More Misinformation from the Media:
Mr. Trump says he wants a “merit based” immigration system, and a few would argue with the idea that people with marketable skills should get a leg up in the process of coming to America. But what he means is that he wants to shut down two pathways by which people immigrate legally—the diversity lottery is a small program by which people from nations that have not historically been major sources for U.S. immigrants get the chance to apply to come here. We believe it has value in spreading the promise of the American Dream throughout the globe. . . .
Those crunching the numbers estimate that this policy change alone could cut the approximately 1.1 million people who come to this country legally every year by as much as half, Given the outsized role immigrants play in entrepreneurship and innovation—not to mention the vitality they bring to an aging workforce—that is a heavy price to pay for keeping America white and European as possible. – On Immigration, Trump Has Come Up with an Idea Even Worse than the Wall, The Baltimore Sun, Editorial, 1/29/18 [Link]
Fact Check: Just why should we want to offer the “American Dream” all over the world? This is utopian nonsense, with no connection at all to the real world. The human population of our planet grows by about 80 million people a year. Does anyone in his right mind believe that we can take in even a small percentage of that increase without our American Dream becoming an American Nightmare of balkanization, overcrowding, and poverty? We do the world and ourselves a favor by encouraging people to pursue their dreams where they are. A good idea is to return to the original meaning of the Statue of Liberty, which was to enlighten the world with our ideals, not invite the world to move here.
As it is, we have no need to take in 1.1 million people a year, as we have done for the past 20 years or so—the highest sustained level in our history. Constantly sustaining this surge is chain migration, which allows immigrants to bring in their immediate and extended relatives, who in turn bring in their relatives, and on and on.
Chain migration defeats diversity by limiting the stream of immigrants to the source countries of previous immigrants. Without chain migration, there would be no justification whatsoever for the diversity lottery, a program which awards entry to the U.S. on the basis of a lucky lottery draw, rather than skills our country might need. Chain migration has a similar effect, by giving higher priority to immigrants’ family connections than our country’s needs.
As a consequence, chain migration has had the effect of “importing poverty.” Immigrant households are significantly more likely to use welfare than native-born households. Contrary, to the Sun’s claim, immigrants do not play an “outsized role” in entrepreneurship and innovation. The Current Population survey of the Census Bureau reveals that immigrants and natives have about the same rate of self-employment. Furthermore, the immigrants coming in under chain migration and other current policies are not sufficiently young or fertile to prevent our society from growing older on average.
As is common with immigration advocates, the Sun’s editorialists engage in race baiting, with the claim that Trump’s proposals involve nothing more than “keeping America white.” The purpose is to hide the numerous downsides of mass immigration.