Dear Republican Friends: Regarding Your Presidential Nomination0

by Sandor Stern

Dear Republican Friends

Regarding Your Presidential Nomination

It’s been four years since I’ve contacted you but your choice for President has me too curious to remain silent. You have nominated Donald Trump who advocates deporting eleven million illegal immigrants, building an insurmountable wall along the Mexican border, and preventing Muslims from entering this country. He has been recently waffling over the Muslim ban and the President of Mexico has told him that Mexico will not pay for that wall. No one knows where he’ll end up but you nominated him when he was adamant about all these issues. You believed in them. There is an old adage: “Be careful what you wish for.” It would be wise to examine your wish. Let’s just start with deportation.

The deportation of millions of people has not been seen since Nazi Germany sent their “illegals” to concentration camps. Of course these victims had not illegally entered Germany. They were either German citizens or citizens of Nazi conquered countries. But in the eyes of the Nazis they were all illegal human beings who deserved to die. Can you grasp the enormity of the hostile reaction from around the world over Trump’s deportation plans? The United States of America, the democratic beacon to the world for two hundred years would employ this fascist draconian measure to uproot and send eleven million human beings — three out of every one hundred men, women, and children to countries in which they have no family, friends, jobs or familiarity. Can you imagine the recruitment bonanza for terrorist organizations? What destinations are we considering? Do you believe that all these people came from Mexico? They came from around the world including Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. Why would you assume that their country of origin would accept them? They were not sent here by government decree. You expect these governments to welcome a strain on their economies? Do you think all you have to do is put these millions of people on airplanes and drop them in the respective countries? How? By parachute? No country is obligated to allow planes to land at their airports. Do we force that? How? A threat of military action?

Trump speaks of a force that will round up these people. How big and how costly will this force be? How long will it take to round up eleven million people? Do you think that they will all go like lambs to the slaughter? People born here, people who have lived here twenty years, people who have established businesses and professions — they will all bow peacefully to the inevitable? There will be people who will constantly move one step ahead of the deportation decree adding to the costs. There will be people so outraged by this government action against them they will take up arms. And what of their citizen neighbors? There will be millions of citizens who oppose this fascist act who will do everything in their power to help these illegals escape the deportation. And there will be millions of citizens like you who will aid the deportation. Trump is sowing the seeds for an armed revolution and you have placed him in the position of Commander in Chief.

The estimated cost of deporting eleven million people is in the hundreds of billions of dollars. But that is only the cost of the deportation force and the ancillary costs such as travel and food. There is a much bigger cost to add. What about the costs to landlords when millions of rental apartments and houses are emptied? What about the costs to businesses that lose employees and the retail businesses that lose customers? Those are costs passed on to the federal government in the form of lower tax revenues. And speaking of tax revenues, you have been fed a steady diet of misinformation regarding illegal immigrants. The vast majority of them pay taxes. If they are drawing a paycheck, that paycheck has tax deductions. Any employer who does not make those deductions is guilty of a crime. That’s his crime not the employee’s. Illegal employees represent a large chunk of Federal and State income. Even those who do not pay income tax pay sales tax on their purchases.

You have also been misinformed about the social welfare bestowed on these “undeserving illegals.” Those illegals who have social security and Medicare payments deducted from their paychecks will never receive a social security check or Medicare coverage when they retire because they have no social security ID or use a false one to get employment. You somehow envision all illegals as those groups of men standing in the parking lots of Home Depot hoping to get a day job. Would you like to live a life like that? Would you be happy picking fruit in the orchards of California, washing cars, bussing dishes, cleaning houses? These men and women are doing jobs that citizens will not do. The work is too hard and the pay too little. What happens when those illegals are deported? Who will do the work? Trump’s deportation policy will strip all these businesses of employees unless they pay living wages. The very reason they hire illegals is because they cannot afford increasing their costs. They will do that or go out of business. How happy will you be when you see the rising costs of everything including groceries?

Trump is talking about deporting the illegals and then allowing them to return legally. He is talking about vetting eleven million people. It will take years. What will these people do for income in the countries in which they have been deposited? The vast majority of these countries have huge unemployment which is the reason these people fled in the first place. And what of those who manage to be vetted and return? To what do they return? Will their old job be there? If they have no job to go to, will we allow them to return and join the ranks of the unemployed? Has anyone in your party bothered to think this policy through?

The deportation is about more than dollar costs. It is about our humanity. How can you watch families torn apart? How can you witness people being forced from their homes at gunpoint? How can you accept a high school or college student brought here as a toddler or born here forced to return to a country he/she has never known? I guess if you have no heart, you have no problem with this? I’m praying you have a heart and on examining what you’ve wished for, you will find it.

Just saying…

Your friend,

Sandy

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