How I Rethought Immigration: One Man's Confessions

American Enterprise Institute ^ | June 8, 2007 | David Frum

[Delacon]

I also began to learn that you could hardly name a social problem without discovering that immigration was aggravating it to the point of unsolvability.

Health insurance? Immigrants accounted for about one-quarter of the uninsured in the early 1990s, and about one-third of the increase in the uninsured population at that time.

Social spending? The Urban Institute estimated in 1994 that educating the children of illegal aliens cost the State of California almost $1.5 billion per year.

Wage pressure on the less-skilled? The wages of less-skilled Americans had come under ferocious pressure since 1970. How could you even begin to think about this issue without recognizing the huge immigration-driven increase in the supply of unskilled labor over the same period?

Competitiveness? How could the U.S. remain the world's most productive nation while simultaneously remixing its population to increase dramatically the proportion of poorly educated people within it?

A 1997 study by the National Academy of Sciences found virtually zero net benefit to the U.S. economy from immigration. Immigration yielded benefits, true--but also costs in the form of lower wages and higher social-welfare burdens. Balance costs and benefits against each other, as a rational policymaker should, and you arrived at a favorable balance of $10 billion, less than a tenth of a percentage point in a $12 trillion economy.

And this favorable balance was composed in a way that would normally disturb a rational policymaker: The largest share of the benefits went to the immigrants themselves, and almost all of the rest to people at the top of society. Almost all of the costs were borne by people at the bottom.

[Nephi]

Welcome to the failure of the globalists’ Utopian promise. Low prices on imported goods come with a price, just like low prices on imported labor.

[Intolerant in NJ]

A 1997 study by the National Academy of Sciences found virtually zero net benefit to the U.S. economy from immigration. Immigration yielded benefits, true--but also costs in the form of lower wages and higher social-welfare burdens...our local hospital provided about $5 million worth of emergency room care to those not covered by medical insurance last year, many of whom were immigrant farm workers in the local economy, and was reimbursed all of $200,000.00 by the state - a bit of an imbalance.....

[AuntB]

Competitiveness? How could the U.S. remain the world's most productive nation while simultaneously remixing its population to increase dramatically the proportion of poorly educated people within it?

I assume David Frum doesn't expect to be invited back to the white house.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Just say NO to Illegal Alien Amnesty!! Keep calling!! It’s NOT OVER!!

U.S. Senate switchboard: (202) 224-3121

U.S. House switchboard: (202) 225-3121

White House comments: (202) 456-1111

Find your House Rep.: http://www.house.gov/writerep

Find your US Senators: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

[Publius6961]

BUMP!

[dynachrome]

"a social problem without discovering that immigration was aggravating"

Why cannot these columnist types say the word ILLEGAL?

[Clemenza]

Its the COSTS of immigration that caused me to rething my position about ten years ago. I can see having an open border AGAIN if we didn’t have public schools, public hospitals, EBT cards, etc., but we do and they cause one hell of a budgetary strain.

[sourcery]

How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico

I Like Ike.

The immigration giveaway

Take the Pledge: "I pledge to never, ever vote for anyone, for any office, who votes in favor of the Mexican Invasion Surrender Bill."

The penalty for being politically tone-deaf is death of one's political career. Amnesty for illegal immigrants--which means any path to any sort of permanent legal residency of any kind (let alone citizenship,) regardless of cost--is worse than the "third rail of politics." It's the Guillotine.

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

You might think that a trauma like 9/11 would have prompted a major rethink of its immigration policies by the Bush administration. You would think wrong. While enforcement was tightened in certain concentrated areas, elsewhere it actually relaxed. Immigration from the Middle East reached an all-time peak in 2005.

Bush would crucify the nation upon the alter of open borders.

Neither the president nor his inner circle has ever cared to hear from dissenters on this issue. A hasty and careless economic calculus, a poorly considered political gamble, and self-righteous moral grandstanding have together pushed the president to the worst domestic political and policy error of his presidency.

Not a pretty picture of El Presidente and his circle of advisors.

It seems impossible that the immigration bill can succeed: A large majority of the American people claim to be following the immigration debate closely, and that majority opposes the immigration plan by a three-to-one majority. And when the bill collapses, it will take what little remains of the president's political capital with it. Did I say capital? No, that has long since been spent. It is his credit that he is now exhausting.

It will be worse for Bush personally if the bill succeeds. For which is a worse crime, to try to sell out your country to open-borders business interests and La Raza, or to actually succeed?

[Delacon]

Somebody tell me how to make my senators Biden(shudder shudder) and Carper(yawn) change their minds. And keep Rep Castle in line.

[Prince Charles]

The largest share of the benefits went to the immigrants themselves, and almost all of the rest to people at the top of society. Almost all of the costs were borne by people at the bottom.

Ah yes, that's what is called "compassionate conservatism."

[Cementjungle]

Yes, but politicians love uneducated, illiterate voters.

[Delacon]

“How Eisenhower solved illegal border crossings from Mexico”

Read it on Realclearpolitics yesterday I think. Ike did good there. I like how an almost token effort of enforcement(even then) caused illegals to rush south of the border.

[unspun]

Welcome to the failure of the globalists’ Utopian promise. Low prices on imported goods come with a price, just like low prices on imported labor.

I think many of them would be fine with that being true in their version of utopia.

[HerrBlucher]

"The Amnestyville Horror"

We have a winner for the best play on words on the amnesty debacle.....IMO anyway..:) Would love to see a photoshop graphic of this theme..

[AuntB]

Must read!

[snips]

“The 9/11 hijackers would have been caught a dozen times over by a society that enforced its immigration rules.”

“While enforcement was tightened in certain concentrated areas, elsewhere it actually relaxed. Immigration from the Middle East reached an all-time peak in 2005.”

“Neither the president nor his inner circle has ever cared to hear from dissenters on this issue. A hasty and careless economic calculus, a poorly considered political gamble, and self-righteous moral grandstanding have together pushed the president to the worst domestic political and policy error of his presidency.”

“The backroom deal that produced this latest law epitomized decades of collusion between the two parties to suppress open discussion of this vital issue. This time, at last, the collusion failed. Democracy has erupted. I’m ready to make my voice heard. How about you?”

[Delacon]

Anyone who defends the President’s conservatism is defending the arrangement of the deck chairs on the titanic in my humble opinion. This from a guy who voted for him twice. What the hell is President Bush?

[AuntB]

“The Amnestyville Horror”

Great tagline!

[Sun]

If it weren’t for 9/11, President Bush would have pushed for ILLEGAL immigration a long time ago.

Guess he thinks we forgot by now.

And three of the 9/11 terrorists were illegals.