I don't think any non-citizen has a "right" to enter the country. But I do think that there needs to be a way to get workers who want to come to this country a way to do so legally that doesn't practically require winning a lottery. The jobs most of them are coming to do are jobs that most Americans don't want to do. Things like picking fruit, working in meat processing plants, etc. I'm open to different ideas, whether that's temporary work permits, very deep background checks, and whatever else, but I'd rather have people we need doing work that needs to be done on the up-and-up, paying taxes, and knowing for as close to a fact as possible that they are who they say they are and don't have criminal backgrounds.
Just as an example here (I live just outside of Washington, DC), I have a friend who manages a home-building company. He's super strict about checking everyone's documents, they use eVerify, etc., and he cannot get tradespeople to come into projects in the city anymore. They'll do projects in the suburbs, but not in the city. He told me his normal plumber is a third generation American of hispanic descent, owns his own company, and he won't drive into DC because it's apparently not worth it to risk getting detained. The Supreme Court ruled ICE can stop a car and ask for papers just because people look hispanic, and my friend knows multiple people here legally who are held for hours and hours, including some of his own employees, until they get someone to actually check their paperwork. In what world is that ok?
Another friend is doing a house renovation, and the same issue has already added three months onto the project timeline, which means they're carrying a mortgage and paying at least an extra three months of rent just because of delays because workers don't feel safe coming to do work. And there isn't like there's some huge backlog of construction workers and tradesmen to fill the gap. So what happens? Prices are going up and everyone's projects are getting pushed out.
In a previous life I worked very closely with Customs and Border Protection. Like "got to do ride-alongs as they patrolled the border" closely. So I understand the danger, and know that not all people coming into the country are good, honest workers. And Law Enforcement absolutely should be able to protect itself. But what's going right now isn't ICE going after harden criminals, they're mostly going after people like my friend's 60 year old uncle, construction workers, cleaning ladies, and the like. They're deporting people as they show up for their green card interview, canceling citizenship ceremonies just of where the people were born. That's not protecting anyone, it's just racism.
