SISKIND V. THE ECONOMIST?

Dave Bennion at Change.org writes a column on immigration law I read regularly and it's well worth adding to your bookmark list. Dave mentioned me in one of his latest posts in an article on immigration lawmaking during the economic crisis. Dave notes that my views on the subject are contrary to an opinion recently expressed in one of my favorite news magazines, The Economist.

Comments

[George Chell]

"This is actually a good time to say - no, the market is actually working, and it will not be "flooded with cheap Asian workers" like some bigots insist, so why don't we fix the system now, so it works better when the economy is out of the recession."

Absolutely right! If anything cheap Asian workers are packing and leaving for Asia, particularly Singapore and Hong Kong..as they are confident that the jobs will follow them there!

[Another voice]

"the market is actually working, and it will not be "flooded with cheap Asian workers" like some bigots insist, so why don't we fix the system now, so it works better when the economy is out of the recession."

This is a very true statement, we can make the same case for many things like energy independence, the auto industry, regulation of the financial system. Immigration is not the exception to this rule, this crisis will not last forever and the baby boomer generation will not get younger as time goes by. Fixing immigration should not have to wait until we come out of the crisis.

[Legal and no longer waiting]

Jack, actually, the argument also goes the other way - during a recession, demand for guest worker labor falls significantly, just look for H1B numbers requested in 1999-2001 and 2002-2003. This is actually a good time to say - no, the market is actually working, and it will not be "flooded with cheap Asian workers" like some bigots insist, so why don't we fix the system now, so it works better when the economy is out of the recession.

[George Chell]

"Thanks, Greg. I think we're all kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop on immigration reform and trying to keep clients from getting deported in the waning days of the Bush administration. It's keeping us busy in Philly!"

With the way the things are going, everyone will want to leave the country unless President Obama turns this thing around quickly!

[George Chell]

"I hope Hilda Solis abandons her ideas from the Strive Act which would have flooded the job market with 500,000 legal H-1B workers from abroad, mostly Asia. This would have devastated the U.S. job market and nailed the coffin of the economy shut.
She seems to care about workers so perhaps she will be an advocate for shutting down the H-1B job killer program."

This response from a reader to the article you mention shows the level of delusion among some people who really believe that we do not live in a global economy and that jobs with high pay will stay put for Americans. It is this short sighted restrictive immigration policy that is going to lead to a very slow recovery in unemployment once the recession has ended as jobs move abroad. It happened in 1993-94 and again in 2001-03. By 2011 the US computer programmer would be as extinct as the Massachussetts GOP or Wyoming Democrats, if not as extinct as a Dodo!

[Jack]

Perma-proponents of guest worker programs hate recessions for a different reason than everybody else--their big argument in favor of their obsession fizzles. Anyone who dismisses American workers’ concerns over flooding this labor market as irrational fear runs the risk of coming off as out of touch.

Amnesty/pathway to citizenship usually gets all the attention while guest worker is kind of slipped in there for the business special interests. I think a lot of the public thinks that, but in a healthy economy that isn’t enough to cause them to oppose CIR. In this economy, maybe so.

‘Doris Meissner of the Migration Policy Institute in Washington notes that the last two major relaxations of immigration laws, in 1965 and 1990, both occurred at times of low unemployment.’

Makes sense. I don’t know if it's essential to have the economic wind at your back in order to pass CIR. But it hurts to have it in your face.

[JoeF]

On a number of issues near and dear to my heart, e.g., Open Source, the Economist has shown quite a lot of knowledge (for a mainstream publication, that is.)
But of course, it is known that they see things from the European liberal viewpoint (comparable to US-style Libertarian views.)

[Dave Bennion]

Thanks, Greg. I think we're all kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop on immigration reform and trying to keep clients from getting deported in the waning days of the Bush administration. It's keeping us busy in Philly!