Pro (immigration) Choice

Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies is a man I pay attention to when he writes about immigration issues - or other topics.

His post today at NRO is solid - I especially like this...

For too long the Republican story line has been “Too Much Lawbreaking,” when instead the real problem is “Too Much Immigration” — only one part of which involves lawbreaking. This exclusive focus on illegal immigration — opposing amnesty and pushing for more enforcement — is both incomplete and counterproductive. Incomplete because the effects of illegal immigration aren’t that different from those of legal immigration — an illiterate Central American farmer with a green card is just as unsuited for a 21st-century economy as an illiterate Central American farmer without a green card. And it’s counterproductive because the focus on criminality can seem punitive and serve to polarize the debate, potentially aliening not just immigrant voters, who really aren’t that numerous, but the native-born, who want less immigration but don’t want to feel bad about themselves for holding such a view.

A new approach would retain the widely popular, and morally compelling, support for more consistent application of immigration laws and opposition to legalization — but make them part of a broader push for a more moderate level of future immigration overall. If the debate focuses solely on legality, ultimately there’s no real argument against amnesty and open borders. You just legalize the whole thing and the issue goes away — no illegals, no problem. In the appropriately larger context, amnesty is bad not only because it rewards lawbreaking (which it does), but also for the same reason that the Visa lottery is bad: it leads to excessive immigration.

You don't just let anyone into your home. You make a choice - that person is a friend, this person is a stranger.

So why on earth should a country act any differently. Every country on the planet has the right to know who is within their borders and why. Every country on the planet is expected to protect its own borders and control who enters and who leaves.

So why can't America?

We don't need more manual laborers. We have plenty of folks here already to do those jobs. And YES, there are plenty of Americans who would be happy to have a manual job.

Read the article, it is worth it.