A Firm Grasp of the Obvious is the cornerstone of Sanity
a tenuous, ethereal, illusory grasp, OTOH...
*Still Dodging Immigration’s Truths Robert Samuelson
There is much muddle to our immigration debate. The central problem is not illegal immigration. It is undesirably high levels of poor and low-skilled immigrants, whether legal or illegal, most of whom are Hispanic. Immigrants are not all the same. An engineer making $75,000 annually contributes more to the American economy and society than a $20,000 laborer. On average, the engineer will assimilate more easily.
... a respected immigration scholar—said this of low-skilled immigrants:
“Their presence in the labor market increases competition for low-skilled jobs, reducing the earnings of low-skilled native-born workers… Because of their low earnings, low-skilled immigrants also tend to pay less in taxes than they receive in public benefits, such as income transfers (e.g., the earned income tax credit, food stamps), public schooling for their children, and publicly provided medical services. Thus while the presence of low-skilled immigrant workers may raise the profits of their employers, they tend to have a negative effect on the well-being of the low-skilled native-born population, and on the native economy as a whole.”
Hardly anyone is discussing these issues candidly. It is politically inexpedient to do so. We can be a lawful society and a welcoming society simultaneously, to use the president’s phrase, but we cannot be a welcoming society for limitless numbers of Latin America’s poor without seriously compromising our own future—and, indeed, the future of many of the Latinos already here. Yet, that is precisely what the president and many senators (Democratic and Republican) support by endorsing large “guest worker” programs and an expansion of today’s system of legal visas. In practice these proposals would result in substantial increases of low-skilled immigrants.
How fast can they assimilate? We cannot know, but we can consult history. It is sobering. In 1972 Hispanics were 5 percent of the U.S. population and their median household income was 74 percent of that of non-Hispanic white households. In 2004 Hispanics were 14 percent of the population, and their median household income was 70 percent of the level of non-Hispanic whites. These numbers suggest that rapid immigration of low-skilled workers and rapid assimilation are at odds. Some immigrant families make huge advances, but many don’t and newcomers represent a constant drag.
...economist Chiswick rightly argued that we should ... give preferences to skilled immigrants. We should be smart about the future; right now, we’re not.
...People who don’t think there will be conflicts between older beneficiaries and younger taxpayers—Hispanic or not—are deluding themselves. People who imagine there won’t be more conflicts between growing numbers of poor Latinos and poor African Americans for jobs and political power are also deluding themselves.
[emph. mine—e-C]
How is it that so many can not see/ignore these grass-is-green-sky-is-blue potentials?
oh, yeah:
“If you just try to build a wall 30 feet high and 2,000 miles long, it will be insufficient. People will go up over it, around it, in order to get a job in this country,” Frist said on CBS The Early Show.
...not if ya electrify it, Meester Beeeel. ...talk about a ‘failure of imagination.’ yeesh.
Meanwhile, immigration advocates poured into Washington by the thousands to lobby lawmakers and hold a late afternoon rally within site of the Capitol and the White House.
The Senate bill authorizes additional spending on border security, a guest worker program, an eventual opportunity at citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the country, and tougher enforcement of laws prohibiting hiring of illegal workers. Senate passage appears likely by Memorial Day.
nevermiiind…
My new Political Party: T’row Da Bums OUT! ALL of ‘em!
*WaPo Reg: washpost9@mailinator.com
PW: washpost
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