The USA attracts immigrants because, more than most countries, it rewards merit and forgives failure, it attempts to see all people as equal before the law and it is one of the best nations in the world at absorbing newcomers. Comparisons matter. If you compare the USA to perfection we come up short. There is lots that we need to work on. But if you compare the USA today to the USA 60 years ago we are improving. If you compare the USA to other… Read More »A Great Nation
“The main reason Haitians suffer in poverty is not because they are from Haiti but because they are in Haiti.” From Them and Us by Philippe Legrain
“The case for allowing people to move is simply put: openness to newcomers is morally right, economically beneficial and culturally enriching.” From Them and Us by Philippe Legrain
“Generally people move to better themselves not bum off others.” From Them and Us by Philippe Legrain
“Immigrants typically feel a strong attachment to the country that has welcomed them.” From Them and Us by Philippe Legrain
“We may not share a common ancestry but we share a present and a future.” From Them and Us by Philippe Legrain
“If the U.S. were to design an immigration policy from scratch that would most hurt growth it would be much like our current one.” Rich Karlgaard, Publisher Forbes Magazine
“Overall immigration in America has worked out extremely well.” Ben Wattenberg in Fewer
When people study history one or two hundred years from now. They will remember this era for two things: positively, because we began to explore space and negatively because we opposed most migration. Today we look at the idea of slavery as an abomination but in 1830 slavery was common and support for abolition was rare. The same is true for free migration. Today everybody sees a reason why we can’t allow free migration so they are opposed to even moving in that direction. History… Read More »Another Immigration Argument
China has 1.2 billion people. The USA has about 330 million. We have about one quarter the population of China. For many reasons that I think are obvious, but which I will explain below the fold, size matters for nations. If we want to stay one of the leading nations of the world we need to grow a lot. Controlled, organized and rapid immigration is the only available means to accomplish this. So Paradox Two is that we profess to want to complete with China.… Read More »Paradox Two