DS 16-4-2021

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5Savage, despicable evil. That's what we were fighting in Iraq. That's why a lot of
people, myself included, called the enemy 'savages.' There really was no other way to
describe what we encountered there.
People ask me all the time, “How many people have you killed?” My standard response is,
“Does the answer make me less, or more, of a man?”
10The number is not important to me. I only wish I had killed more. Not for bragging
rights, but because I believe the world is a better place without savages out there
taking American lives. Everyone I shot in Iraq was trying to harm Americans or Iraqis
loyal to the new government.
I had a job to do as a SEAL. I killed the enemy—an enemy I saw day in and day out
15plotting to kill my fellow Americans. I’m haunted by the enemy’s successes. They were
few, but even a single American life is one too many lost.
I don’t worry about what other people think of me. It’s one of the things I most
admired about my dad growing up. He didn’t give a hoot what others thought. He was
who he was. It’s one of the qualities that has kept me most sane.
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American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S History, Chris
Kyle, 2012

Thème
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Elle lui demanda où était son sac, pour le monter dans le dortoir. Nicolas regarda autour de
lui, sans voir le sac. Il ne comprenait pas.
- Je croyais qu’il était là, murmura-t-il.
- Tu l’as bien emporté ? » demanda la maîtresse.
30Oui, Nicolas se rappelait très bien quand on l’avait mis dans le coffre, entre les chaînes et les
mallettes à échantillons de son père.
- Et en arrivant, vous l’avez sorti du coffre ? »
Nicolas secoua la tête en se mordant les lèvres. Il n’en était pas sûr. On plutôt, si : il était sûr
maintenant qu’on avait oublié de l’en sortir. Ils étaient descendus, puis son père était monté et
35à aucun moment on n’avait ouvert le coffre.
- C’est trop bête » dit la maîtresse, mécontente. La voiture était repartie depuis cinq minutes,
mais il était déjà trop tard pour la rattraper. Nicolas avait envie de pleurer. Il bafouilla que ce
n’était pas sa faute.
- Tu aurais quand même pu y penser », soupira la maîtresse.
40Voyant combien il semblait malheureux, elle se radoucit, haussa les épaules et dit que c’était
bête, mais pas bien grave. On allait s’arranger.

Emmanuel Carrère, La Classe de neige, P.O.L., Paris, 1995

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Biden’s muddle on immigration
Joe Biden needs a clearer message and a firmer hand to tackle a mounting border crisis
The Economist, Mar 20th 2021

50On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive action to halt
construction of Donald Trump’s controversial and expensive border wall, but now he has
a new wall of worry. A crisis is rapidly building on the southern border with Mexico, as
hundreds of thousands of migrants seek entry into the United States, fuelled by the
hope that the new president will be more welcoming than his predecessor was. In
55January and February the number of unaccompanied minors apprehended along the
border started to surge above previous peaks. Illegal border crossings in general are
soaring, amid predictions that this year they may be the highest for two decades.
For Mr Biden this poses a threat. Immigration, for years the most polarising issue in
American politics and one that has become ever harder to solve, could soon dominate
60the agenda. To the president’s right, Republicans are on the rampage. To his left,
meanwhile, progressive Democrats are out of step with wider American opinion,
championing impractical demands (such as stopping deportations) while labour unions
oppose sensible policies such as issuing more work visas. Mr Biden may want to avoid a
confrontation with progressives, whose support he needs for other legislation. Yet he
65finds himself in a bind that could yet cost his party control of Congress in the mid-term
elections next year.
In the short term, Mr Biden cannot change the dire circumstances that are propelling
Central Americans, Mexicans and others to try to set foot on American soil, but he can
easily alter the signals he sends. His administration has at times sounded like a shy host
70who is too polite to kick out hungry gate-crashers. “We are not saying ‘Don’t come’. We
are saying ‘Don’t come now’,” was the excessively mild recent message to potential
migrants from the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas. On March 16th
Mr Biden sought to dispel any ambiguity: “I can say quite clearly: don’t come over,” he
told abc News. He needs to do more to impose clarity and control.
75That means making it plain that tolerance of legal immigration has to go hand in hand
with toughness on the illegal sort. This will sometimes feel harsh. Unaccompanied minors
who do not have successful asylum claims or family of legal status in America should be
sent home. But there is no contradiction in being pro-immigrant yet anti-illegal-
immigration. Recent Democratic presidents have taken strong stands on enforcement,
80including deporting illegal immigrants, bulking up border control and building fencing on
the southern border.
Mr Biden should start with manageable tasks, visiting the border to understand the
scale and complexity of the challenge confronting him. He should immediately appoint
permanent leaders for Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs
85Enforcement. Their staff are overwhelmed, confused about which policies are in effect
and unsure what the administration plans to do next. Simple actions, such as directing
more intelligence resources to crack down on cartels and smugglers and getting rid of
 the invasive brush along the banks of the Rio Grande, could have an outsize impact by
making it easier for Border Patrol to do its job.
90Beyond such measures Mr Biden needs to overhaul the asylum process. Because of a
backlog in immigration-court cases—which today number 1.3m, about two-and-a-half
times the total when Mr Trump assumed office—resolution of asylum claims takes
years. Many migrants are allowed to stay in America while their cases are pending.
Better to let claims be evaluated by asylum officers instead of judges. Those who want
95to appeal against adverse decisions could still do so in court, but such a change would
ensure resolution within months, not years. Although a grand bargain on immigration is
probably impossible in today’s polarised environment, more such technocratic
compromises may be feasible.
A sustainable immigration policy for the future must involve creating more ways for
100immigrants to enter America legally. Currently there is no queue to join if you want to
come to live and work in America, which is why so many migrants are either rushing the
border to claim asylum or entering illegally. The asylum system has become a backdoor
substitute for a proper immigration scheme. Mr Biden would also, sensibly, like to
extend citizenship to undocumented immigrants who are already living in America and to
105the “Dreamers” who arrived there as children. Yet hope of such reforms depends on him
acting decisively. An uncomfortable showdown with noisy elements within his own party
may soon be needed.

Essay topics 250 words +/- 10%

110
Q1 : To the columnist, why may immigration prove to be a timebomb for Joe Biden ?

Q2 : To what extent can the United States still be considered a “land of opportunity”
for immigrants? Justify your answer with relevant examples.

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