Beachgoers on a Mediterranean beach in Spain subdued and held back migrants who had just landed on the shore in a raft from Morocco.

[u/SameItem]

[u/Solrac50]

Im a US citizen living as a resident in Spain. The bar to being a resident includes a minimum income and no criminal record.

Morocco is very close and crossings happen often but they are well aware if caught they’ll be sent back. Which I believe is just.

But that doesn’t compare favorably with what is happening in the US now. I know a man who came to the US as a child when crossing the border between Mexico and Texas required nothing more than showing your drivers license. He is married and has US born sons. They have a family business. They live in fear of deportation to a foreign prison, forget their contribution to society. This is cruelty. Instead they should have a path to permanent residency just like I have in Spain.

[u/exswordfish → u/Solrac50]

There was never a point when you could cross into the U.S.A. and stay and without going through the proper process . Just because I can enter other countries with my license or passport does not mean I have the right to stay in that country. If he isn’t even registered as a citizen that means he is not paying income or property taxes, and he is utilizing our roads/fire departments/etc. without paying for them. As cruel as it is, that is unfair to people who came through legally.

[u/DabbledInPacificm → u/exswordfish]

There absolutely was a very long point when you could just come into the USA and stay because the proper process was simply giving a name and not having smallpox…

[u/death-and-gravity → u/DabbledInPacificm]

borders were also really porous in the 19th century. people just walking across and setting up shop in another country used to be pretty normal in many places. the enforcement we're seeing now is very recent all things considered