US Politics Mega-thread - Page 4306

On July 27 2024 01:23 Elroi wrote:
Didn’t Biden say he would choose a black woman for vp before making the choice? That would effectively make it a “diversity hire” by definition (if that were indeed the case, I don’t remember).

On July 27 2024 03:18 BlackJack wrote:


It seems the best way to shut down the “diversity hire” talk would be to stop going around bragging about how you’re going to hire people for their diversity. Just a thought.

On July 26 2024 23:05 oBlade wrote:
Supporting things due to the assumption they will "trigger" somebody is a road to a world led by infantile people who know and stand for nothing, it's an immature snubbing of perceived authority. If you take some people and say I'm going to hire one of these best people, based on immutable characteristics, and they get the job and show no competence, even fuck things up severely, going back and saying "you were wrong to hire based on this immutable characteristic. Clearly your own judgment and competence can't be trusted, and you're just using flowery excuses to retroactively justify how you judge human beings" is not attacking the immutable characteristic. It's attacking the choice. The decision. The process.

On July 27 2024 03:36 NewSunshine wrote:

Not if Republicans keep bringing it up unprovoked anyway, anytime someone isn't a white man. Not that effective a strat in reality.

This ain't complicated. When one group is so outspokenly against diversity, so outspokenly against equity, and so outspokenly against inclusion, they're telling you who they are. Believe them.

On July 27 2024 04:04 BlackJack wrote:


"I'm only going to consider hiring a black person for this job"

"Hey man that's not cool, you shouldn't favor an applicant based on the color of their skin and exclude all other races."

"Why are you against hiring a black person you racist fuck"

I know you think that makes sense but it doesn't to me.

On July 27 2024 04:17 NewSunshine wrote:

Then I can help.

When Biden announced he would be selecting someone of a certain demographic for the Supreme Court if he got the chance, someone with a reasonable amount of skepticism would say "okay, he said X, which makes me worry that Y is going to happen", "Y" being you get an incompetent or under qualified candidate that fits a demographic, and was seemingly chosen only for that trait. At that point in time, I would expect anyone reasonable to hold that position.

And it's the same with Kamala Harris. Knee-jerking with "DEI hire" quips is obviously and obliviously looking past all the real reasons she's a central leader in the Democratic party right now.

On July 27 2024 04:37 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:


I think asking if Kamala Harris has helped to address the illegal immigration situation is a legitimate question. I think that's a good-faith, policy-based question that doesn't just make fun of her laugh or her stepfamily or her sex or her race.

Here's the information I was able to find on that topic, which firmly establishes what her role actually was, and explains that she was never chosen as a "border czar":

"In March 2021, President Joe Biden assigned Kamala Harris a specialized role: to lead diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing the root causes of migration from Central America's "Northern Triangle" countries—Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Her mission was to tackle the socio-economic and political issues that drive people to leave their homes, a task distinct from managing the U.S. border itself."
https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/did-joe-biden-make-kamala-harris-border-czar-to-tackle-illegal-immigration-101721982869354.html

This second source adds a little more context:
"In 2021, President Biden did task the vice president with a diplomatic role to address the causes of migration from Mexico and Central America – such as violence and political instability – and to work with those countries to strengthen migration enforcement at their own borders. The assignment was similar to one Mr. Biden received as vice president in the Obama White House. At the time, President Biden said he asked the vice president “to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that help – are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border.”"
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2024/0726/kamala-harris-border-czar-axios-biden#:~:text=Mr. Biden tasked the vice,. Harris “border czar.”

As a third source, CBS corroborates Harris's role and dispels the myth of Harris being chosen as a "border czar":
"In March 2021, when the Biden administration faced the early stages of an influx in illegal crossings at the U.S. southern border, Mr. Biden tasked Harris with leading the administration's diplomatic campaign to address the "root causes" of migration from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, including poverty, corruption, and violence. The region, known as Central America's Northern Triangle, has been one of the main sources of migration to the U.S.-Mexico border over the past decade. Harris was not asked to be the administration's "border czar" or to oversee immigration policy and enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border. That has mainly been the responsibility of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and his department, which oversees the country's main three immigration agencies, including Customs and Border Protection."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-immigration-biden-administration-border/

So it seems that Harris's specific role was not to shut down our southern border or prevent illegal immigrants from passing through our gates - a description frequently assumed by those who give her the misnomer of "border czar" - but rather to work with other countries and figure out why their residents are leaving in the first place, and how best to address those underlying issues.

From a humanitarian perspective, I think Harris's assignment was a noble one. If progress were made, then it could proactively address the reasons people had for leaving their own countries in the first place, and could possibly figure out ways for those families to be happy and prosperous in their own homes before they decide to leave and travel north to us, rather than just reactively turning away desperate, destitute families at our own border.

Was any progress actually made, though? Did Harris manage to move the needle, even a little, when it comes to working with Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, to address their people leaving their homes for our southern border? And if so, did it help our illegal immigration issue at all?

This TIME article, with the headline of "Kamala Harris Was Never Biden’s ‘Border Czar.’ Here’s What She Really Did", states the following about Harris and what she accomplished in her humanitarian role:

"Her mandate was much narrower: to focus on examining and improving the underlying conditions in the Northern Triangle of Central America—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—which has been racked by decades of poverty, war, chronic violence, and political instability. The strategy relied on allocating billions for economic programs and stimulating private-sector investment in the region in hopes that these programs would ultimately lead fewer migrants to make the dangerous journey north. ...

The so-called "root causes strategy" focused on improving economic and security conditions by creating jobs, combating corruption, improving human and labor rights, and reducing violence. Harris allocated funds for humanitarian relief from natural disasters, and directed more than 10 million COVID-19 vaccines to the Northern Triangle countries. She held bilateral meetings with the region's leaders, as well as meetings with NGOs, business executives and human rights advocates. She worked with the U.S. Justice Department to launch an Anti-Corruption task force focused on prosecuting corruption cases with ties to the region, as well as Anti-Migrant Smuggling task forces in Mexico and Guatemala.

Most importantly, Harris spearheaded a public-private partnership that, as of March 2024, had secured commitments from major U.S. and multi-national companies to invest more than $5 billion in the region. The Vice President "put her name on the line with very serious senior CEOs and kind of created a brand appeal for Central America that didn't exist," says Ricardo Zúniga, who until recently served as the U.S. special envoy to Central America.

Harris also spent time in Washington communicating with regional leaders. One tangible result, according to two former U.S. officials, was that it gave the U.S. the standing and relationships to help prevent Guatemalan prosecutors from overturning the results of last year’s presidential election, which was won by anti-corruption outsider Bernardo Arévalo. While delayed, the ultimately peaceful transition of power avoided the political instability that Biden Administration officials feared could cause a spike in migration. The U.S. applied public pressure through sanctions and visa restrictions on officials they accused of undermining the democratic process, as well as behind the scenes. Harris's team was directly involved, especially her national security adviser Philip Gordon, who traveled to the region to push for a peaceful democratic transfer of power, according to the two former U.S. officials. ...

Much of Harris’s work failed to break through back home. Instead, she became the target of Republican broadsides about the border crisis and was repeatedly criticized for not visiting the U.S.-Mexico border. "She's dealing with a narrative problem," says Zuniga. With immigration topping the list of Americans’ concerns, according to recent Gallup polls, an ongoing humanitarian crisis at the border, and political deadlock on immigration reform and funding, Harris emerged as the most visible scapegoat."

https://time.com/7001817/kamala-harris-immigration/

As you can see from the above article, Harris did quite a bit to assist the Northern Triangle's emigration issues. And, thankfully, all of her hard work resulted in a reduction of their emigration towards the United States: "illegal crossings along the U.S. southern border by migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador have decreased significantly every year since 2021."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-immigration-biden-administration-border/

What about on a broader scale - not just the Northern Triangle countries? Well, for that, we can see how both Harris and Biden deserve plenty of credit in regards to addressing overall illegal immigration and unlawful border crossings: "As the second-highest ranking member of the Biden administration, Harris will also likely face questions over the all-time levels of unlawful border crossings reported in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Those crossings, however, have plunged this year, reaching a three-year low in June, after Mr. Biden issued an executive order banning most migrants from asylum."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kamala-harris-immigration-biden-administration-border/

If I remember correctly, Biden's executive order was issued in retaliation to Republicans pulling out of the bipartisan border security bill due to Trump's clarion call. That means that both Biden and Harris deserve significant credit for making some progress in addressing the illegal immigration issue over the past few years, despite Trump and Congressional Republicans' best efforts to worsen the border crisis just so Trump can reference it during his presidential run.

On July 27 2024 04:52 BlackJack wrote:


As surprising as it may be, some people disagree with X and Y. That is, we shouldn't limit a pool of applicants for a job on the basis of skin color, even if the eventual hire of the "chosen skin color" is qualified for the job.



The real reason she is a central leader in the Democratic party is because she is the VP. A large reason she is the VP is because Biden wanted a running mate that checked certain boxes.

On July 27 2024 05:11 DarkPlasmaBall wrote:


Agreed. It would eternalize one of many instances where Republicans decided to choose their party over the well-being of our country.

On July 27 2024 05:09 NewSunshine wrote:

Disagree with "X" and "Y" in what way? .

On July 27 2024 04:55 WombaT wrote:

Man puts in the research yards!

US President Joe Biden has put Vice-President Kamala Harris in charge of controlling migration at the southern border following a big influx of new arrivals.

Announcing Ms Harris's appointment as his immigration czar, Mr Biden told reporters and officials at the White House: "She's the most qualified person to do it, to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle [Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador], and the countries that are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks - stemming the migration to our southern border".

On July 27 2024 05:21 BlackJack wrote:


That we shouldn't hire/exclude on the basis of skin color. Sorry I can't put it anymore plainly than that.