The Quote Below: More Misinformation from the Media
“Immigration to the United States has not, historically, been an act of kindness toward strangers. It has been a strategy for national growth and national greatness. . . . Few problems can be solved by curtailing immigration. Many could be solved by welcoming more foreigners to our shores. . . .
“Unauthorized workers receive few if any public services . . . but contribute to the tax base. . . . For the immigrant population at large, the best research on the fiscal impact of immigration comes from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which concluded that over the course of a 75-year time horizon, “the fiscal impacts of immigrants are generally positive at the federal level and generally negative at the state and local level.”
“This ‘merit’ language is, for starters, an incredibly offensive and reductive way to think about human beings. . . . It’s true, of course, that an America that continues to be open to immigrants will be a progressively less white and less Christian country over time. That’s a threatening prospect to many white Christian Americans, who implicitly identify the country in ethnic and sectarian terms. . . .
“And for those who believe in the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the value of America’s ideals, accepting a future of decline and retreat in the name of ethnic purity should be unacceptable. – Immigration Makes America Great, Matthew Yglesias, Vox, 8/12/20 [Link]
Fact Check of Above Quote: This article combines just about every propaganda point and cliché used to promote mass immigration. Among them: Immigration makes us great; it always brings us innovation and economic enrichment (and most studies prove it!); we have a “labor shortage which only immigration can fix; and America’s “values” require unending mass immigration.
Must we have mass immigration to be great? The record of history says no. In 1924 we ended mass immigration, which did not begin again until 1965.During that interval we were as great, or greater. than we ever have been. In that interval we developed the mightiest industrial economy that the world had ever seen. With that industrial might we won World War II, and brough forth a vibrant middle-class and a decent standard of living for most Americans. In terms of innovation, we advanced from propeller-driven bi-planes to the threshold of moon landings. All the while we were a people united in spirit and purpose.
Today, after more than fifty years of mass immigration, we are not nearly so great. That’s why the Trump slogan “make America great again” resonates with so many people. We no longer have the lead we had in production and innovation, and our middle class is shrinking. The diversity brought by immigration has undermined our unity. That diversity is definitely not our strength.
Nevertheless, immigration enthusiasts keep citing the studies that prove the necessity of mass immigration to enrich our economy and meet our fiscal needs. Just what are we to believe, these studies—or our own eyes as we view reality? A further confirmation on the latter is what happened to California after becoming the state with the highest number and percentage of immigrants.
Once the epicenter of the American Dream, California after mass immigration is no longer a state that attracts Americans from other states. Typically it has become a state many Americans want to leave. It is overcrowded, and its infrastructure and public services are stressed to the limit. If immigration is so enriching, then how does one explain that the state has the highest poverty rate in the country? Of course there are rich people in California, but their numbers are relatively small in relation to the much more numerous not so well-off people.
This division of rich and poor, with few people in the middle is typical of the Third World societies where many of the state’s immigrants originate. They disproportionately vote for the Democrats whose anti-business policies thwart prosperity. Current immigration policy generally does not select for people who can contribute to our country. To admit people on the basis of merit is not “incredibly offensive.” It’s common sense.
Many studies support mass immigration because it is fashionable and remunerative these days for researchers to come to that conclusion, but not all studies do—including the one cited by Yglesias. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine did not definitely conclude that immigrants will pay more than they take at the federal level after 75 years. Actually, This is just one of several speculations the study offers. Others predict that it won’t happen.
As for the claim that we have a “labor shortage,” it doesn’t stand up in light of the fact that we are on the cusp of a major shift to automation of jobs. Little more than ten years from now, according to current forecasts, about 40 percent of jobs now done by humans will be automated. In that situation a labor shortage will be a small concern.
The notion that we can disregard our country’s historical ethnic make-up and culture is a fool’s errand. It’s like saying that we can remove the foundation stones of a building and not expect it to topple. Immigration enthusiasts commonly define American “ideals” as the utopian absurdity that we can uplift and save the entire world by opening our gates to all comers. Sane idealism, in contrast, considers the lessons of history and the limits of nature and human nature.
Immigration for immigration enthusiasts is a kind of religion. Its adherents worship their self-declared goodness and generosity, while ignoring the practical consequences of their beliefs. It is a faith of fools.