Economic arguments against immigration are all wet

Your “snowball” that you claim results from immigration is really just a puddle of water. As outlined in a recent open letter to President Bush on immigration reform, several respected economists including Nobel laureate Vernon L. Smith dispel the myth that immigration harms Americans by stealing jobs.

Historically, our economy has proven immensely capable of expanding to accommodate immigrants. While recent research shows immigration may slightly suppress wages for high-school dropouts, this effect is dwarfed by the benefits of lower consumer prices for all Americans. Overall, immigration’s effect on our economy has been positive. While immigration may have negatively impacted a small percentage of Americans, the contributions by immigrants in the form of skills, capital and ambition outweigh these effects. Protecting poor, low-skilled Americans by erecting barriers against poorer, low-skilled immigrants is the wrong approach. Reforming education to raise the skills of our fellow citizens is a much better solution.

Since the economic arguments against immigration melt when exposed to the facts, we should focus on the moral implications. America was founded under the basic truth that all men have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What kind of contradictory message do we send by freezing out others from a chance at the American dream?

[Letter to the Editor - The State News. Published 05/19/2006.]