It should be easier to immigrate to the United States.
We should let anyone in who doesn't have a communicable disease and isn't a terrorist or a felon. The wait should be a couple months at most. The reason why we have an illegal immigration problem is because it is too difficult to immigrate legally.
America needs to enforce its own laws, but its laws also need to change. Making legal immigration easier would let us focus our resources on catching the terrorists and the drug smugglers. We should not spend taxpayer dollars chasing down hard-working people who want a better future for their family. That isn't what I want my government to do.
On Tuesday, Bay Buchanan spoke on immigration at an event hosted by the Tufts Republicans and Young America's Foundation. She is the chairwoman of Team America (the political action committee, not the Marvel Comics superhero team). According to her, immigrants have taken Americans' jobs. Americans who have worked hard as painters or landscapers don't have the skills necessary to compete and are thus forced to take government handouts.
However, as was mentioned when Buchanan took questions, Americans are not the only ones in the world who have trouble making ends meet. There are hungry and poor people in the rest of the world, too. The American government has no obligation to them; they are not Americans. But, if they want to come to this country to make a better life for themselves, who are we to stop them?
In a dynamic, free-market economy, immigrants drive down prices and raise the standard of living. Hard-working immigrants make life better for everyone else. You are familiar with the old arguments and clichés: America is a nation of immigrants, it's a melting pot and all that.
Buchanan argued that immigrants make it harder for the rest of us to access government services. She is right; more immigrants mean more people on government handouts. The role of Medicaid, food stamps and other welfare programs will grow as more poor immigrants get into this country. But the issue here is with the handouts, not the immigrants.
As the late economist Milton Friedman said, "It's just obvious you can't have free immigration and a welfare state." In a country with stale, entrenched, redistributive government programs, new immigrants only hurt the native population. They take advantage of handouts designed for the poor and put a strain on productive workers. If you get rid of the handouts, then immigrants cannot rely on the American taxpayers and need to work to get healthcare. Problem solved.
Not all government programs are part of a welfare state. There are legitimate public goods that the government needs to provide because the market cannot. A public good is something that is non-rival; my benefiting does not prevent you from benefiting. It is also non-excludable; you cannot prevent people from benefiting. Public education is a good example.
I benefit from living in a society where most people share a common language, a basic understanding of history and a knowledge of algebra. Illegal immigrants may take advantage of our public school system, but everyone is better off because of it.
America needs more legal immigrants; we are a nation of laws and need to enforce them. Illegal immigrants have to live in fear of deportation and can be easily exploited by employers. It is not acceptable to have an underclass in the shadows doing all the dirty jobs.
In order to change this, we need to get rid of the welfare state that pits new immigrants against older ones.
Xander Zebrose is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at Alexander.Zebrose@tufts.edu.
