Good Immigration Policy as a Replacement for Eugenics

[Eric the Green]

(06-16-2022, 07:00 AM)David Horn Wrote:

(06-15-2022, 09:45 PM)JasonBlack Wrote:

(06-15-2022, 10:21 AM)David Horn Wrote: This smacks of eugenics.  Yes, there is a tie between generations though our genetic material, but it's not common.  Using that as a rule for determining admission to the country is disengenuous at best and cruel at worst.

Think about it like you would with your personal life. Do you want to associate with everyone, or do you only want to spend time with quality people whom have the ability to provide value, good conversation or something else that draws you to them? There's no reason we can't apply a few of these criteria to citizenship admissions. We want to be the best.

Your "idea" is no less arbitrary than choosing who gets to enter by lottery, except it punishes people for being who they are at the most primal level.  I doubt the improved accuracy due to DNA tracing would rise above 1%.

I don't think I agree with Jason's analogy. Admission to the country is not a personal preference. We don't have to associate with any of the people who come here.

I think some qualifications are good, if we can determine them. We don't want to admit people with criminal records or terrorists. Perhaps we want people who can hold a job, if they are of working age, and not victims of drugs or alcohol or mental illness. People who want to come here should be tested for covid or other diseases, and receive vaccinations (and no anti-vaxxers allowed). Beyond that, and perhaps not even then, I don't think we even know what someone is capable of. Certainly not by using genetics; to apply such a standard IS eugenics. People are more elastic and changeable than we can know.

We should remember too that refugees are not immigrants. This may be a temporary status of someone escaping from conditions that could cost them their lives where they came from. We should not impose conditions upon them that are little better than those from where they came from. People should be treated humanely by the USA, and not on the basis of race or ethnic group either.