Business Week on Immigration Reform

Business Week (Feb. 27) (click here) has an interesting article on “Fresh Ideas for the Immigration Debate”  by Peter Elstrom.  A number of immigration experts weigh in on immigration reform.

Here are a few suggestions in the article that rand true for me:

Everyone likes to talk about the wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Anti-immigration politicians love to show how tough they’re getting on illegals. Pro-immigrant forces use it to prove they take concerns over illegal immigration seriously. But what does all the talk about the wall accomplish? Nothing, argues Tamar Jacoby, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, along with plenty of others outside of politics. Why? It is expensive and it doesn’t work. (emphasis added).

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One fresh idea has been around for a while, but it seems to keep getting lost in the heated debate. Advocates on both sides say they want to lower the debate’s volume, so they have a genuine chance to debate the issues and perhaps reach a resolution. That was a point Bush raised last May when he gave a prime-time address on immigration . . . . “America needs to conduct this debate on immigration in a reasoned and respectful tone,” he said at the time. “Feelings run deep on this issue—and as we work it out, all of us need to keep some things in mind. We cannot build a unified country by inciting people to anger, or playing on anyone’s fears, or exploiting the issue of immigration for political gain. We must always remember that real lives will be affected by our debates and decisions, and that every human being has dignity and value no matter what their citizenship papers say.”  (emphasis added).

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I must say that I agree wholeheartedly with the President on this point.

KJ