Complex Political Issues in 400 Words or Less, Part II

In this piece, I make an unfocused and haphazard argument for amnesty and open immigration (although, since all my political writing is unfocused and haphazard, that's kind of redundant).

The Case for Amnesty (9/8/07)

I noticed while watching last week’s Republican debate that despite the subtle differences between the various candidates’ positions on immigration, they all seemed to hold the unspoken notion that amnesty would be a catastrophically terrible policy. As John McCain noted matter-of-factly, “No one, by the way, is for amnesty;” I have just one question: why not?

One can make both moral and practical arguments in favor of amnesty and a free flow of immigration. Our current policy does little to stop the flow of immigrants; in reality, it only serves to create a permanent underclass of migrant workers who are forced to accept Third World conditions and wages within our nation. This both lowers America’s overall quality of life and transports the social and economic problems of the immigrants’ original countries to many of our own agricultural and industrial communities. Furthermore, history shows us that attempts to stifle immigrant groups, from the Germans and Irish to the Poles and Italians, have been unsuccessful, unnecessary and fueled by racism; in fifty years, we’ll probably be hearing naturalized Americans of Mexican and Central American descent make the same complaints about waves of immigrants from some other nation (say, Iraq) that German/Irish/Italian/Polish Americans make against them today.

From a more practical standpoint, keeping the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants currently in the US here and working is a significant benefit to our economy. For instance, full amnesty would suddenly lead to millions more wage earners paying appropriate income and payroll taxes; many illegal workers already pay into Social Security without any hope of seeing the money upon retirement, which is distressing in its own way. Also, one of the most respected pro-market think tanks, the CATO institute, regularly asserts that waves of unskilled immigrants do not “steal” native workers’ jobs or reduce overall wages among citizens, but in fact play an essential role in our economy. One would think that so-called pro-business Republicans would take the side of some of the nation’s brightest pro-market experts, as well as the multitude of business owners who rely on immigrant labor to remain competitive.

So, regardless of your views on immigration, don’t follow the example of most politicians and reject amnesty out of hand. And don’t believe old man McCain when he tells you that “no one is for amnesty.”