I'm just assuming if they're doing work, then I'm assuming that their IRS is just going to catch them.
00:27:52.000I don't think the IRS is letting anyone go without paying income tax and stuff.
00:28:15.000But even if you were to take that into account, the amount of services and social benefits that they receive far exceed the portion of them who pay income taxes.
00:28:29.000And the entire Democratic Party has incentivized them to do so because, hey, it's pretty beneficial to have basically third world labor at third world wages.
00:31:04.000It's not true of all illegal aliens, by the way.
00:31:07.000And that's why we have the crime problems that we have in a lot of these cities, namely sanctuary cities.
00:31:11.000But don't you think that it's imperative that the United States government looks out for people who are already here first if they're looking for work?
00:31:20.000So 7 million, 7.5 million Americans are looking for work.
00:31:24.000Why do we need to import people to do those jobs cheaper than Americans?
00:31:27.000And if you look at under the Biden administration, foreign-born workers, jobs, when they say job increases, it was about 3 million new jobs for people who weren't from the United States.
00:31:37.000Americans lost about 1.5 million jobs if they were born here.
00:31:40.000The first few months of Donald Trump's presidency, now it's about 1.5 million native-born working jobs gained and one million foreign-born working jobs lost.
00:32:06.000I agree with that point somewhat, but if illegal immigrants are coming here, I would say a majority of them are coming here looking for work.
00:32:17.000I would say a majority of them are coming here looking to cause havoc.
00:32:24.000Like if a majority of people are coming here looking for work, shouldn't like America with its capitalist ideology, shouldn't like more talented migrant workers get their roles compared to like someone who's less talented but is born here natively?
00:32:39.000Can you explain to me how a migrant is going to be more talented as a truck driver?
00:32:46.000How a migrant is going to be more talented at a meat packing plant?
00:32:49.000What if they have more experience from the country they came from and then they went here because like economically they could get paid more for some of the work.
00:32:58.000Yeah, so it'd be pretty hard to argue that case because people go through training to do these jobs and some of them are unskilled jobs.
00:33:04.000So we've heard for a long time who's going to pick your strawberries, right?
00:33:11.000And now the argument has shifted to well really highly skilled labor, for example H-1Bs and Indians coming in here, coming to this country working in tech.
00:33:19.000And they'll do it for 30%, 40% less than the American wage.
00:33:24.000So if Americans aren't good enough for low-skilled labor, they're not good enough for high-skilled labor, sounds to me like people are saying Americans aren't good enough for any labor and you have plenty of Americans who are ready, willing, and able to do those jobs.
00:33:35.000They just can't do them because they're competing against third world labor costs.
00:33:40.000I don't think that there aren't enough skilled Americans to do these jobs.
00:33:43.000If someone wants to argue picking strawberries, fine.
00:33:47.000I still disagree, but let's assume that.
00:33:48.000You can't then extend that to also retail, also truck driving, also trade jobs, also highly skilled tech jobs.
00:34:00.000At what point do you say, hey, Americans matter too?
00:34:43.000But I also think that America has a long reputation of being a land of opportunity and a multi-polluted culture.
00:34:50.000So I feel like if an illegal immigrant comes here searching for asylum, searching for work, searching for more opportunity, America has a duty to let them in.
00:35:17.000They're fleeing countries that suck economically, culturally, I would argue, to come here and take advantage of a better country, but they're not benefiting the country.
00:35:27.000Don't we have the right, just like Mexico does?
00:35:29.000You know, Mexico has far harsher immigration policy.
00:35:33.000Where is your family from, by the way, Tom?
00:35:37.000Yeah, they have far more strict immigration policy in Vietnam, all across Asia, by the way.
00:35:41.000Super strict in South Korea and Japan.
00:35:44.000Seems to only be a problem in the United States has it.
00:35:46.000And we're not really a melting pot in that term of just a bunch of different cultures.
00:35:51.000Americans are, just to give you a perspective, first off, your parents are probably waiting for a very long time because our immigration system is broken, largely because of the mass illegal immigration.
00:36:00.000But Americans are footing the bill to, they're paying to be made to feel like strangers in their own hometown.
00:36:08.000The United States has a national language.
00:36:15.000This is one thing, too, for a long time, Americans were accused of being racist.
00:36:18.000If Americans expect people who come here to wave the flag, speak the language, and become American, and not only create these ghettos, and I don't mean ghetto in the way that people use it today, but ghettos where you have people who come from these countries and they create neighborhoods where they don't integrate, they don't associate.
00:37:02.000Well, like, I think that the influx of immigrants like throughout time, and right now where certain like ethnic groups are actually going to like be a majority of the American population, I feel like just blending all of those cultures together and like having like public forums like school, like that, that's beneficial.
00:37:26.000And that changes like American culture.
00:37:55.000You have the Democratic Party putting Americans out of work, discouraging, for example, birth rates under this climate alarmism and importing in record numbers third world labor where, yeah, America would look like these other countries.
00:38:08.000What is, by your estimation, or what should not be ever-changing to preserve American culture?
00:38:16.000Well, what I think American culture is, is like, I feel patriotism is a big part of it.
00:38:23.000And also just like the like self-working men, right?
00:38:28.000Like you're pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.
00:39:43.000Let me ask you this: how does someone coming from, let's say, Mexico or Honduras, how does someone coming here, let's just take Mexico as an example, someone who comes to this country, who takes a job that an American is willing to do for a lower wage because they don't pay taxes, who doesn't speak English, waves the Mexican flag, how does that benefit the United States in any way?
00:40:26.000People want a country and a culture they want to preserved, and they have the right to preserve it.
00:40:30.000Yeah, I would argue, though, like immigrants like that, I don't think they're just trying to represent their home country forever.
00:40:40.000I think they're also trying to blend into the American culture we have now.
00:40:45.000I don't think it's fair to assume that, like, for example, a Mexican immigrant would only speak Spanish forever and not try to learn English or American.
00:40:55.000I didn't assume that all Mexican immigrants speak Spanish forever.
00:40:57.000But I will tell you, having to press one for English in an English country is a problem.
00:41:04.000Vietnam wouldn't accommodate another culture before their own and wouldn't accommodate the best interests of foreign nations before their own, would they?
00:41:12.000They have a much stronger nationalist spent than the United States.
00:41:15.000Yeah, it's a problem if it's so prevalent and so common that signs have to be in Spanish, that customer service has to be in Spanish, where you can't communicate with your neighbor.
00:42:37.000Someone from Ireland and someone from England and someone from Italy who were living in a borough of New York back then who spoke the same language.
00:42:43.000It's not like they were from different planets.
00:42:45.000They had a relatively similar shared heritage, culture, values, religion, language.
00:42:51.000That is not the same as people coming here when there is a giant modern welfare state that incentivizes immigration at a cost to the taxpayer, not at risk to themselves, at cost to the taxpayer, and they don't learn the language and they don't share the same values.
00:43:05.000It's like we're from different planets.
00:43:09.000Is it fair to say there's a marked difference between that?
00:43:15.000Not that I think this will ever happen, but here's my middle ground.
00:43:18.000I say deport everyone, by the way, who's here illegally.
00:43:21.000Make them go through the process like your parents are.
00:43:24.000Do you think, first, would you think that's disagreeable?
00:43:26.000Make them, give them the opportunity to come through legally, but if they're here illegally, you got to go back, come back through just like your family, sorry, applying for visas.
00:44:02.000And then you also have to provide proof of contribution to your community, bettering your community, as well as, by the way, a remittance tax, where you can't come here and send your money back to another country.
00:44:15.000So if you come here, you don't speak the language and you haven't paid taxes and you're sending your money to another country, you're gone.
00:44:21.000If you already know English, you're ready to pay your back taxes, because if you were here wanting to be right a part of America, you'd be saving your taxes just like I do quarterly.
00:44:28.000You could pass the language test easily because you're happy to be in the United States and you'll keep your money here in our economy as opposed to sending it back and just do a soup kitchen.
00:44:37.000You do that, we'll give you a path to going through the process.
00:46:17.000It helps with the YouTube algorithm that no one fully understands.
00:46:21.000And hit the like button, share, because that lets the YouTube overlords know that we're not dead and there are people out there who actually want this kind of content as opposed to clickbait crap.
00:46:31.000I'll tell you what's not crap or who's not crap is our next guest.
00:47:55.000What I care about is there are more slaves on earth than ever in recorded history, including sex slaves.
00:47:59.000300,000 minors went missing under Biden.
00:48:02.000I care that they cost the American taxpayer $150 to $450 billion a year.
00:48:06.000I care that there are, particularly Hispanic immigrants here in this country, who live in sanctuary cities under the rule of cartels and they can't report anything to the authorities because they're basically held hostage and for ransom.
00:48:18.000I just think it's, I'm sure there are some, but it enables a system that's a real failure and we need to change.
00:48:25.000So, Ben and your point about slaves and you know, in particular, Hispanic immigrants, you know, they're the ones who don't you think they might come over here to kind of escape that form of slavery?
00:48:38.000Well, if they are, they're doing a really bad job because we've created a modern day class of slavery where people who, and there are employers who should be punished, who are all too happy to hire people off the books.
00:48:48.000They're enabled by policy from the Democratic Party, and there are people who are happy to work off the books.
00:48:53.000So that's why they'll work for lower wages and they're effectively modern indentured servants.
00:48:59.000So I don't think it's good for them either.
00:49:01.000It may not, but I think I'm going to kind of put the point of view as this way.
00:49:10.000And I just think it's when you say something to deport all illegals, then I think you kind of rob sort of children as myself, like myself, and from an opportunity like this, you know, coming to a great university.
00:49:27.000And I'm privileged in that sense, you know?
00:49:29.000Sure, I have the opportunity to come here.
00:49:31.000I'm proud to be here right now, you know.
00:49:35.000So I think that kind of deprives these immigrant children from that.
00:49:40.000Why is it the American citizen's job to provide that?
00:49:44.000You say deprived, that means someone else is providing it.
00:49:47.000What about the people here who are deprived of it, who are struggling as well?
00:49:50.000Why is it incumbent upon the American working taxpaying class to provide opportunity to everyone?
00:49:56.000I suppose it isn't, but with that same point of view, wouldn't you say that deporting illegals, that also takes away from the taxpaying dollars?
00:50:08.000No, I understand that point, but for example, if we just deported, let's say, 20 million illegal aliens, it costs on average about $17,000, give or take.
00:50:24.000Let's say, let's call it two years, because it costs $150 billion.
00:50:26.000And if you watched the older installments, for example, like at TCU, I did a build the wall change my mind, which back then was also racist, but has now been incredibly effective.
00:50:35.000Because now people say, well, we support strong border policy, but not deportation.
00:50:38.000But back then, there was no support for strong border policy.
00:50:41.000Back then, the number was $116 billion a year.
00:50:43.000The lowest you'll find is $150 to $450 billion.
00:50:46.000If we deported 20 million illegals, it would cost $350 billion.
00:51:04.000I think it's a hard case to make for the people who've opened the borders where they say all cultures are equal, but it's so cruel to send these people back to their equal culture that we have to allow them to stay here.
00:51:37.000I kind of actually admire that you said that because I was going to make the point that, you know, when people, I wanted to originally bring up the point that, you know, illegals, when we come over here, we're taking all these, you know, the jobs no one else wants.
00:51:48.000But I honestly see like illegals as more than that.
00:51:52.000You know, obviously some people, you know, we come over here, we're illegal, and then we become legal.
00:51:57.000You know, that's kind of what happens in some cases, of course.
00:53:06.000This idea that Americans won't do them is just not true.
00:53:09.000And it's not that immigrants will only do one form of job.
00:53:12.000I just think the priority needs to be to people who are here struggling because we're a country and we need to place our countrymen and women first.
00:53:21.000I think, you know, America right now is kind of at a point in time where it's relatively unsafe, but I think both you and I agree we want a safe America.
00:53:36.000Like, I am an American citizen myself.
00:53:39.000You know, and I'm actually a senior graduate in this May, so I'm going to be entering the job market and I'm going to be in that relative same position.
00:53:58.000Because commercial real estate, like every lady named Becky is in commercial real estate these days, but then obviously in wealth management, that requires a little more specialty.
00:54:14.000But aside from that, I have like a relative interest in commercial real estate, but wealth management, it's like if you look at the industry right now, it's like a lot of these older dudes are kind of like retiring from it.
00:54:24.000And I think commercial real estate is like a lot of older dudes are holding on to their money.
00:54:50.000Do you think that that is compassionate or right?
00:54:54.000Or do you think that obviously looking out for the interests of you, who's gone through this the right way and gone to school and studied, that you should be given priority as far as your best interest.
00:55:04.000Someone could just say, you know what?
00:55:05.000Yeah, great, we would hire you, but this person named Prandeep from India is going to do it for $40,000 less.
00:55:13.000I mean, that's a difficult question to answer.
00:55:16.000I'm going to put a scenario, for example, when I was waiting in line to speak with you, I was at the very back and then I just kind of was given priority.
00:55:22.000Well, because many people come up and they agree.
00:55:24.000And I was told, I was like, is there anyone who disagrees?
00:55:26.000And they said, well, this person's parents are immigrants, so he might disagree.
00:56:37.000And I think it's better for, by the way, I think that India and Mexico would do better to emulate America as opposed to what they're doing.
00:56:50.000And I think a lot of people do tend to see things that way: white versus black, white versus brown.
00:56:55.000But it's like, no, we can have a civil conversation like we are right now without having to bring up all the all this other extra BS.
00:57:03.000Well, I will say it is relevant in this sense, and I think it's fair for people to say it's relevant.
00:57:08.000If someone comes here from what is effectively a third world country compared to the United States, I would classify most of Mexico that way.
00:57:16.000Not everyone, but people live in abject poverty that Americans can't imagine.
00:57:19.000And same thing in India, of course, one of the poorest countries on earth.
00:57:22.000I think if they come here and they don't share fundamental values and they don't share a common language and they send their money back to the other country, I think that's relevant.
00:57:32.000And I think Americans are tired of it.
00:57:33.000And I think that Americans, yeah, they want to preserve a culture, but they do take race into account when they go, oh, hold on a second.
00:57:40.000We're noticing the pattern of people coming here, taking advantage of our services, our good graces, and using their empathy against us.
00:57:46.000I kind of want to have neighbors that speak my language and share my culture, right?
00:57:51.000I mean, it doesn't have to be like Japan, where it's such a high-trust society because everyone looks the same.
00:57:56.000They got 3% immigrants have to go right away.
00:58:04.000Okay, well, in that case, I mean, wouldn't you say, like, you should, I guess, like, I really do appreciate that, but at the same time, I'm like, America, we kind of used to like embrace and admire, and I'm not saying we still do, but a little less to a degree.
00:58:15.000We used to admire being such a boiling pot, and now it kind of seems like we are straying away from that.
00:58:20.000Of course, you want to have a neighbor and share the same culture.
00:58:23.000Yeah, it is frustrating when you go to the gas station and you can't understand the colour you're speaking with.
00:58:53.000So I don't think it's a legitimate claim if someone is coming here from Mexico working a seasonal job and sending their money back to Mexico.
00:59:46.000We have a very lenient immigration policy.
00:59:48.000So when a place like Mexico would not afford me, as a legal immigrant, the same rights as someone there, and we're saying, yeah, you know what, we'll just, I guess we'll give you a pass and amnesty, it's foolish.
01:00:00.000And if your family loves America, and that's, I think, what this broader conversation is.
01:00:04.000If we want America to be a country, if we think it's a great country, well, what makes it great?
01:00:09.000And that doesn't mean melanin in the skin, but it does mean shared values.
01:00:13.000And we haven't been requiring that of immigrants, legal and illegal in this country.
01:00:19.000And I propose that we shift direction right now.
01:00:23.000So in that case, which I mostly agree with, what is a realistic solution to that?
01:00:31.000So I think we need to have, well, we have Donald Trump was signed into executive order an official language, which means we've caught up to India.
01:00:38.000They have English as an official language there, an official language.
01:00:42.000I think that at this point, we actually should be quite selective in the immigrants legal who are allowed here.
01:00:48.000They should be judged on the criteria of is this a net benefit to the country?
01:00:53.000Not, hey, do we have to do the nice thing and allow everyone here?
01:00:57.000I think that's how our immigration policy should exist.
01:01:00.000And I think that states can have reforms and they have, for example, requiring customer service being in English.
01:01:06.000I think a culture of these expectations is reasonable.
01:01:10.000And people who come here legally, like for example, my mom is French-Canadian.
01:01:25.000And she comes here, and she can't share a common language because that person only speaks Spanish or only speaks whatever it is, Farsi, whatever it is.
01:02:05.000I think if you are not a contributing member of society, you shouldn't be given the same level of freedoms as those who are working and struggling in society and building.
01:02:45.000This is a golden ticket, and it should be valued.
01:02:47.000And I think it's been taken advantage of.
01:02:50.000I mean, it is, I do think living in America is, it's, in my opinion, it is a privilege.
01:02:55.000Like, I'm happy I'm here and that, you know, I don't have to look over my shoulder wondering, you know, where my next meal is going to come or wondering who's trying to hunt me down.
01:03:04.000I'm not going up against the cartel here.
01:03:13.000I do think it's like, you get all these, like, I agree with a lot of your statements, but I don't know where, I don't know how we do that, like, realistically.
01:04:18.000And there was someone there who looked like they couldn't care less, who couldn't speak the language.
01:04:22.000And you're going to have a more divided America until we acknowledge that these grievances are real and people want to preserve something special.
01:04:30.000But yeah, I think we've been doing it the other way.
01:04:47.000A lot of people have self-deported because the message has been sent loud and clear.
01:04:51.000I think the messaging as far as the culture, what the expectations are, and reflected through policy, is a good start.
01:04:58.000And I just don't see anything wrong with someone who's here illegally, who, if they go back to their country of origin, all cultures are equal and come back through the process that everyone else has to go through.
01:05:07.000I think it's, people might say that's not compassion.
01:05:24.000Let's say an illegal immigrant's been here for 20 years.
01:05:28.000Been paying taxes during those 20 years and knows the language, but just as undocumented.
01:05:34.000Do you think there's an issue with the thing, because I know that people will then invariably go to what about the kids where it's not, and it's true.
01:06:19.000Then the left said, you're not allowed to deport violent felons in our current prisons.
01:06:24.000So their approach has been an absolute approach, and I think it's been irreparably harmful.
01:06:30.000So yeah, now mine is pretty absolutist.
01:06:33.000It's, yeah, look, they committed a misdeed, the parents.
01:06:35.000The good news is you can go through the process and come here legally.
01:06:39.000I'm not saying it's going to be ideal for everyone, but it's going to be applicable and appropriate, I would say, for the overwhelming majority and better for the country.
01:06:48.000And better for these other countries, by the way.
01:06:50.000It's not good for people in Mexico to have these.
01:06:52.000I mean, it enables all kinds of horrible things to have open borders policy.
01:06:56.000Of course, and I do like, I don't want anyone to think, you know, a lot of Mexicans, for example, which I'm going back to that because that's obviously what my background is, but I don't want people to look at Mexicans and see us as felons or any of these bad, negative felons.
01:07:27.000If I have an interaction with a Mexican-American immigrant and they don't speak the language, I immediately think of them as less American.
01:08:38.000I think of them as American as can be.
01:08:40.000But if someone is waving a foreign nation flag, I'm not saying they should be jailed like they would in other countries, like they would in almost all other countries, but I do view them as less American.
01:09:30.000Even though they're here and it's for the Armenian community, they're very grateful to be American and very welcoming.
01:09:35.000And that's a perfect example of preserving their culture, respecting their heritage, but acknowledging this is the country that gave us the opportunity to escape that.