ICE The elephant in the room

[Posting_Trot]

I can’t resist, and I apologize in advance:

Will Canada and Mexico be securing boarders for specific boarding facilities? Or will people who cross borders illegally be forced to acquire a horse and become boarders?

Again, I apologize.

[smoofox]

@Bogey2

Well Mexico and Canada have caved to the threat of Tariffs and will help with securing the boarders.

#shrug

As I responded on another thread - they did not cave - as in give up much of anything.

Canada in particular “agreed” to the border plan that was decided on in December 2024 - that they were already in the process of implementing. They added a few cookies like a “fentanyl czar”.

So Trump can pretend that he was formidable and tough… and suggest that he forced Canada and Mexico to bend the knee… for 30 days anyway.

The political theater never ends.

[MHM]

@smoofox

So Trump can pretend that he was formidable and tough… and suggest that he forced Canada and Mexico to bend the knee… for 30 days anyway.

Funny, that is not at all my take away.

But I won’t digress further into politics on this thread.

[steelerino]

@Annie10

Both times my insurance co (Fl Blue) sent me letters then called me trying to find out.if there was someone they could go after. I told them it was my horse and my tack etc on my property.

I had this happen to me when I broke my jaw/cheekbone and required reconstructive surgery. I got dumped in the middle of a country road and they hounded me for an “actual” location. They just couldn’t accept that I was not on somebody’s property.

[Moderator_1]

This thread has been staying largely related to immigration issues as they relate to the horse industry, so let’s please avoid getting into general politics.

[appypaint]

@Kirikou

As for the broader point, there’s some truth to the idea that how we react to political outcomes is within our control. However, framing it this way ignores the fact that for many, political decisions have direct, material consequences on their rights, safety, and well-being. Dismissing frustration or concern as merely a ‘choice’ comes from a position of privilege—some of us can afford to be unaffected, while others (like many of the grooms we’ve been talking about) don’t have that luxury.

Co-signed. Dismissing criticism as “slander” is a weird (if ironic) twist when the thread is largely about the material ramifications of a labor force in the equestrian world, and those ramifications originate from a specific perspective on policy. It’s not wasteful to worry about and plan for how BOs, trainers, etc will staff their businesses in the following years.

[Kirikou]

Thanks for quoting this! Looks like my original post was deleted —guess my nerdy musings about Socrates weren’t “pony-related” enough?

[Maude]

Yeah, mine is removed also because someone whined to the mods. Guess this one will be axed too…

[Moderator_1]

Just trying to keep things from going off into general political musings, folks.

[sascha]

@Maude

Yeah, mine is removed also because someone whined to the mods.

Same. Whatever.

[oldernewbie]

Nah, this has been going on for ages. My husband went to graduate school (30 years ago whew!) with several folks from central America and they all deliberately had their children while they were in the US as students. All the kids had dual citizenship. Frankly, I don’t fault them, some of the countries they were from were truly dangerous at the time. Not a new development at all.

[Annie10]

IMHO if you happen to be over here on a student visa, work, visa or whatever for an extended period, and I’ve known some professors and academic types that were here for years on visas , and you happen to have a baby as part of living your life and all of that that’s one thing. But if you’re living in whatever country and you specifically plan your vacation so that you can come here and have a baby that’s something else. Again just my opinion.

[frugalannie]

Just perhaps it was because healthcare was much better in the US, especially for high risk pregnancies. I’m not arguing against your point, I’m just saying there could be more than one factor involved in a difficult decision like that.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@sascha

@Maude

Yeah, mine is removed also because someone whined to the mods.

Same. Whatever

Just for the record - It wasn’t me. For either of you.

[BrownDerby]

In my state, CA, Chinese birth tourism is a HUGE industry. There was just a large raid in Los Angeles. In my town, which is a high COL area, the method is to buy a house, usually in one of the new subdivisions, and use it as birth date nears. The houses (most near $1M) stay empty through most of the year. Speaking with the neighbors I’ve learned that some shady LLC pays the utilities and yard care. Exclusively Chinese.

[quietann]

That was absolutely true when I was working in the Maternal-Fetal Medicine division at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. There were patients from all over the world, perhaps because it was one of the best MFM programs in the world.

[BatCoach]

@Annie10

They are. If rescue/police are called to a serious injury (like a tractor accident, serious horse injury etc) they call OSHA

Bummer that AZ Republican Congressman Andy Biggs just introduced a bill to abolish OSHA.

[Paint_Party]

As someone who lives in Arizona, I send my apologies to my fellow American citizens who understand the need for workplace safety oversight.

Biggs has tried this before, several years ago, and it failed. He thinks OSHA is just another bloated federal bureaucracy that needs to stop regulating stuff. You know, all the stuff that tries to prevent people from dying or being maimed on the job.

Biggs is a nut who’s always looking for notoriety. I loathe him.

[Ghazzu]

As has been said,
“Until I got the formal training, I didn’t fully realize that every one of the OSHA regulations exist for a reason. All those regulations are written in blood. They are there because something bad happened to someone.”

[endlessclimb]

Anyone who thinks OSHA is just a big bloated bad agency needs to spend some quality time working manual labor or in the trades, for a company that has been explicitly told they don’t need to follow OSHA regs.

May the odds be ever in their favor.

EDIT: Even better, how about they go work in a country that treats human bodies as expendable, and doesn’t have OSHA? China or North Korea come to mind.