Move a bunch of families to the Caribbean..... the weather is great, the sea will be fun for the kids to romp in, and we have a lot of security already in place.
Move them into Gitmo.
I understand that the vetting process to enter the USofA takes 12-18 months. That's fine. We don't want to open our borders to bad guys. But, all five branches of the United States military are stationed at Guantanamo. It's probably a safe place to harbor suspected terrorists.... since that's what it's there for.
Let's set up tents on the beaches. Let's fully stock the PX and let the refugees shop there. It's 90 miles from Key West; an easy commute for all those wonderful, good hearted, American youth who would just love to take a gap year and teach, run clubs, provide help with paperwork, translate, do research, run good deed projects with the sun beating down on their heads most of the time.
My parents went to Cuba for their honeymoon. It was close and exotic, with great weather and friendly people. It's a fine destination for those looking to do good but whose parents worry about sending them across the ocean. A motor boat ride away seems more manageable on all sides of the equation.
I'd love to visit.... and help... and not worry about hours of travel or weird diseases.
I hear my family yelping and I don't care. I can see it happening. Wouldn't some of you come for a week or two months or a semester for a specific project?
If opening the doors between our two countries signals Cuba's willingness to join the community of nations as a full participant, this might be an easy way to start. I bet there are doctors and teachers and accountants all ready and willing to start practicing their trades... and Cuba seems to need just that kind of help.
Sure, we'll vet them, and the Cubans will do the same, before they leave the compound and start mingling with the natives. But really, it's an island and the Coast Guard is there. We have all kinds of ways to insure that no one leaves one set of sunny shores for another.
It seems pretty low cost and efficient and representative of all that I think America stands for. Not walls, but open arms.... even if those arms reach to Gitmo.
I wonder though if they'd see it as a concentration camp. they don't want to get into camps at all right now, and there is a concern in letting them just go into the countries. If there was a plan to bring them out of there, they might be more trusting. How do we figure out though who is a terrorist wantabe and who is a legitimate refugee given we seem to have a hard time recognizing wantabes in our own country? Then there is this question-- do they have job skills? The ones coming up here from Mexico have usually had those and they are coming for jobs, not just welfare as some claim. I wonder though who these Syrians are and have seen little answer to that.
ReplyDeleteI read an article btw that said Saudi Arabia has taken several million Syrian refugees over the past couple of years; so who knows what the truth is of anything we read.
Of course you are right; I based my They Aren't Taking Enough Refugees on one or two news reports. It bears closer examination.
DeleteIt seems as if large families are moving through right now, at least if the reports on Sirius radio's panoply of news stations are representative. Job skills and terrorism and willingness to work are all considerations, but they are in camps now, and won't get into the US for 12-18 months, so why not lie on the sand, work on their English, learn a trade, and be ready to hit the ground running when they pass inspection?
a/b
It makes sense but it would require trusting us. think they do? do we? An email from a friend was telling me how many people are moving up from California to Portland area and her concern with the overload. I am thinking with global climate change likely, we may see a lot of migration and how exactly that will work out can be debated for sure but it's likely coming with ocean changes, droughts and inability to produce enough food in a given area... Interesting times indeed.
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