The effect of immigration on population growth in a division-of-labor society is different than is a non-division-of-labor society. With the number of productive immigrants rising in a larger population, so will the standard of living. This gives America the advantage that enables it to overcome any problems that would otherwise be associated with the need to produce more food and minerals for a larger population. Because America has homeless people, and people that go to bed hungry, this doesn t mean America lacks the sufficient housing and food supplies to accommodate the population.
When the government placed tighter restrictions on immigration after the first World War, the move was devastating to agriculture. The workforce on the farms was lured away to the cities by higher wages. This is the single most significant detail, often overlooked by today s economists, that contributed to the decline of the American farmer and permanently depressed agricultural profits.
There runs through American society, a whole gamut of opinion concerning the politically correct way to limit immigration levels. How to reach a point where society and immigrants are both treated fairly, is a solution that remains to be seen. The most important question for Washington is whether a continuous stream of foreign workers and dependents into the country over the next few years will make it more or less difficult to achieve the economic, social, or environmental goals of the American people.
For the first time in decades, Washington should consider basing its immigration policy on open borders. Officials should start the process either at the zero level and add only the number that actually help Americans, or open the borders with no limitations. This would be almost impossible to determine.
Existing law unduly restricts the supply of immigration from nations where the demand for immigrants to the United States is high. This situation causes illegal immigration, particularly from Mexico. The United States should expand the future possibilities for Mexicans and Canadians to live and work in the United States as “legal entrants.” This would allow an individual to live and work in the United States without access to means-tested entitlement programs such as Medicare, Social Security, and welfare programs. Free public education up through high school would still be available and emergency and pregnancy-related health care also. Native born children would continue to have all the rights of U.S. citizens. “Legal entrants” would be responsible to pay all U.S. taxes, but would not be required to register for military service.
The United States needs little change in the law with respect to refugees and should retain provisions in current law that give major power to the president in deciding refugee quotas. Improvements are needed to reduce the lengthy waiting period for those seeking asylum.
If the United States must drastically reform laws concerning immigration, who should be admitted to the country? The United States could set an annual quota for the number of entrants and then stick to it. The ideal number would be close to the annual net legal immigration of non-citizens of 700,000 to 1,000,000 peoples. Anyone that has continually resided in the United States illegally for at least two years should on a onetime basis only be allowed to change their status to that of a “legal entrant” for a fee of $400. The $400 fee would cover the cost of filing for status, a physical examination and inoculations against diseases. “Legal entrants” would have the right to reside and work for the rest of their lifetimes. These rights would be non-transferable. I believe the status of undocumented immigrants is the cause for many misunderstandings and unhappy events and this would help to alleviate some of the problems. By giving these individuals a chance at purchasing the right to work and live in the United States, this would eliminate the incentive for entering illegally, working and living and enjoying access to entitlement programs.
The United States could increase border enforcement and enforcement at points of entry into the country or eliminate it completely. The United States should eliminate employer sanctions completely. Even though employer sanctions have decreased illegal entry somewhat, there is too much evidence of additional discrimination against immigrants and employers alike. In addition, the paperwork shuffle required by law would be substantially reduced-saving the federal, state, local governments and employers-additional cost. These savings could be passed on to the people that eventually pay for these costs anyway the American public.
Lastly, to the Founding Fathers e pluribus unum meant the infusion of thirteen separate states into a single political unit; to the late-twentieth-century American it denotes the unity that has developed from the mingling of peoples diverse in origin but sharing a common devotion to liberty, democracy, diversity and tolerance. We need to keep looking forward to the future and not the past for our answers, and convince legislators of the same.