Skip to content

Immigration

Trade, Migration and Progress

For centuries Kings and Despots tried to control trade. Then the United States came along and it favored trade. Trade expanded and prosperity followed. Nations now try to restrict migration. Some try to restrict emigration (North Korea and Russia for example)and some try to restrict immigration (The USA, Australia and most of Europe). Restricting migration makes the world poorer than it could be both economically and intellectually. The analogy is not exact but in general the countries that welcome migrants will prosper. I see a… Read More »Trade, Migration and Progress

An Immigration Bonus

Most people trying to escape from the horrors of Haiti don’t go to Cuba. They risk the much longer journey and try to get to Florida. People fleeing violence in Honduras don’t move to Mexico they want to get to Texas I could give you a few more examples but the point is clear when people get the courage to leave their homes, communities and families they chose a place that they think offers the best opportunities for safety, security and living a decent life.… Read More »An Immigration Bonus

A New Paradigm for Immigration

“The right to go where you want should be a principle in a decent world.”Noam Chomsky Less than two hundred years ago most of our ancestors thought that chattel slavery was perfectly acceptable. If we discovered today that our great great grandfather was a slave owner we would be at least chagrined and probably embarrassed. Ethics change. I predict that the same is going to be true about migration. Less than two hundred years from now migration will be one of the rights we take… Read More »A New Paradigm for Immigration

The Law

“If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.” Associate Justice Louis Brandeis Another beautiful sunset from the balcony.

The Immigration Opportunity

Competing with China I recently read the Now It can be Told by General Leslie Grove. It is the story of the Manhattan Project, the US/UK project to build the atomic bomb during WWII. It was written by the man who was in overall charge of the project. The book is full of interesting details about the project and the attempts to understand where Japan and Germany were on the development of their own atomic capability. In the book Groves dismisses Japan as a contender,… Read More »The Immigration Opportunity

Obligations

“If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so.” Thomas Jefferson Our immigration laws are unjust, confusing and detrimental to the long term success of our country. So to follow Jefferson’s dictum one should: hire the undocumented, aid those fighting for justice in the immigration mess we call a system and support those who actually want to simplify and rationalize our immigration system.

Immigration Justice

The case for allowing people to move is simple; openness to newcomers is morally right, economically beneficial and culturally enriching. Philippe LeGrain Another Inukshuk built in Granada Park.

American Exceptionalism

American exceptionalism was noted as far back as Alexis de Tocqueville in the early 19th Century. It was often assumed that it meant that America was better than other countries but it really meant that America was different. For many years I made the argument that we were exceptional, and better, because we tended to have self selected to come here. So by definition, in the margin, we were more adventurous and less risk adverse than the people who stayed at home. I still think… Read More »American Exceptionalism

Pages: 1 2

We are Guilty

Forty Dead in another Immigrant Disaster Most people will say that the people who took a small boat across the Florida Strait to try to enter the United States illegally were responsible for what happened. I say the policy of the United States was the root cause of this disaster and that we the voters are guilty. Our unfair and unkind policy of excluding most people, especially the poor, from entering our country legally caused this tragedy. It is time to change the laws to… Read More »We are Guilty

A Veneer

 “All our immigration controls have is a veneer of decency.” Philippe Legrain author of Them and Us

Pages: 1 2