Immigration – Pros and Cons

There are an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living and working among us in America. How should we as Americans treat them – deportation, or create a system to legal residence? What about those who came as very young children? How about the US-born children of the undocumented? If the parents are deported should these US citizens be forced to go with them or be put into government care?

A recent opinion piece by David Frum in the April 2019 issue of The Atlantic was entitled “How Much Immigration is Too Much”. Our nation was built originally by immigrants, mainly from western Europe seeking religious freedom and economic opportunity. They arrived at a time when we needed labor for low-skill labor-intensive jobs like factory or farm work. Fewer of those low skill jobs remain and are not valued very highly. Most jobs require higher education and training. This lead Frum to  suggest we have reached a point when large numbers of poorly educated immigrants are no longer needed. The competition for low skilled labor among immigrants and native Americans are resulting in lower wages for all.  This, he says, produces social discord and a loss of desire of immigrant groups to assimilate into American culture. Many of us believe that any immigrant who crosses our borders should be given a chance to become one of us through work and, eventually, a citizen.

Certainly there are pros and cons on this subject. Let’s have a civil discourse on this topic. Enter you comments below  and join in the discussion.