Babe, What Do You Know About?

Texas Border Plan

March 20, 2024 Sam and Tayla Season 4 Episode 59
Babe, What Do You Know About?
Texas Border Plan
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Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers
Remember that fizzy green concoction from your childhood that magically turned your tongue a different hue? Sam and I kicked off our latest podcast reminiscing about the distinctive taste of South African crème soda and its American counterpart, igniting a wave of nostalgia. But our trip down memory lane quickly pivoted to the pressing realities of Texas border enforcement. We sifted through the layers of a controversial law upheld by the Supreme Court, unpacking the tangled web of immigration policy and the human stories caught in its crosshairs. 

The heart of our discussion beats with the complexities of U.S. immigration laws and the ever-present struggle for border security. With an AP News article as our compass, we voyaged through the intricacies of a system that, to some, seems too lax, and for others, impossibly strict. The conversation took a turn toward empathy, focusing on those who live daily with the consequences of these policies. Sam and I tackled the tough challenges, from the potential for racial profiling to the balance of power between state and federal authorities.

As the episode winds down, we engage in a candid reflection about the power of words and the importance of respectful discourse, especially surrounding divisive topics like immigration. This isn't just idle talk; we're on a mission to foster inclusivity through our language and approach to dialogue. By the end of our heart-to-heart, we hope to leave you with a sense of empowerment to contribute to a more understanding and compassionate societal tapestry. Join us on this journey of growth and discovery—it's an episode that's sure to spark both reminiscence and reflection.

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Sam:

Welcome to Babe. What do you know about the podcast with your favorite husband and wife duo, Sam

Tayla:

and Tayla. Each week we dive deep into a new subject, blending fun and seriousness to push boundaries and buttons.

Sam:

Get ready to expand your knowledge, challenge your perspectives and have a blast along the way.

Tayla:

I Just watched you pour milk into a cup. It felt like for five minutes. You just Let me try and get the imagery for the people.

Sam:

There's a cup on it.

Tayla:

Yeah, there's a cup on the table. It's got this carton of milk and and he's holding it about two feet above where the cup is and this tiny stream of milk is coming out. I literally was setting up our recording equipment and stuff and I just feel like I was watching and hearing that the whole, the entire time.

Sam:

Okay, so are you like familiar with, like Oxygenating and aerating, you know like wine, you know like stuff? It just tastes better when it's when you know it's been cake, beating cake exactly. That's exactly what it is, no, seriously. So I was pulling them up high so that it would bubble and it would create, you know like it just felt a little like. It's so much better.

Tayla:

It felt a little much, for it just felt like you know, and people are like where you're, like They'll just talk about this amazing thing, like is it that much more amazing? That much, though?

Sam:

So you know how you got that little mixer thing, that the handheld like Mixer thing and it kind of like froth is up your milk and then you go oh.

Tayla:

It's not to froth it, though necessarily it's also to just like mix stuff. I'm gonna taste this.

Sam:

I don't know if I can see any milk. I just see bubbles.

Tayla:

You're about to say breathe in and sip.

Sam:

No, just okay. Is it not just so much better?

Tayla:

It's very good.

Sam:

I didn't get any bubbles or anything.

Tayla:

So, by the way, this is not any normal milk, no, nope. Oh, you want me to explain it. So it's green milk growing. It is green milk.

Sam:

It's so good. Okay, so growing up in South. Africa we have like a lot of concentrated juice Mixer stuff. Yeah, so there's this creme soda one, and creme soda is like the green flavor creme soda, not so yeah, so creme soda in South. Africa is different from cream soda in the States. It's like a mix between like.

Tayla:

How would you describe the flavors? Like a mix between like bubble gum flavor.

Sam:

Maybe a bit of, maybe a bit of strawberry in there, maybe a bit of like what the hell?

Tayla:

Vanilla, it's just its own flavor.

Sam:

I'm gonna Google what is the actual flavors of South African?

Tayla:

creme soda. But anyway, explain the concentrate. So yeah, so it comes in the concentrate and typically it's for kids and you put it in some a bunch of water and it's tastes like green juice.

Sam:

You call it like green juice. Anyways, one of the things I love to do was I used to put it in milk and it just makes this drink so good. I love to do was I used to put it in milk and it just makes this like delicious creme soda milkshake. So I've been doing that recently because we like bought some from some South African store anyways.

Tayla:

Okay, I'm seeing. I'm seeing a mix of things, but Read them. Okay so, or Brazilian foods, which is where we get our South African stuff. Hashtag non-anod says Spar-letta Creme soda is a raspberry flavored soft drink. Is that surprising to you? It's a little surprising to me, I would not describe it as rock.

Sam:

I threw in a little bit of strawberry like notes in there with Bubblegum flavoring.

Tayla:

No, bubblegum is not. Anyway, this is what a different website says. It says and it's talking about cream sodas in general across countries, but it says specific taste varies across different countries, but it's almost always vanilla flavored, for example. South Africa's version is less creamy, with a light rosy slash floral taste, and I would agree with that.

Sam:

Yeah, I think that's accurate.

Tayla:

It's like a creamy, rosy, berry-y flavor. Oh you know what?

Sam:

Maybe that's why we like rose milk, because there is some notes of rose milk in there.

Tayla:

We love rose milk, that's it Okay.

Sam:

so it's like it's vanilla with some floral, some rose, some bubblegum.

Tayla:

No bubblegum, zero bubblegum at all Bubblegum. You know exactly what it is there's.

Sam:

I don't get that at all Like blue bubblegum, not pink bubblegum, no, no bubblegum. Blue bubblegum, no bubblegum. Anyways, what are we talking about today?

Tayla:

Is there any other housekeeping items we have to talk about besides your milk pouring?

Sam:

or that's so good, I can taste the bubblegum.

Tayla:

No stop, okay, well, we are gonna be talking about the Texas Border Enforcement Plan for a very specific reason. Today it's a big day for this whole thing, but instead of doing my usual like condensed version of an introduction, I'm gonna essentially use a short article from AP News to. I think it's important to have more context to the issue, and then we will talk about it. So here it is from AP News. I am not in the right part.

Sam:

Sorry, you're looking at creme soda right now.

Tayla:

I'm looking at creme soda. No, I have it. Okay, here we go. All right, the US Supreme Court and this was the news, that was, as of today, the US Supreme Court will allow Texas to start arresting migrants who cross the US-Mexico border and ordering them to leave, while the legal battle over Republican Governor Greg Abbott's latest immigration move plays out. So I probably need to give some more context to that. So I'm gonna explain in a moment what the law is in Texas or what it is that they're enforcing. But essentially, the US Supreme Court yesterday I think it was Justice Alito said that they could not enforce that law until the Supreme Court had made a decision. And today they said the opposite and they will allow Texas to enforce their law while they wait for a Supreme Court decision, which is quite the change. So let me keep going. The court issued a divided decision Tuesday, which is today, that allows Texas to enforce its immigration law. For now, the high court declined to intervene on an administrative stay placed by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Justice Department is challenging the law, saying Texas is overstepping the federal government's immigration authority. Texas argues it has a right to take action over what Abbott has described as an invasion of migrants on the border. The Fifth Circuit is set to hear arguments on April 1st. I believe A federal judge in Texas issued a sweeping rejection of the law last month, calling it a violation of the supremacy cause in the US Constitution.

Tayla:

So here's what to know who can be arrested? The law allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, migrants can either agree to a Texas judge's order to leave the US or they can choose to be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don't leave could face arrest again under more serious felony charges. Arresting officers must have probable cause, which could include witnessing the illegal entry or seeing it on video. The law cannot be enforced against people lawfully present in the US, including those who are granted asylum or who are enrolled in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the DACA program. Critics, including Mexico President Andreas Manuel Lopez Obrador, fear that the law could lead to racial profiling and family separation.

Tayla:

American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Texas and some neighboring issues. Wow, goodness gracious. Let me start again. American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in Texas and some neighboring states issued a travel advisory a day after Abbott signed the law. The advisory warns of a possible threat to civil and constitutional rights when passing through Texas. Abbott has rejected concerns over profiling While signing the bill. He said troopers and National Guard members at the border can see migrants crossing illegally. Quote with their own eyes. Close quote Migrants lacking passports must now submit to facial recognition to board flights.

Tayla:

In the US Supreme Court Mixtents pause on Texas law that will allow state police to arrest migrants. The killing of Lake and Riley is now front and center in the US immigration debate and 2024 presidential race. So a US citizen called Lake and Riley was murdered by supposedly an illegal immigrant. So where's the law gonna be enforced? The law can be enforced in any of Texas's 254 counties, including those hundreds of miles from the border, but Republican State Representative Dave Spiller, who is the author of the law, said he expects the vast majority of arrests to occur within 50 miles of the US-Mexico border, and the Texas State Police Chief has expressed similar expectations. There are some places that are off limits, so arrests cannot be made in public and private schools, in places of worship or hospitals and other healthcare facilities, including those where sexual assault forensic examinations are conducted.

Tayla:

Migrants ordered to leave would be sent to ports of entry along the US-Mexico border, even if they are not Mexican citizens. So there could be immigrants. They're essentially gonna dump them in Mexico, whether they're from Mexico or not. And then the big question is is this law constitutional? Now, the Supreme Court's decision today didn't address the constitutionality of the law. That's what they're ruling later on will do. But there are a lot of experts and immigrant groups that say it is a clear conflict with the US government's authority to regulate immigration. And why is this happening? The supposedly the Southern border has been inundated with hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants passing through, trespassing on private property, et cetera. And there are some other measures that have been pretty extreme by Abbott to try and prevent the illegal immigration. Another method implemented by Texas includes a floating barrier in the Rio Grande and razor wire along the border. So that was a lot. But, babe, what do you know about Texas's border enforcement plan?

Sam:

Wow, a lot. Now, that was a lot.

Tayla:

Yeah, it was a lot Sorry.

Sam:

Don't apologize.

Tayla:

Okay, take it back.

Sam:

It's a lot to digest.

Tayla:

Yeah, hopefully a helpful background.

Sam:

I mean.

Tayla:

I feel like it was probably more disjointed than I would like, but hopefully a good enough background for someone who doesn't know.

Sam:

Just fix it in post.

Tayla:

Right too much work, but yes.

Sam:

Okay, so I think, like I personally have two general thoughts on this. The first would be and you can tell which lane you wanna go down the first thought I have is about like, what are the pros and cons of immigration in general, and why is this immigration is such a hot and important topic as of late? And the second is the actual mechanics of the Supreme Court and what it did with this ruling, and what that really means versus what I feel like is potentially an overreaction by people based on the current procedure that the Supreme Court is following. So which lane would you prefer to go down first?

Tayla:

I mean, I didn't think to go down either of those lanes. To be honest, Neither of those things are on my radar, but I think both very good.

Sam:

What's on your radar? I'm curious.

Tayla:

No other things, We'll get there. We'll get there. Let's go down immigration, because I think that will be a shorter discussion on just like immigration in general. At least I think it should be a short topic.

Sam:

A short topic about immigration in general.

Tayla:

Yeah.

Sam:

Okay.

Tayla:

No thing.

Sam:

So I've got a. There's this investor pediatrics article that I think is super important to talk about in terms of the value of immigration. I guess I could just try summarize it and you'll just have to trust me. Trust me, bro on, I don't like that.

Sam:

But essentially it talks about how immigration not only was, obviously was important and part of the founding of this country, but that it's still a financially or it's a positive economic thing for the United States still Overall. That's on the federal level, it's on the government, federal level. There's a net positive. Doesn't matter how many benefits that are typically being used by immigrants or even illegal immigrants, that becomes a net positive. But on the state and the county level there's a net negative in terms of how much it costs the state.

Sam:

To that area. Yeah, it costs the state and costs the county to take care of people that are immigrating and, in a bigger way, illegal immigrants.

Tayla:

That makes sense.

Sam:

So that's kind of like the general thoughts and then in terms of the economic side, and then obviously I have some opinions about just the United States and immigration in general. I feel like there are so many countries around the world that have so much more strict and stringent laws around immigration than the United States. That's.

Tayla:

Like who.

Sam:

Portugal, New. Zealand.

Tayla:

They have strict laws. Yeah, they have strict On immigration.

Sam:

Yes, it's harder to get into those countries than it is to get into the United States.

Tayla:

I just don't believe that.

Sam:

So just on the border alone.

Tayla:

Oh, you mean illegally.

Sam:

Yeah, so.

Tayla:

Okay, so the immigration laws? So it's not immigration laws so much as like illegal crossing enforcement. Sure, yeah, Okay yeah, cause I feel like it's easier to immigrate legally to those countries than it is in the States. But I think you are right, like the border is less secure.

Sam:

Yeah. So if you think, a lot, especially some central and Eastern European countries, are just about how strong they are against any sort of border crossing. Yeah yeah, the United States has like one of the least like secure borders comparatively, and that's just also a it's a bad. It's also a logistical issue.

Sam:

Yeah, it's a bad combo with like very difficult legal immigration process combined with like a loose border and so I feel like the United States gets kind of like harped on for this topic, even though I feel like it's actually a pretty, it's pretty lenient on and welcoming to so many illegal immigrants.

Tayla:

That crossed through a border specifically. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I could see that, I could see that.

Sam:

Yeah, but I do feel that, though it is a net positive, the United States is really pro-immigration, but it has become something that is harder to do in terms of doing it legally. It's more expensive to do it's a logistical nightmare. Yeah, honestly, it's very expensive, Having done it ourselves and having lots of family members do it themselves too.

Tayla:

So it's more arbitrary than a lot of other immigration laws around. Other countries Like you could just arbitrarily be denied, whereas like places like New Zealand, like there's a point system so you can qualify or you want, like you know exactly what you need to do to qualify, Whereas in the States it kind of could come down to the officer working on your case.

Sam:

So I think it's good that we can talk a little bit about that general immigration portion first, because what it's allowing for me in terms of this Supreme Court decision and what Texas is trying to do to frame the discussion around, hey, one immigration is a net positive immigration is good. However, we cannot ignore that there is a heavier burden on States and counties to handle that and that we don't actually have an effective solution to help States and counties with that additional burden.

Tayla:

Yeah, no, I think I would agree with everything you just said. Doesn't matter because I think most of what you spoke to is just facts, but I agree with those facts? No, I think, from what I think I read, study a few years ago that, like, the economy actually relies upon the work of not just immigrants but illegal immigrants in particular.

Sam:

Yeah, we actually talked about that. Yeah, I think. So there's an interesting John Oliver thing that was done like a year or two ago about just what they do in California with the farms and how much it's like 90% of them are illegal on some level and just not spoken about. But it keeps the cost of food down.

Tayla:

Yeah, like it, or the food isn't.

Sam:

And US citizens did not want to do the job, so anyways.

Tayla:

Okay, cool. I think that is good context because it does kind of add a level, I think, of sympathy and empathy for the situation of the people living on the border towns, and that's something I think. I have a few quotes we can talk a bit about that as well, but, yeah, really good. So what was the second thing.

Sam:

Second thing is about specifically what this really really means, and part of how I feel about it is really that there's an overreaction to this particular decision because a decision actually hasn't been made. So I was just gonna talk a little bit. A couple of comments about that.

Tayla:

You go ahead. I'm ready to disagree, okay, on the overreaction thing, but you go ahead.

Sam:

Yeah, so basically, what the Supreme Court is doing is it's allowing the appeals court to handle this.

Tayla:

First.

Sam:

Per standard practice. If the appeals court upholds the law, which I believe is unlikely then the case could return to the Supreme Court for an actual ruling. So this decision is not setting any precedent, nor is it indicative of how they would rule with the case when it is actually before them.

Tayla:

Yeah, I would say that is true. I think the I don't think there's an overreaction on, because Justice Alito I'm pretty sure it's Alito had said but you can't enforce a law, a law, wow yet that we don't know is constitutional. And then they changed their minds and they're like you go ahead and enforce this law that probably is illegal, while we've decided whether it's illegal. And that's why I think like that's scary and I don't like that, especially because the procedures are not well set and it also is completely infringing upon the federal government's right end.

Sam:

Yeah.

Tayla:

And so that's even in, even in a short term. It does kind of be like well sometimes. I mean, it has happened before that like states have just been like, well, we're just going to take things into our own hands because we're not happy with how the federal government has handled it, and that's not good.

Sam:

Yeah, so I think the law is dumb. Just so you know like I don't agree with the law. I think it's basically the way it's written. Is is is is almost forcing racial profiling around the state of Texas. So how are you really going to know if someone's illegal and you know, and having any police officer have that ability to make that decision? It's crazy. I was just reading about a number of stories when they were having a similar issue in Arizona. You know people not having. You know, oh shoot, I've got my driver's license at home. They get pulled over and it's like well, now you're in jail for like a month and there's no consequence for law enforcement or anything that you don't get. No oversight.

Tayla:

There's no oversight, and that's the thing is, they don't have to. They don't. They don't demonstrate what proof, like they just said, you could be arrested and you have two choices, and one of those choices wasn't go through a court procedure to verify whether the law enforcement official who arrested you is correct or wrong. Maybe that's a part of the process, but it's it. It wasn't clearly demonstrated and it wasn't spoken about as like it's like. No, you're arrested and then you either get sent to Mexico, whether you're from Mexico or not, or you can choose to stay here in jail.

Sam:

Yeah, so I just want to frame the. The last thing, which is I don't think we can truly hold judgments for or against the Supreme court decision, because this is this is pretty standard procedure. So to frame that and rather direct the again still the argument towards this is a really dumb law. I don't like what you know what Abbott is doing and I can't wait for it to be like absolutely shut down in the appeals court. It should just be this, should not be a law. It also, in my opinion, who's very strong on states rights and states laws, this infringes on what I believe is should be federal, federally ruled on, because, like you, can't have immigration handled by states because there's what is the point of being a country, Exactly At that point, because that's one of the things that the federal level should take care of, because you're you're dealing with treaties, you're dealing with, like all sorts of like.

Sam:

Um, uh, I'm trying to think of the word laws that govern the interaction between countries. Yeah, it's probably treaties too, yeah, but you can't have states individually making those laws between other countries.

Tayla:

Yeah, not only that, but what a state does affects every other state, and so you can't just have cause. I mean, let's go in a, let's go ahead and apply the logic. Let's give these Republicans in Texas what they want and we say, absolutely, this is a state thing, you can do whatever you want for your state, let's pretend right. Then you have say we have California, that's like okay, we're just going to not enforce the border. Then, since we have the prerogative to know what to do with our border, we're going to let whoever the hell we want in whenever we want in. You can see how dumb that is, because it affects every other state what California does Absolutely, and it's the same with Texas on the on the opposite right. It affects the, as you said, the economy, the social climate, everything about the rest of the country. Again, why even have a country If you're not operating as such? This?

Tayla:

cannot be something that is left up to the States. No, I agree.

Tayla:

And I would assume that if, for some reason, their appeals courts is are idiots, I would assume the Supreme Court when they, when they were forced to then hear it, they would also rule that Cause yeah the because if you're thinking broader, even if you're, if, if you're, like we have concerns with the border or things are not going well in Texas, even if you believe that it doesn't make sense to support this law, If all that happens, though, just mark my words that's the beginning of the end for the United States.

Sam:

So if that this all happens, everyone just like as quickly as you can, you, you immigrate somewhere else. Ironically enough, yeah.

Tayla:

I mean, I agree, because it does show the like oh, we can, just it. Essentially it's it's, it's chaos, it's like we're not going to do our best to work together as a country and align on things Like this. So it's just, it's a it's a cheap, political, short-sighted solution to a real problem, but it's it's not only racist, it's also just dumb, like it doesn't make any sense on on whatever level, even if you believe that securing that border better is important. So what I will say, though, is you mentioned that the Supreme Court just followed their normal procedure, which is true, but I do think this is a unique, and you just said, you just spoke to, like, the potential ramifications of this specific case on the whole country. I'm like this isn't a normal procedure, this isn't a normal issue, though. So I'm like don't allow a state on this, on the interim. Don't allow, even if it's not normal procedure. And this was like.

Tayla:

The Alito's instinct in the first place was yeah, let's, let's, let's put a stay on this, because it's it's a very unique situation, kind of first of its kind big ramifications, because think of again, just justice, right, for however many weeks or months this takes, you are going to have racial profiling, you are going to have illegal activity by law enforcement officials and I do want to speak to like the law enforcement side as well. So we have from the AP news article, we have a quote from Texas officials. So the sheriff Eddie Guerra of Hidalgo County, who serves as president of the Southwestern border sheriff's coalition, who represents 31 border counties in Texas, he said quote a lot of the local police chiefs here we don't believe it will survive a constitutional challenge. It doesn't look like it's going to because a Texas peace officer is not trained. We have no training whatsoever to determine whether an individual is here in this country legally. Close quote. So he himself is just saying like we don't think it will stand anyway because we have no training.

Sam:

Yep.

Tayla:

And it's not their job. To again, it's not a police officer's job to enforce a country's border Like. That's not at all their job, and so that's why I think they should have still put a stay on the enforcement, because this is essentially saying let's go ahead and have untrained officers make life altering decisions for people while we figure this out. I don't think that's right, so that's why I'm annoyed at those people.

Sam:

Sure, you have every right to be annoyed.

Tayla:

Even if, as you said, let's kind of follow the same procedure. But isn't that concerning? He's saying like we have no training, we don't know how to tell. That's so concerning to me.

Sam:

Yeah, so my personal opinion on on this whole thing is that I feel like immigration has become an over focused and popular subject and like, if you remember, before Donald Trump ran, it wasn't a huge issue, it wasn't issue. It was an issue, but it wasn't like number one, number two, number three, number four, number five, number six.

Tayla:

It was like maybe top 10.

Sam:

Maybe top 10. And but it was Donald Trump's main thing that he brought up. In fact, he kind of got laughed at like why is he going off about freaking, illegal, illegal?

Tayla:

immigrants.

Sam:

This is bizarre, it's the racist comments about. Yeah, and you was kind of seen as a joke candidate at first, because it was just like this weird random topic, that as thing, that he decided to make his issue. But now it's literally, I feel, like one of the top one two or three things that is spoken about all the time and I feel like it's an overblown issue where I feel like we have much bigger problems than our immigration issues.

Tayla:

Yeah, I actually think this is interesting because he kind of it seems to have been a thing for him, because he was bringing up this concept, quote, unquote, even before he was running for president, like during Obama, like his thing was oh, he's like not actually really an American Like he had, like a.

Sam:

It's bizarre.

Tayla:

A bias against him and kind of like this witch hunt about him not really truly being American, which was there's no basis for that but he was like a thing for him even before now. So I see a pattern with him. But I agree that it is a big deal right now. In fact, the government keeps like, every couple of weeks, keeps almost shutting down specifically because the far right Republicans are holding out on the main bill because of the border. That's the reason they keep giving us the border, the border, the border, which again, I don't think I'm saying it's not important and I think it's ridiculous. Then the immigration system and the and the lack of clear direction and a clear plan for like immigration and border crossing is ridiculous and it should be addressed. But I do think holding hostage the country being able to function for that issue is wrong. I think it's the wrong thing to do. Yeah.

Sam:

It's to be honest. So I have, like, a lot of conservative values, moderate values and I have some liberal values from my conservative side. It's frightening that Donald Trump speaks so much about this. It feels like it's.

Sam:

I'm not going to say that this is Hitler-esque, but a little bit, but there's a little bit in the terms of, like he's painted a target and painted an enemy, and it went from being like why are the Jews being blamed for everything? All of Germany's problems? When it was like again, this was such a small, tiny little thing that affects any German. Ever the same thing with this immigration thing. It just feels like it's been a painted target and yes, it's an issue, but man is it? Just kind of gives me anxiety seeing just how it's been able to change the whole topic and discussion.

Tayla:

Like how it happened?

Sam:

Everyone has about immigration, and I just honestly wish that we could, like, almost pull back and reduce the intensity around the discussion. You know, but, man, what to do with Donald Trump, I feel like, is the one that has been pushing so hard on this, yeah.

Tayla:

And I just think we've talked about this a few times that the problem when you start grouping people is that you start to dehumanize them, and that's, I think, very much. I don't think this is something that shouldn't be talked about illegal immigration, normal immigration but how you talk about it really impacts everything, and he's talking about it in a way that I think and a lot of Republicans are doing this that dehumanizes the like people and families and children and parents and grandparents, that this is actually about.

Tayla:

Like sure, maybe they're illegal immigrants, but think about it like a little bit more, humanize them and realize that like just arresting people off the street, how is that ever a good thing? And especially when there's so much potential to split families, that's unconscionable, like when I think about what happened at those. What are they not detention camps like the?

Tayla:

detainee or the yeah the detainees in Texas, I think and the fact that children were just and toddlers and babies are separated from their parents, and that the US government lost hundreds of children. They're just gone, we don't know where they are or what happened to them. Unexceptible and so, and I think most people would agree with that Most people would be like, yeah, I don't think it's right to rip a two-year-old from their parents, even if they cross into a country legally. But because you're, the language is so dehumanizing it's easy to forget, like, what that really means what you're what you're really putting people through.

Sam:

Yeah, I was seeing a lot of it recently, just the even outside of the immigration issue, which is, like you see, people say you know, I, rather you know anything but a Democrat. You know like I, rather you know like Russian or like freaking something else bizarre, and somehow a Democrat is such a bad thing that they're like being dehumanized and you know if it's happening the other way around too. That's yeah, it's awful, like I. Just I feel like it's, it's a recipe for disaster, it's a recipe for, you know, growing tensions, it's a recipe for violence and there's a it's a recipe for more generally, sex type events. So man is. Wouldn't it be great if we could figure out a way just to kind of turn down the heat a little bit in the United States?

Tayla:

Yeah, absolutely, and I think most people want that, they have a desire for it. I just don't see it happening anytime soon, especially not with the upcoming matchup this year between same freaking people who and I think like it's a hard thing right Cause Biden almost has to match the energy on the other side to like gain. I don't know, it's just I don't like it.

Sam:

I think your your side is how we all feel. Everyone, everyone just feels this big side like what. What can we do?

Tayla:

Which is why I have such a huge issue with the way that primaries are working like work in presidential races and probably in general, that I'm just like no one wants this. I have I have met very few people who actually want a Biden-Trump matchup, or even necessarily one of them, the one on like their side, and yet it's happening.

Tayla:

Why? Because when it comes to primaries, the system is totally unequal. There's a bunch of primaries happening right now that pretty much don't matter, because each of them has secured enough to be the nominees for their party and so few people never mind people showing up to vote on election day, people showing up to vote in primaries. Very low, teeny, tiny percentage of people in this country are deciding who, who we get to choose between. That's a problem and I don't like it, and participating in the caucus that I did a couple of weeks ago really showed me part of why.

Tayla:

Why are people not showing up? It's inaccessible in a lot of ways. Like you had to stay home with our children so that I could go, when you should have been able to go as well and participate. Like people my age parents, people who work nights, people who have a shift work, people who don't have vehicles. Like it's not accessible to them. Like it is for older people that are retired or don't have children in the home to like go on at 7pm.

Tayla:

To like debate for and and and vote in a caucus for an unspecified amount of time, potentially hours, right. So I don't like that at all. I think that's half. The problem is just. I think we need reform when it comes to how voting works in the country, like a set primary election day so that all the states have an equal say and equal weight in affecting, like the outcome of whom the nominees are. And I think caucuses are dumb Not all of them, they're all. They're designed all differently. But the one I attended I just was like literally 1% of people showing up to the caucuses will have a voice.

Sam:

Yeah Well, let me summarize our discussion today. One immigration is good. Number two the Supreme Court ruling is not definitive of the law in Texas, it's TBD.

Tayla:

TBD.

Sam:

Number three the Texas law is pretty dumb and we should stupid stupid Number four. Number four there's some complexity around immigration, in terms of the burden on states versus the federal government especially in those towns. Yeah, and so we should be cognizant. Cognizant Is that the word? The federal government?

Tayla:

needs to get its butt into gear so that states aren't feeling like they're forced into this position, absolutely.

Sam:

I guess that's about it. And five, everyone needs to essentially try to be more involved in your local and state and every politics, and we have to try hard to make a difference.

Tayla:

Absolutely. And one thing we can do even if you again accessibility and one thing we can do that we did talk about as well that I want to highlight is you can change how you talk about groups of people and you can change how you do things. And I need to improve myself too, Like I can. I think when I talk about people on the far right spectrum, I think I can lump them into like an in in human, like not real people group, like that's intangible, and I think that's wrong with me because that means I don't really consider. I just I think I do kind of be like they don't have good reasons for you know, and that's not true. And so this is a call out to myself to change how I speak about people that I don't agree with or that I don't resonate with, or that don't represent me or look like me, just like I would expect anyone else to. But we all can do that. We can all change how we talk about people.

Sam:

The end.

Tayla:

Thanks for listening to the Babe. What do you know about podcast?

Sam:

Remember to rate, subscribe and review.

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Changing How We Talk About People