Quote:
Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
If the unemployment rate is at a 4 1/2 year low, why are we in such a rush to kick out members of the workforce?
I don't get it. If we had a huge, huge unemployment problem I'd understand the "they're taking american jobs" argument a little better. But the timing of the immigration bill is just weird given the current state of the economy.
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I think it's pretty well established that immigration confers very substantial benefits to society at large, but that almost all of these benefits are enjoyed by the immigrants themselves, and that the pressure on wages hurts those who are otherwise least well off. (Krugman wrote this a few weeks ago, and I have not seen his facts challenged.)
Which is to say that I do not believe that the resistance to immigration is prompted by economic factors, since it's to the benefit of much of the GOP's constuency. It's more of a cultural hot-button issue.
