Say Anything Blog

The threat of illegal immigration is not necessarily an economic one.  The real threat is that immigration, if it remains unchecked, is going to create (or has already created) a huge subsection of the population that has a vested interest in the fruits of our nations economy while holding no loyalty to the system of government that fosters that economy.

As Teddy Roosevelt put it:

In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man’s becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.

Immigrants who come here need to a) be screened so ensure that they’re not a security threat and b) have to go through a process to ensure that they are loyal to our system of government.

I agree that the influx of immigrants is a positive thing for this country, and I’m all for making it easier to legally get into this country by streamlining/shortening the process, but illegal immigration has got to stop.

In the past I’ve called this the “big wall with a wide fence” approach, and it is the only one that makes sense.  We cannot simply fling the doors open on the border, but we can’t be too restrictive on who we let in either.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Rob: I would agree that there are other bad consequences of illegal immigration besides the economic ones.  The economic harm is quite enough to justify preventing it, though.

Hope and change, in a free world, are the private possessions of motivated individuals.

I have no problem with increasing legal immigration quotas.

In fact, for every illegal deported, a legal immigrant who got in line should be allowed in - it would cause the illegals to turn on eachother in hopes of getting their families in legally.

In fact, for every illegal deported, a legal immigrant who got in line should be allowed in - it would cause the illegals to turn on eachother in hopes of getting their families in legally.

I like that logic, though I’m not sure how practical a system that would be to administer.

The solution to the illegal immigration problem should be predicated on two points: 1) Legal immigration is good for this country and 2) Illegal immigration is not.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

In the past I’ve called this the “big wall with a wide fence” approach, and it is the only one that makes sense.

It doesn’t make that much sense.

How about a “big wall with a big door(or gate).”

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Um...yeah.  That’s it.

The turkey made me write that last night.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

The turkey made me write that last night.

LOL

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Just because Laffer got one thing right doesn’t mean he is right about everything; or about anything else, for that matter.  This is the flaw in the “appeal to authority” mindset.  There is no substitute, IMO, for thinking for yourself about everything.
IMO, the only immigration that is good for our country is that which we decide is beneficial to us.  The burden of proof is on the immigrant, or should be, to prove that he or she is going to benefit this country.  “Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty.”

Hope and change, in a free world, are the private possessions of motivated individuals.

Laffer’s obviously right about immigration in general, and I think also right about the trade deficit.  We need legal immigrants as workers, so part of the solution it seems to me is to improve the guest worker program while continuing to turn the screws on illegal workers to make it harder for them to enter illegally and to work illegally once here.

If the illegal workers voluntarily return to Mexico and reenter legally, and were neither charged with nor convicted of a crime while in the US illegally, what’s the beef?  How do you, in the circumstances where there is no physical evidence, sort out those who had in the past illegally entered the US from those who didn’t?

I think most of us agree that our economy needs the workers.  Let’s bump up the guest worker program to meet our current needs, while continuing to improve our enforcement of border security and illegal hirings.