Canada is next

[WiseOne]

It seems that without a penny being spent, the wall and Trump's other policy ideas have already done their job:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-ca ... 07040.html

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-1 ... s-all-2016

The increase in northern border crossings came, at least in part, courtesy of Canada's decision to lift visa requirements for Mexican 'tourists' as of December 1st. Per the new rules, rather than a visa, under Trudeau's administration, Mexicans are now only required to have a so-called Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) which can be purchased online for CAD $7.

Unfortunately, while Canada's relaxed travel requirements were applauded as an enlightened, progressive alternative to Trump's xenophobic, racist approach to immigration, under the surface, Canada's policies still function much like Trump's proposals. As Mexican immigrants are suddenly finding out, while Canada is happy to host 'tourists' from our Southern neighbor, getting a work visa can be nearly impossible and Mexicans with a criminal record are not welcome.
...
Canada issued 72,450 travel authorizations to Mexican citizens between Dec. 1, 2016, and March 10, 2017 - a significant increase compared with a similar period when visas were required.

Seems like an awful lot of Mexicans suddenly want to vacation in Canada in the middle of the winter :-) I look forward to seeing how this plays out. So far, the Canadian government hasn't bought into the idea that massive numbers of low-skilled immigrants are wonderful for the economy. If this attitude changes, they'll really be in trouble with that low-cost, single payer health care system of theirs, not to mention their generous welfare benefits.

I seriously wonder what would happen if all the ingenuity that Latin Americans are applying toward sneaking into the US or Canada to work and live illegally were applied to improving the quality of life in their own countries. Are they really so unsalvagable?

[dualstow]

Haven't you heard, WiseOne? It's like April in Paris. :-)

[WiseOne]

This got me wondering what the requirements are to obtain Canada's healthcare benefits. It appears that you have to be a citizen or permanent resident.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/newcomers/after-health.asp

I can guarantee that isn't the case. My brother in law has neither permanent residence nor citizenship, but he's employed in Vancouver on a work permit that requires periodic renewal. His family are all covered by the Canadian health system. This may be an exception granted to highly skilled workers though (he's a PhD chemical engineer).

Right now, it's doubtful that many of the illegal immigrants will get work permits, but I can imagine a years-long process starting similar to what has occurred here, because Canada also has birthright citizenship. And in the meantime, they'll do exactly what they do here: show up at ERs for everything from sore throats to major health issues, and ignore the bill because they can't pay it and there's no way for the hospital to go after them. The Canadian health system will have to absorb the cost one way or another.

[WiseOne]

There are other reasons for our health care system being more expensive, but yes, if that trend occurs I would expect the gap between US and Canadian per capita health care spending to narrow.

However, it's not just about health care. Illegal immigration costs us over $50 billion per year (see Heritage Foundation report below) - not a huge slice of the federal budget, but not chump change - and there are many expenses not accounted for such as the costs of accommodating Spanish speakers in venues ranging from public schools to hospitals to state/local governments to private businesses.

My point was that Canada is going to get it a lot worse because they have more extensive public services than we do, for which residents are already heavily taxed, not to mention a smaller population to begin with i.e. fewer people to foot the bill. How they handle this now will have a huge impact on their economy for years to come.

http://www.heritage.org/immigration/rep ... s-taxpayer

[farjean2]

I was watching Tucker Carlson debating someone who was saying how we should be welcoming to illegal immigrants because it was good for the country and he proposed an interesting thought experiment (which he does a lot, BTW). He said if you look at many of the residents of Detroit, they have a poor quality of life as compared to those just across the border in say, Windsor, Ontario. So should we be pressing Canada to open its borders and let all those in search of a better way of life to migrate to their country? The man answered that Canada should be able to control its own borders to which Tucker had to ask why that doesn't apply to the U.S.A. The man had no rational answer, of course, just resorting to the usual platitudes he was mouthing.

[Libertarian666]

I was watching Tucker Carlson debating someone who was saying how we should be welcoming to illegal immigrants because it was good for the country and he proposed an interesting thought experiment (which he does a lot, BTW). He said if you look at many of the residents of Detroit, they have a poor quality of life as compared to those just across the border in say, Windsor, Ontario. So should we be pressing Canada to open its borders and let all those in search of a better way of life to migrate to their country? The man answered that Canada should be able to control its own borders to which Tucker had to ask why that doesn't apply to the U.S.A. The man had no rational answer, of course, just resorting to the usual platitudes he was mouthing.

No, only the US should not be able to control its borders! Every other country has that right, but not the US!

Please try to keep up here.