Debate: America Needs a 21st Century Equivalent of the Ellis Island Open Border Immigration Policy

Reason includes information on the debate last week between Reason’s Shikha Dalmia and National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru on immigration at American University. Dalmia argued that immigration has been very good economically for America and that we need to strive for a 21st century version of the open borders policy we had for the first 150 years of the country’s existence. She concludes her remarks as follows:  “If we stay on our current course, not only will we hurt immigrants, but we will cripple our economy and, as this president is showing, erode our humanity.” 

Ramesh, the son of Indian immigrants, made a case for a more selective, high-skilled immigration policy along the lines of Canada’s.

The remarks were followed by a vigorous Q&A with the assembled students and faculty.  Here is a video link of the  evening.

KJ