Adrianna TanJun 24
I don’t care what side you think you’re on, anyone whose take on immigration is ‘immigrants take away American jobs’ is not a good person
Show threadPaco Hope #resistJun 24

@skinnylatte This is the most amazing mental gymnastics. The jobs aren’t “taken” by immigrants. The jobs are “given” to immigrants…by employers who want cheap labor. The idea that the person making the hiring decision is somehow blameless is ridiculous.

And for crying out loud all we have to do is let them be legal. Let them register with a tax ID and work and pay taxes. Citizenship is not the same thing as a legal right to work. Let them work. Give them a clear path to citizenship and let them live and work legally in the mean time.

Show threadScott Francis
@paco @skinnylatte that’s the thing that drives me wild: they are *already * paying taxes. They just can’t draw benefits; they are literally the opposite of a drain on public money.
Jun 24 at 4:39amWeb
Show threadPaco Hope #resistJun 24

@darkuncle I was an immigrant for 8 years: an American in the UK. I had the most amazing taxation-without-representation. While I lived there I rented my US house. Now, in the US the house owner pays the real estate taxes, but the resident (if they are allowed to vote) votes. I can vote by mail but only on federal stuff. So I paid Virginia and Fairfax County taxes, but I couldn’t vote in Fairfax County elections because I didn’t live there.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the tax system has the resident pay “council tax”, which is your local tax to pay for schools, parks, libraries, etc. Owners only pay council tax if they live there. Tenants pay council tax wherever they live. I wasn’t a citizen, so I couldn’t vote. But I was a legal immigrant, so I paid the full council taxes my citizen neighbours paid.

So in 2 different countries I was paying taxes, and in neither place could I vote for the people that represented me and decided how to use my money.
@skinnylatte

Show threadScott FrancisJun 24
@paco @skinnylatte this sounds like the basis for a Boston Tea Party 😅