Our Immigration Policy is Exactly Backwards

Bush recently floated immigration 'reform' to give amnesty to illegals and make it tougher for legal entry.  People respond to incentives, and the rate of illegal crossings has increased to get in under the wire.  But why worry? Twenty years ago we put in place this exact policy, and it has failed miserably.  It looks like we will do it again, so why not in another 20 years?  Crises come and go, but political pandering seems to go on forever.

This policy has the incentives exactly backwards.   It is hard to get legal immigrants in, so Silicon Valley companies going begging to fill their H1B visas for skilled workers; and yet unskilled illegals continue to flood in. A better policy would be to make it easy for legal immigration - guestworkers if you like - and hard for illegals.  No amnesty.  Require them to return, apply and come back as guestworkers.  If unskilled, they can be hired below the minimum wage, as happens now with illegals.  In the interim the jobs won't go begging as the new guestworkers can come in and fill them. And our skill industries to go back to attracting the best and brightest from around the planet without having to worry over H1B visa limits.  Much better than what we have now - insourcing the unskilled and outsourcing the skilled.

Comments

[Rich Melmon]

Oh I don't know. It seems to work pretty well. We get cheap labor. The Mexican's get to live better. Actually, it's a pretty open border, and that's probably never going to change. Think of Mexico as Texas, but with a higher average IQ and no Tom Delay's. Nor George Bush's for that matter.

[Chris Law]

Something interesting is that there is a backlash (albeit a small one) among folks who are legal immigrants to the proposed changes. One of the guys who used to work at Trilogy is trying to stir something up:

http://legalsfirst.blogspot.com/

[Sreeja]

Abdominal strength-building is a big thing at our shoocl. Here are some exercises that may help:1. Reverse crunches: Lie on your back, arms crossed across your chest or flat on the ground at your side. Bend your knees and lift your legs so that your shins are parallel to the ground. Cross your ankles. From this position, lower your legs until your feet are about 3 inches off the ground, then hold for a count of four. Raise your legs back up. Repeat 8 times.2. V reaches: Lie on your back, arms flat at your sides. Lift your legs into the air, then split them into a large V. Reach your arms through your legs and hold for a count of 4, then relax. Repeat 8 times.3. Rope pulls: Lie on your back, knees bent but feet flat on the floor. Pretend that there is a rope going from your stomach up to the ceiling. For a count of eight, lift your back and abs off the floor and use your arms to climb the rope up. Relax, then repeat 8 times.4. Double extensions: Lie on the ground with knees bent and slightly raised, feet off the floor, arms crossed across your chest. Lift your head and upper back to focus on your knees. Simultaeneously, shoot your legs straight out to hover about 4 inches off the floor while you shoot your arms over your head. Return and repeat 8 times.5. Pushes: Lie on the ground with your knees bent, legs elevated off the floor. Raise your back and abs off the floor and extend your arms to either side of your knees, palms open and facing away from you. Sit up as high as you can, pushing away something in front of you. Pulse for a count of 8, rest, then repeat.These should get you started.