October 2006 Issue
Adding Up the Economic Effects of Immigration

(Editor's Note: This letter is in response to the latest Fed Flash Poll, which is based on the immigration article.)

All the choices in the poll imply a struggle between immigrants and "native" Americans. There is no struggle. America is built on immigrants. Without the new blood of immigrants, America would be as stagnant as Europe. I would suggest adding a new option in the poll: "Open the door to all as long as they pay taxes." I am more than happy now as some immigrants use fake Social Security numbers and pay extra into the Medicare fund. If they pay for our "entitlements," what's the problem? Also, if you were born, bred and raised in a country with FREE education, and some illiterate Mexican swimming across a muddy river can somehow "steal" your job, maybe it's ... YOU. ("Maybe it's you" is aimed at the whining people who were raised in an enabling environment with free education, but still manage to do nothing but the work an illiterate hard-working migrant can do. In my estimation, these whiners do not contribute significantly to the economy, but would like to drag it down by limiting the migration of new blood/ideas/hunger to succeed.)