Immigrants Right To Enter The Land Of Plenty

The idea immigrants should prove they are worthy of entering America or shall we call it "The Land Of Plenty" seems odd to many, however, the concept is not new. Immigrants rushing or coming to America or any land can in some ways be compared to those prospectors seeking gold during what is known as the Klondike Gold Rush. During the few short years between 1896 through 1899, a great many people headed to the Yukon and Klondike region of Canada and Alaska. It is said as many as 100,000 people arrived in the region at the time but only around 35,000 or so prospectors that set out for the Klondike actually made it there and of those approximately 4,000 actually found gold.

Trail Over White Pass - Picture By E. A. Hegg

Years ago when I was in Skagway, Alaska and ventured up into the Yukon I heard the story about the deadly trial to the goldfields. In addition to the boat passage up the Yukon, there were several trails being touted as the best route to the goldfields but three of those were so long and hazardous that a great many men and their animals died on the trial. The most popular of those was the 550 mile Skagway Trail over White Pass but it was far from easy and became known as‘Dead Horse Trail’ after the many carcasses that littered it.

The point I'm attempting to make is that unless you are extremely lucky and fortunate to be born into a place of wealth and luxury to enter such a place usually comes at a price. American in its infancy with vast empty lands to fill bantered about the slogan "give me your tired and your poor" but those coming to America often did not find a rose garden free of thorns. Things have changed and the situation evolved as the country matured and life today is far easier than the struggles faced by the pioneers. The reality of today is that we live in a world where the total population has soared making quality rather than quantity very important. One issue that muddies the water when it comes to immigration is the claims many of those seeking a new home make that they are refugees fleeing from prosecution or hardships. This immediately brings up calls for compassion but that is a far different issue and even then to be fair we are forced to ask what is the intention and expectations of those wishing to cross our borders.

Refugees Risk It All In Overloaded Leaky Boats

The trip to a better life is often not easy, for those going to the gold fields. Writer Jack London described the journey along a trail that in some places was only a scant two feet wide with a five hundred foot drop in graphic terms. He wrote, ‘The horses died like mosquitoes in the first frost and from Skagway to Bennett they rotted in heaps.‘ Such situations tend to create desperate men and those who feed on the weak. The situation was so harrowing that prospectors were required to have at least enough food to last a year by Canadian authorities so they wouldn’t starve. We see a similar state of affairs today as people are willing to pay a great deal of money to risk not only their life but the lives of their loved ones to get on an overloaded leaky boat in hopes it will get them to the promises land.

The debate of what people "deserve" and whether those who have it should share is not new. Whether a person has landed in a place of plenty by luck or worked their way in by cunning or toil it is something to be valued. Borders are a creation of man and men set the rules as to who crosses them and on what terms. While it may seem unfair to exclude or deny individuals the right to enter these borders, we must remember that life is unfair and this is a reality of life. A lifestyle many people can only hope to obtain is worth protecting. As for those busy promoting the myth that more people equals growth the fact is that not all growth is good and size does not always translate into strength.

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Footnote; A solid GDP number can result in a feel-good moment that builds consumer confidence can also mask growing weakness in various parts of the economy. Quantity simply does not make up for poor quality, we are talking about two totally different animals. The false narrative that simply growing the size of an economy even by using deficit spending undercuts the importance of a solid economic and the long-term stability of the financial system. The article below delves into poor investments.
 http://Economic Growth Does Not Equal Economic Strength.html