Wow, what a day. This is the third post and I am excited to bring it to you. Read this exclusive article written for the New Right by JB. His is a defense of the President's immigration bill. Please comment and let JB know what you think.
The Immigration Bill is exactly what America Needs.
I don't think the critics of the proposed immigration bill (both on the Left and Right) are Racist, Xenophobes, and etc. I just think they are wrong. There are pragmatic and National Interest reasons why America needs a guest worker program.
Why this bill is in America's Long Term National Interests:
1. America needs workers. America's unemployment rate is at historic lows. Economists will tell you that unemployment below 5% can be unhealthy for an economy. America needs workers most in low-paying agricultural and manual labor jobs. There are hundreds of thousands of people willing to work these jobs for low wages. An economy runs on its human resources, right now the American economy is beginning to exceed its human resource capacity.
2. The agricultural and manual labor jobs represent products that all Americans use and need (i.e. food, housing, and etc.) It is in every American's best interest to keep the price of these goods low, especially in time of slower economic growth.
3. Developed countries (like America and those in Europe) are running out of people. As the global market expands, the fight between developed countries will be for people. Who will get these people? If America wants to stay ahead, it has to win this fight.
4. Whether America is now, or not, it needs to become a Assimilating Machine. We need an immigration policy that favors those with skills.Whether these skills are agricultural or engineering, in order to continue to be the World's Economic Superpower we need people to keep the economy expanding. Our immigration policy needs to be tailored to turn immigrants into Americans. Critics of the bill will agree with this, but the only way they see this working is to let a small amount of immigrants into America over long periods of time. Unfortunately this approach is inefficient, takes too long, and fuels illegal ( or, undocumented/ black market) labor.
5. At the present time, American employers have resulted to acquiring human resources from the "Black Market" that is illegal immigration. In some cases these undocumented workers do not pay taxes, abuse government programs, and can not be easily regulated by state and local governments.America's immigration policy has to provide incentives to take these resources off the black market and give them back to the employers who need them through a documented and regulated process.
6. This bill is the best of both worlds, it will allow for American employers to meet their human resource needs, increase tax receipts,enable America's economy to grow, provide a higher standard of living for foreign workers, all without giving away certain benefits of citizenship(i.e. voting rights, access to welfare programs). Granted citizenship can be obtained over time, and if these workers meet certain criteria, this program will not all at once hand over citizenship. It will force immigrants to work towards citizenship.
Why this bill is Pragmatic:
1. The border will never be completely sealed. A good offense is the best defense. In the immigration issue, America's defense is border control and its offense is its immigration policy. For those that slip through the borders, or are here already, America's immigration policy must provide a way to track these workers, ensure they are paying taxes,and determine if these immigrants represent a threat to security.
2. If you can't beat them join them. America needs workers, millions of workers are dead-set on getting to America. They are coming whether America likes it or not. We need to make this work in America's best interest. This is why America needs to become and assimilating machine.
3. Letting the market work itself out, allowing business to conduct itself without government interference, connecting a willing employer with a willing worker is at the heart of Conservatism. Conservatives have an opportunity to bring in a huge segment of the population by crafting and immigration policy that exemplifies conservative ideals.
4. If America wants to seal the borders, make the American economy an exclusive "invite-only county club," and retain and preserve its popular cultural norms, then this bill is not for America. But if this is the case, then as America becomes more isolated, in an increasingly interconnected Global economy, America will also loose its competitive edge and its influence in the world.
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4 comments:
We don't do a good job of assimilating the people who are already here. If other safeguards were in place, this immigration reform program might make sense.
As it is, these people will probably just end up forming a new entitlement class that votes Democrat almost all the time. I predict that we will not assimilate them. Instead, they will degrade us into an ever more socialistic society.
We lack the confidence to insist that people obey our laws, learn our language, live by our norms, and figure out how to pull their own weight. We already let people who are rightfully here get away with all kinds of second-class behavior. What reason is there to believe we will be firm with all these immigrants when we open the floodgates?
2 Points in Response:
First, I think America has done a god job of assimilation in times past and more than your giving them credit for now. As a nation of immigrants, America has been a melting pot and taken large populations of Italians, Irish, and Asians and after a few generations turned them into Americans. I think our society has incredible tools at its disposal to assimilate the masses: MTV, Hollywood, and the Public School System. Think about it, MTV and Hollywood dictate not only what Americans see and hear but what the rest of the world does as well. You put a kid from anywhere in the world through high school, give him a MySpace page and access to MTV, he will come out as American as apple pie.
Second, I take issue with your assessment that this bill will create and entitlement class. Many illegal immigrants risk their lives to come here. They work to support their families back home. If this isn't motivation, I don’t know what is. Also, this bill represents a fundamental shift in immigration policy. Where America’s policy used to give preference to reuniting families, this bill will give preference to those with skills or a proven work history. The fact that it will be more difficult for immigrants to bring their entire family to the US will be all the incentive needed to keep them earning money, paying taxes, etc. Also, studies show Hispanic immigrants are more aligned with social conservatives than liberals.
-JB
JB,
I don't want people being assimilated into the America of Hollywood and MTV. That version of America is contemptible and disgusting. That is the socially, sexually, and chemically irresponsible side of America that has ensnared and enslaved far too many people of color already. In my opinion, ghetto kids raised on a diet of cultural crap who can't even speak proper English despite having lived in the U.S. their whole lives are part of the native-born unassimilated. They've been assimilated into a version of America, but not the one you or I live in, and not the one worth risking life and limb to live in.
Furthermore, there is data that suggests that once the reputedly socially conservative hispanics get here, they end up being corrupted by our culture of promiscuity, illegitimacy, and other social irresponsibility.
http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_4_hispanic_family_values.html
Earlier immigrants to America did not have a thoroughly rotten American pop culture to seduce and lull them into bad ideas and bad habits. They brought their own popular cultures with them from their old countries and encountered American popular culture that was pristine by today's standards. There was no rap music praising criminality. There was no glorification of all manner of sexual misbehavior on television and in mainstream cinema.
I'm not suggesting that the problem is the current crop of immigrants. The problem is that there really are two Americas; just not the ones John "Pretty Boy" Edwards sees. One of these Americas is centered in virtue and earnership. The other is centered in pleasure and entitlement. I think the new immigrants are at least as likely to be seduced by the second as to live in the first.
The link is not complete, the part that got cut off is
16_4_hispanic_family_values.html
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