As babyboomers leave the economy, we have a population deficit. We should be increasing immigration quotas. My experience with President Reagan's path to citizenship was that people got jobs and paid taxes. This idea that people who are poor immigrants are going to be on the public dole is a huge misnomer. My experience is that extended family helps house the newcomers, and resources are often pooled.
In the long term increasing our flat line population growth is going to have positive impact on our economy. I have suggested it before. Increase immigration quotas, keep the border secure, and give all residents a path to citizenship. This idea that immigration is bad for economic growth and a drag on our economy is boneheaded stupid. Yes, there are numerous examples of ad hoc leeches, but the aggregate is a huge plus for this country.
My grandmother in Birmingham used to talk about the foreigner living next door. She was 85 at the time, and one day I struck up a conversation when visiting her house. The man was second generation Italian, and attended the catholic church and was articulate and educated. My grandmother was a Southern Baptist, and she barely recognized catholics as christians, but when I told her what a nice family........she said they were pretty nice for foreigners.........The Scotch Irish homogeneous society of Opelika Al where she grew up had no foreigners or people were different ethnicity. Today, most of that resistance to immigration is the same pool of people, and having been exposed to more diverse communities, I always felt so sorry for those people who were so fearful and frightened of foreigners.
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