Blog @ MoreWhat.com

While the authors of the article accompanying this post may have credentials sought by the think tanks and academic institutions, it does nothing to offer a convincing argument for their support of the trend in American business to favor or give preference to foreign labor. The initial paragraph begins the unconvincing argument by addressing low skilled illegal immigrants, the depression of wages and assuming politicians want to change immigration law for any purpose other than amnesty.

That amnesty has been defeated for now and Tom Tancredo has announced a bill for addressing illegal immigration does not allow for the simple conclusion that politicians want or wanted to change immigration law. The dominant public opinion is that most Americans want illegal immigration resolved. That notion is supported by polls, the outrage that defeated the amnesty bills, the hundreds of state and local laws enacted in lieu of federal action and the intent of most of the US Congress to shelve the problem until after the 2008 elections.

The think tank authors present other points in their argument that are not directly stated as from their published report but assumed to be since they mention it later in the piece. They attempt to persuade the reader of the virtue and benefit of highly skilled individuals seeking entry to the US. Has there been one such argument presented by any proponent of unrestrained immigration that addresses the contribution, concerns or needs of the American labor pool? Beyond brief patronizing asides and lame attempts to diffuse the anger and frustration of many Americans there have been no such arguments by the open borders crowd. Feel free to point one out if you believe this statement to be in error.

With politicians, political parties and various special interest groups or individuals pointing to the vast inventory of papers, reports, studies and other material presented by ‘think tanks’, it is the opinion of this blog that there is reason to be concerned that all such material is biased and produced to support the argument of those who use it. A less cluttered discussion of the issue of illegal immigration would be to accept what no one seems to argue. The problem of illegal immigration exists. It is no less significant now than when it began. It is understood to be more important now though not unimportant before. The additional risk it places on national security has increased with the advent of global terrorism in a post September 11th world.

Those pursuing more immigration, visas and other reasons for foreigners entering the US need to publicly accept a few facts. There are no absolutes. No one can guarantee stopping all terrorists from entering the US. No one can guarantee all those entering the US legally or illegally are honorable people. There is little anyone can guarantee. So until national defense, security, border control, immigration and all matters related have been sufficiently improved to minimize risk, requests to proceed as if there were no risks involved are irresponsible and only self-serving.

This would be a good time for American business to focus on this country’s labor pool. If American business believes the American labor pool is inadequate they should get involved in strengthening it. What better time than when this country should severely restrict the flow of immigration until security is adequate? Americans helping Americans would be a pleasant change. Rather than American business abandoning their own in favor of foreign sources.

Stanford Matthews
MoreWhat.com

The Other Side Of Immigration

Robert E. Litan and Vivek Wadhwa
07.09.07, 6:00 AM ET
Commentary
Forbes.com
Even with the failure of President Bush’s recent immigration reform measure, members of both political parties want to change current U.S. immigration law. Much of this interest is rooted in concerns over low-skilled immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, and whether these immigrants depress the wages of American workers.

Yet as the debate continues inside and outside of Congress, it would be wise to focus more attention on the tremendous benefits highly skilled immigrants bring to this country, and how the right immigration reforms can enhance U.S. economic growth and job creation in the future.

Many Americans believe that immigrants with science and technology skills who come to the U.S. are competing with American graduates – and boxing them out of certain jobs. On the contrary, these entrepreneurial immigrants are using their skills, as well as the opportunities for business development present in the United States, to create more jobs for American workers.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 16th, 2007 at 1:37 pm and is filed under Public Affairs, Terrorism, wordpress, Politics, Immigration, Tancredo, lobbyist, United States, Safety, Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.