Letters to the Editor

• Control or?

  [Read the article: N.O. better blues]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  The fundamental truth of New Orleans is that it was a disaster waiting to happen - by geography (most of the city being below river level) - by construction (the design oversight in the maximum load capacity of the base of the drainage walls) and by correction (the dredging and civil work by the Corp of Engineers that eliminated all the natural accumulation areas in the South Louisiana coast). Add a hurricane and human nature (betting this one was like all the rest and would just blow over) and you have the disaster on the Southern coast that Katrina left.

  But the point that I want to make is that the tragedy was compounded by the desire to control more than anything - meaning that no one wanted (or still wants) to cede control of their little part of that world. When you look at the city, parish, state and federal agencies - who runs the show? The answer is that no one really does, everyone just wants to hold on to their part of the pie and let the others be dammed. And that, more than any other reason, is why New Orleans is in the situation that it is in today.

  But the question that you have to ask is - who would you trust to handle such a job? Do you seriously want the Federal Government to have the power raze what is left of the city, declare Eminent Domain and confiscate the ruined properties and auction them off to the highest bidder? That might be the best option to bring the city back to life (and to establish areas too unsafe to be rebuilt), but who wants that degree of power in one person?

  No one in the State government of Louisiana is going to be given that power with all the local politics involved and no one from a local level seems to have enough moral authority to lead such an endeavor. And given the outrageous demands of the politicians from LA after the flood for funds, who is going to be trusted to administer that amount of money?

  This was a Great Fire of London moment - a time to rebuild and rationalize something that was destroyed. Sadly, that moment has passed, and no one was there to be the Wren or Hooke of New Orleans to restore the city. It would have been nice to see more leadership in the rebuilding effort - but in the end, given the byzantine complications of local political structures - what do you expect?

  Permalink Sunday, August 20, 2006 01:03 AM

• Floodgates and Border Control

  [Read the article: American dreamers]
  [Read more letters about this article: Here]

  This story summarizes the current immigration debate neatly. Rules versus Heartstring Logic. And the story is all about the latter, with at least the salient facts presented as a balance. But in the end, if you were an immigration official that had to actually judge cases, you would be hard pressed to reach another decision as to the Kesbeh family. That is not racism or prejudice or spitefulness - just cold logic.

  Facts: the Kesbeh family came to the US on a tourist visa in 1990 or 91, applied for refugee status, and stayed legally in the country until 1998 on work visas. He worked (or took over) a family business in Houston. He lost his renewal rights in 1998, because his green card application was rejected. He ignored a deportation order and stayed illegally until he was deported in 2002.

  The question that is not raised in the story is this - why was he rejected in 1998 for a green card? Maybe because a flag business is not something that requires a unique talent (unique or valuable skill)? Or maybe because additionally he had 6 (un-naturalized) kids that made his application less desirable? or something else - that is the big hole in this story - why the original rejection?

  So when the consequence of his actions - ignoring the deportation order and not trying to purse a legal appeal for the green card - come down on his head and he gets deported in 2002, we get the rest of the story about what a burden this has been to his family, and how his new life is a struggle. And most ironically, how in Jordan that "certain social codes" are enforced on behavior whose consequences can be a deportation order straight into a grave. A bit more harsh than the INS?.

  The simple fact here is that many more people want to come and live in the US than we can absorb and so we have rules. Many people these days seem to think the rules can be ignored - so we are having a debate on immigration. The Kesbeh family got their chance at the gold ring and missed - but still want a second chance. Good - I hope the language skills and attitudes that they learned in their stay in Houston makes their path for a second chance easier. But they deserve nothing more than that - others with more talents and potential are waiting at the door for their place. And that is the lesson here - do you run a system by rules, or do you just make them up as you go along so no one ever gets rejected?

  Permalink Saturday, September 9, 2006 10:02 PM