The Quote Below—More Misinformation from the Media
“U.S. immigration policies should be guided by two basic principles. The first is that immigrants are indispensable to American innovation and long-term economic growth. The second is that laws to secure the country’s borders must be rigorously enforced.
“A system built on these commonsense ideas would promote economic dynamism, boost tax revenue, prevent population decline, and protect national security. It would also command support among a majority of Americans. Unfortunately, to Biden administration’s approach to immigration – both legal and otherwise – has so far been hopelessly muddled. Fixing it should be a top priority in what remains of the president’s term.
“Start with the legal immigration system. Current law is heavily weighted toward immigrants with family ties, who make up nearly 70 percent of those who receive permanent residence. . . . Of the 1 million green cards awarded in the last year before the pandemic, fewer than 15 percent were for work-based reasons
“To correct this imbalance, the U.S. should adopt a points-based immigration system, similar to those in Canada and Australia, and give preferences to high-skilled immigrants. Those with specialized knowledge, outstanding language skills, and entrepreneurial promise, as well as foreign students who earn advanced degrees in the U.S., should receive highest priority.
“Few government policies would do more to bolster American leadership in science and technology. . . . Yet Biden has shown no urgency. Legislation introduced by Democrats and backed by the White House would give a small boost to the number of employment-based green cards the U.S. issues, currently capped at 140,000 a year—but it doesn’t go nearly far enough toward establishing a workable skills-based system.. . .—On Immigration, Biden Has things Backward, The Editors, Bloomberg, 2/14/22. [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: As far as immigration commentary in the “mainstream” media goes, this article is much better than most. First of all, it affirms without qualification that we must control our borders It’s a position that generally scandalizes the globalist sensitivities of media elites who view American citizenship and sovereignty as trivial issues. Secondly, the article affirms that immigration policy should serve our national interest, rather than the policy we have now which predominantly serves the family connections of immigrants. Imagine an immigration policy designed to serve our country. It’s something most media pundits would rather not imagine.
Nevertheless, this article has a significant flaw, specifically its claim that immigrants are “indispensable to American innovation and long-term economic growth.” So often, immigration advocates claim that immigration is beneficial in some way or another. What they fail to explain is how much immigration they mean. This is like saying that fire is beneficial without specifying whether it’s a cozy hearth fire or a forest fire. No one denies that at least some number of talented immigrants can benefit us. But it is quite something else to suggest, as many immigration advocates do, that we need massive infusions of foreign talent because we are not able to meet that need ourselves. As an example to the contrary, we innovated and prospered as never before between 1920 and 1970, an interval when immigration was much lower than today.
We still have the talent we need, but the question is whether we are willing to use it. Many U.S. companies don’t because they prefer to hire foreigners for jobs. Typically, they can pay them less than Americans and make them work harder. To hide this bias, the companies claim there is a shortage of skilled Americans, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). This simply isn’tt true, as evidenced by the fact that three-quarters of Americans with STEM degrees have had to find work in other fields.
Several decades ago. when U.S. companies were shipping their plants to China and other countries, they told Americans not to worry about the lost jobs because they could retrain for jobs in the emerging tech industries. Sadly, the companies, have preferred to hire foreigners. We need policies to protect American workers and make sure they have preference for opportunities. Then we can see how much help we need from abroad.