Just getting back from a week in paradise; I must say, it’s good to be home. Many of the folks at the office enjoyed a week in Costa Rica. It was a much-needed respite from the rigors of the everyday routine!
I learned a few things while there. They like America. That was so refreshing to be in another country and not be hated. Folks were genuine, polite, and nice to be around. I’ve visited many places where, let’s just say, Americans are tolerated.
Folks I spoke with were so involved in our politics. They knew everything. I was very impressed with their clear understanding of the ways of the world and where they fit in. I learned that if you are eating Tilapia it is very likely grown (harvested) in Costa Rica. The country is focused on CLEAN. Clean water, clean energy, and clean living. Their local produce and meat were noticeably fresh. The AIR was clean and free of pollutants. Perhaps it’s easier than in the US to avoid the air quality and pollen if your country is narrow in geography and bordered by water.
One thing I learned is they have an immigration challenge as well. Costa Ricans usually have one offspring. They are well educated and very family oriented. They are about 2.5 million in population. The immigrants, on the other hand, have many offspring, do not educate their children, and have created a challenge for the country because they number about 2.5 million folks as well (not my words). The government is challenged by increased population and reduced income from the immigrants taxing their resources. Sound familiar?
The Costa Ricans are keenly aware of the socialist experiments in Central (Latin) America and they do not approve. They see first-hand the challenges of illegal immigration.
I am all for the quote from the fundraising sonnet written by Emma Lazarus, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” on the base of Statue of liberty, but…There is a process, albeit a cumbersome, broken, outdated, and terrible process to enter our country. But there is a process. Our parents, grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and great-great-greats followed the lawful process, and here we are.
I don’t want to seem callous or insensitive and I don’t have any answers about our immigration challenges. However, our government has the ability, know-how, and means to exert our will (for good or bad) on any nation we wish. It is certainly within our wheelhouse to help our neighbors to the south reinvigorate their economies as we have in the past.
Someone in the past was quoted saying “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”