Why Should We Restrict Immigration?

Also, the same argument can be used for schools. Why not let any student into any school? Why do parents try to put their students into more exclusive schools that keep out the less desirable students?

(sorry for separate posts)

I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but for a follow up, I think it’d be worthwhile for you to address the apparently inverse relationship between ethnic diversity and social capital, as noted by Robert Putnam. I see you touched on this by pointing to rising real estate prices, but I think that’s rather weak. I think you could easily tell a story about how the arrival of large number of immigrants to a city becomes a catalyst for a kind of ethnic sorting, which raises prices in desirable neighborhoods and/or school districts by a big chunk because people are willing to pay a lot not to have to live amongst or send their kids to school with large numbers of immigrants.

There are also a plethora of other factors which might serve to prop up real estate prices that might otherwise be on the decline, like a historic over-expansion of mortgage credit (I heard we had one of those recently), so-called “smart-growth” policies, height restrictions, zoning laws, and other restrictions on new development, etc.

One more thing I want to add: your point that increased immigration and diversity will help shrink the welfare state strikes me as naive at best (and probably also undermines your point that the social capital effects of immigration are small). Shrinking the size of the state, as any libertarian with a pulse can recognize, is damn hard to pull off. Government programs develop their own constituencies, advocates, and interest groups. It may slow the growth of the welfare state, but I don’t see a mechanism whereby importing a bunch of Hispanics or Asians or whoever who according to you, hardly vote, anyway, is going to actively undermine and shrink it.

On the contrary, the diversity/equality industry currently sucking up money and resources on college campuses across the country seems more likely to simply kick into high gear than for leftists to come to their senses and stop supporting big welfare programs.

Let’s pretend the US passed a law making no restrictions on immigration. 40 million Mexicans move to California and a new political party is established called the Mexican Political Party. The following year the MPP wins total control of the Californian government, secedes from the Union, and joins Mexico. Do you have a problem with that Bryan?

If the excerpt here “is me at my most persuasive,” it’s unlikely that Bryan will ever persuade anyone of anything. The last paragraph he quotes above from his essay is totally ridiculous; sure immigrate, but you’ll have to register so we can punish you with burdens not applicable to “real” citizens. Sure, that’ll work.

From the Pew Research Center:

The term capitalism elicits more positive (55%) than negative (35%) reactions from Whites. While among Hispanics capitalism elicits a more negative (32%) than positive (55%) response.

What’s needed is a US immigration policy that tilts immigration towards better educated immigrants.

The idea that we could attach all these strings to immigration is not a political reality. It’s armchair philosophy. Not all immigrants are created equal. I would support more immigration for high IQ workers, but that has a zero chance of being politically viable.

Regarding IQ, we know that richer families will have children with higher IQ (Flynn effect), so any immigration from a poorer country to a richer one marginally improves global IQ.

Of if you wan to be a stickler, have an IQ test for potential immigrants. I bet there are tens of millions of Chinese with higher IQ than the US average who would like to move here…

Brian,

My thoughts on your paper (short version — I didn’t like it and thought the moral reasoning was especially weak — people value more than just the national GDP score) are here.

I recommend you read a lot more of Steve Sailer’s blog and if you want more economic analysis, try “Super-Economy” by the best anti-immigrant Kurdish/Swedish blogger you’ll ever read.

Not persuaded, although I did find some of the ideas interesting. Then again, I live in California. Bryan needs to get out more and rub shoulders with the left side of the bell curve.

“None of the main objections to free migration are remotely strong enough to rebut this presumption.”

OK, here’s an objection that is strong enough. The inverse relationship between population density and per capita consumption is driving the structural increase in unemployment and poverty in America, and immigration is feeding the increase in population density. As population density increases beyond some critical level, worsening overcrowding begins to erode per capita consumption. (That’s a fact, not a theory.) And since per capita consumption and per capita employment are inextricably linked, worsening unemployment and poverty are inescapable as long as the population continues to grow.

Until this nation comes to grips with worsening overpopulation, including restricting our high rate of both legal and illegal immigration, our economy, in per capita terms, will continue to deteriorate.

Pete Murphy
Author, “Five Short Blasts”

I believe that a strong America needs immigration. I was raised around Spanish people that were much richer than I but they were kind and very family oriented. I recognize that every group of people brings something to the table. In the last 10 years my brother dated an upper middle class Spanish woman in her 30’s. He still had to go meet the family. I can think of no better reason than to invite people willing to work as hard as our southern neighbors.

I would like to give a fast track immigration card to everyone who fits the criteria of improving their family and the United States legally. This is the problem with our political rhetoric that want to use immigrants as a pawn to stir up voter unrest instead of giving legal immigration a better chance of working. As long as unrest can be manipulated by the media and the Social Agenda of the press and certain Power dominant politicians, there will be a immigration problem and not for the good of either populations.

However, there are reasons for immigration restrictions that are not discussed as politically correct and I am not and will never be politically correct. Grow a thicker skin!

A few reasons for enforced immigration laws:
1. Tuberculosis –read state department documents -reference 4-8 new TB centers in Midwest to Southern U.S… There are many other diseases based on state department warnings that can be found outside the U.S… Most U.S. would see a doctor and eliminate the threat to our population when they re-enter the U.S., I am not comfortable that illegal immigrants would do the same.

2. Organized crime – needs to be restricted.

3. Political factions and terrorist that could blend in with our system should be restricted by the visiting nation.

4. Equal migration from the United States to these same countries wishing immigration from our country. I as an American Citizen would be extremely restricted with virtual not rights by our southern neighbors. If other countries are restricting our rights in their country they should not be given rights in our country. There are exceptions when people are persecuted but it should be a legal and binding contract with respect to our laws. Give the U.S. free rights in every country south and north of the U.S. on condition of fairer immigration into the U.S. The countries offering should restrict the people that would do us harm at the same time.
5. Because of many gut less politicians, illegal immigrants and many legal immigrants have more rights in a traffic accident or other situations that American Citizens because the un-uniform laws dealing with immigrants. The legal rights of the people of the U.S. must be protected first. Fifty percent of these people are paying the taxes, voting, contributing to have a safe and legal system of protection and it is not right to undermine citizen’s rights for the rights of illegal persons of any origin.

Excellent article. Fear many who commented were not “open” to open immigration.
For those who admire people such as Krikorian, Buchanan and others who advocate for greatly restricted immigration, simply recognize that this is a protectionist position. One should not advocate restrictions on immigration and attempt to also claim a pro market position. Quite simply, a free flow of ideas, capital, goods and labor are the basis for a market. All else is secondary.
Lynn Atherton Bloxham

@Mike

How about the “moral argument” that immigrants are not making their home country any better by leaving. If they have enough motivation to immigrate in search of a better life why don’t they stay at home and fight for that life there?

I think for many immigrants that they do make their home country better by leaving. Say they can make $5000 a year at home. With their talents and skills, they can fetch more like $35,000 a year in an advanced capital-intensive country like the US. Aside from what they’re likely to send home from earnings in the US, later on in life they go back home and work for that life there. I’ve heard a similar story to this several times where I live.

Jeff,

No, it is not obvious that Mexicans who leave Mexico don’t like their home country. In fact, most of them probably love their country, their culture and their people. I wouldn’t assume Italians, or Chinese or Irish don’t love their home country because they immigrated to America. But what is obvious is that they cannot get the same opportunity to make a good living in Mexico as they can in California. However, if because of unlimited immigration California because majority Mexican in a relatively short amount of time, there would be the possibility of California seceding from the Union and joining Mexico. This not an unrealistic possibility. Perhaps they wouldn’t join Mexico but maybe establish their own independent country. Think Quebec and Canada.

This is one of the most persuasive pro immigration essays I have seen. Great work, Brian.