President Wonka's Golden Ticket

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Of course US immigration policy is about class and race.   

Donald Trump has no problems with wealthy white immigrants, people who know how to behave in country club settings and have the means to rent condos in his buildings and pay membership dues at his fancy private clubs.  Those are good immigrants.  Hell, his mother was an immigrant who had the good sense to marry well, two of wives were immigrants, and his little immigrant, Elon, follows him around faithfully and even sits in on Cabinet meetings like FDR's little dog, Fala.

Trump just doesn't want Juan and Maria swimming the Rio Grande and then walking across seventy-five miles of burning sand to clean toilets, dig ditches, and pluck chickens - jobs that could be going to hard-working Americans.  He has said that he does not like having immigrants arrive in the US from "shithole" countries (from places like Africa and Latin America) and would instead rather have immigrants from "nice" countries.  At various times Trump has used Switzerland, Denmark, and Norway as examples of "nice" countries - all of which also happen to be primarily caucasian. 

(Of course, if Denmark gets in Trump's way on the seizure of Greenland, he may have to drop it from the "nice" list.)

Poor immigrants from "shithole" countries are not welcome in Donald Trump's America, but our arms are open wide to rich people fleeing the tax policies of foreign despots.

Yesterday Donald Trump announced a plan to try and attract some of the those he regards as the world's better people into the United States.  The very rich who would like to sample life in America will soon be able to.purchase a golden entry ticket into this great nation - for a simple fee of just five million dollars,

The sale of the gold cards will begin in about two weeks according to US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.  Gold cards rights will be similar to the old green cards (used by poorer people from not-so-nice countries), and , like green cards, they will offer a path to citizenship.    Of course, holders of gold cards will undoubtedly experience fewer lines and delays as holders of green cards do.

Trump said that he believes "millions" of these gold cards will be sold, and it seems as though he expects them to attract a nicer sort of people than the green cards traditionally have, and if criminals slip in through this new program, they are sure to be nicer sorts of criminals.

In fact, Trump was asked yesterday if Russian oligarchs would be allowed to buy the gold cards for admission to our nation and he responded, "Yeah, possibly.  I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people."  (Probably the ones who rent condos in his buildings and pay membership fees at his clubs.)

Commerce Secretary Lutnick cautioned that people who want to purchase a golden admission ticket to live in the United States "will have to go through vetting, of course, to make sure they're wonderful world-class global citizens."  (Or at least to make sure their checks will clear.)