Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Immigration. Show all posts

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Adventures in Travel (2016)

America is in decline, and everything will be okay. Let me explain. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as presidential candidates look terrible, but not when you understand why they’ve become the nominees. Trump’s rise is easy to explain—he's the personification of anti-political correctness and doesn't talk down to non-coastal Americans despite being from New York City. Uneven federal government spending and concentrated corporate technological and VC investment has helped shift affluence, influence, and higher-paying jobs to coasts and larger cities instead of smaller or non-coastal ones, and no one likes feeling unappreciated in today's winner-take-all economic battles. Moreover, Trump voters aren’t all racists or xenophobes and resent being seen as such. A typical Trump supporter may be anti-immigration but may base his or her opinion on valid prima facie data, such as the increase in prisoners from various groups that are immigrants or recent descendants of immigrants.

My conversations with GOP voters revolve around immigrants changing the character of their communities and the federal government doing little to help. One perception is that illegal immigrants receive welfare or “free stuff”; and secondly, that newcomers cost more than native-born Americans, whether by diverting school resources to ESL programs not used by their children or their neighbor’s children, or by requiring more work to be done by existing police and jail employees but without additional tax revenue. Globalization is also an issue in cities that have lost manufacturing jobs, but it’s really the feeling that China is getting the better end of trade deals that riles up the conservative base. To summarize, Trump is winning because the Establishment and younger Americans have either ignored valid complaints from conservative voters or unfairly decided that such complaints are the result of bigotry or ignorance. See, for example, the book titled, What’s the Matter with Kansas? (Which causes me to think, “Nothing. Who wouldn’t want to live in Lawrence?”) “You may not listen to me,” a Trump voter might say, “but you cannot ignore Trump.” 

Now, it is true that cities with immigrants, both legal and illegal, have experienced more economic growth than cities without them. It is also true that the illegal immigrants’ American-born children receive welfare, not the illegal immigrants themselves. The positive impact of immigration on economic growth is not restricted to American cities like San Antonio, New York, or San Jose—Toronto’s private sector working population may be 51% immigrant. What some liberals fail to consider is whether the average Midwesterner or Southerner wants to pay 650,000 USD for a townhouse in a so-so K-12 district, wants to live around neighbors who don’t share his religious values, wants to see his son working as a lawyer rather than a machinist, or wants to see his daughter delaying motherhood until her 40s because two incomes are necessary to buy a home.  (Even coastal voters are starting to acknowledge the problem of constant inflation in essential goods and ever-increasing productivity—witness comedian Ali Wong joking, “I don’t want to ‘lean in,’ okay?  I want to lie down.”). At the end of the day, when you ignore or mischaracterize complaints, there will be backlash. Hence, the rise of Trump. 

What of Hillary Clinton, then? Her rise to power is a logical extension of the Democratic Party's platform: safe positions that provide the perception of diversity and social progress. When you’re winning eight years straight, and your opponent is throwing Hail Marys, there’s no need to rewrite the playbook.  Even the so-called Affordable Care Act required so much compromise, it ended up being a boon to the most powerful lobbyists in D.C.—insurance companies. Younger voters, of course, will get the shaft—they’ve been getting shafted in almost every democratic country in the world, as high schools and colleges fail to teach economics and basic finance properly and as populations age and senior citizens vote consistently, causing tax revenue to shift to government-provided medical care and retirement programs. 

Meanwhile, what’s a top concern for voters in their 30s and 40s in industrialized nations?  Subsidized childcare. You’d think such a request would be easy enough to implement--after all, how hard can it be to pass several individual and childcare provider tax credits?--but you’d be wrong.  As young couples marry later and have fewer children, they don’t have a strong enough voting bloc to be given substantial attention at the political table. Call it the “Curse of Reasonableness,” but studied, incremental reforms require nuanced perspectives and knowledge of the law of unintended consequences, which don't get much play in the age of Kardashians, the six-second Vine, and the Pokemon Go app. If you’re a Democratic politician, are you going to attract attention by promising childcare tax credits or free college tuition? 

That word, “free”—did you see it?  “Free stuff.”  It’s tantalizing, yes? A conservative voter will argue nothing is free. You have to divert tax revenue from existing services if you add new ones; reduce morale by asking government employees to work more for the same pay (in California, during particularly difficult budget negotiations, some government union employees openly bragged about slowing down non-essential work); and/or raise taxes, almost all of which eventually come out of middle class voters’ pockets, because the rich have lawyers and bankers whose jobs revolve around finding loopholes to protect their clients. (Note: using debt to fund government services delays while guaranteeing eventual tax raises and/or uneven inflation.) 

If you’re a liberal voter, you’ll probably respond with arguments about income inequality, actual rather than posted corporate tax rates, the 1%, etc.  Even if you’re right, it doesn’t matter, and it won’t change the fact that about half the country doesn’t care as much about effective corporate tax rates as they do about attracting more jobs while making sure they can pay similar taxes on their house today as they did ten years ago while preventing haphazard social development that changes their community’s character. As I like to tell Californians who don’t own Teslas, “You may look down on Southern conservative voters, but where do you think your car was assembled, and by whom?”

Underneath the Democratic Party’s lofty words and promises is a need for tax revenue and job growth.  First, those pensions promised to teachers and government union workers?  They have an assumed interest rate (or growth rate) established by politicians, usually around 7.5%. Look up where you can increase your assets 7.5% a year, and the correct answers will take you to the stock market and hedge funds, both of which lead you straight to Wall Street.

Second, no political party can escape political reality, which is that if the economy is doing well, the incumbent wins. How are jobs created in the 21st century? Through debt, which has come from central bank printing. That’s why Hillary Clinton is in bed with the big banks and multi-national corporations, and that’s why Bernie Sanders never stood a chance. If you live in a mid-sized city where you’re happy with your local mid-sized bank or credit union that keeps its own mortgages; content to see your daughter married at the age of 26 (maybe even with grandchildren already); and realize one reason Walmart invested in your community and created jobs, including well-paying managerial positions, is because of fewer regulations and lower corporate taxes (one Indiana resident with whom I spoke called the new Walmart the "new downtown"), then why would you vote for Hillary Clinton? If you think fewer regulations necessarily lead to a race to the bottom, consider that Walmart executives may have better reputations than Congress. (Stated another way, do you trust Apple's Steve Jobs to make the right decision, or Iowa Rep. Steve King?) What about abortion?  If you want one, you can find a job at Walmart and fly to California or New York to get it. As for freedom, it’s not just about the 2nd Amendment—as economist Nassim Taleb writes in Antifragility, “[W]e have never been more in debt ([and] for the ancients, someone in debt was not free, he was in bondage.”) 

In short, both Clinton and Trump are extensions of legitimate political positions. Side A is tired of not being heard, while Side B chooses to hear nothing but bigotry. I started this essay by saying America was in decline, and I hold that position. What has changed is that it no longer depresses me. Cities will stay segregated as voters focus more on observable racism than poverty and segregation as root causes of violence. Tax revenues will fluctuate and continue to be uneven nationwide. Central banks will continue papering over structural problems. Lawyers will continue to find loopholes, both legal and illegal, for their clients. Yet, there is value in realizing both presidential candidates, though far from ideal, are extensions of the current political climate, because it means America has not gone crazy—it’s just lowered its expectations. Expectations can be modified, even if it takes another 50 to 100 years. As optimists such as Warren Buffett have written,

“Indeed, most of today’s children are doing well. All families in my upper middle-class neighborhood regularly enjoy a living standard better than that achieved by John D. Rockefeller Sr. at the time of my birth. His unparalleled fortune couldn't buy what we now take for granted, whether the field is, to name just a few, transportation, entertainment, communication or medical services. Rockefeller certainly had power and fame; he could not, however, live as well as my neighbors now do. Though the pie to be shared by the next generation will be far larger than today’s, how it will be divided will remain fiercely contentious. [Italics mine.]  Just as is now the case, there will be struggles for the increased output of goods and services between those people in their productive years and retirees, between the healthy and the infirm, between the inheritors and the Horatio Algers, between investors and workers and, in particular, between those with talents that are valued highly by the marketplace and the equally decent hard-working Americans who lack the skills the market prizes. Clashes of that sort have forever been with us and will forever continue. Congress will be the battlefield; money and votes will be the weapons. Lobbying will remain a growth industry.” [2015 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter]

One can recognize the absence of psychological well-being (apart from material comfort, anyway) in Buffett’s equation and still appreciate his realism. What does this mean for me, a U.S. citizen and American immigrant who recently told someone, “I hate America,” shortly after police shot and killed an unarmed Philando Castile?  It means I no longer expect as much from America, but just because America has become older and less sturdy, it does not make her less beautiful.  If Tokyo can be the most prosperous city I’ve seen in my travels, despite Japan’s debt-to-GDP ratio of 220%+, perhaps government debt, on its own, won’t cause a country to collapse.

Maybe we’ll adapt, even if it means more segregation, less immigration, more cross-border violence, more divorce, more student loans, more single parents, more incompetent or unaccountable government employees, and more unaffordable housing.

Maybe on the way down, we’ll re-evaluate what it means to have honor as an American.

Will a commonly agreed-upon definition of American honor include the ancient Mediterranean ethic, Factum tacendo, crimen facias acrius? ("He who does not stop a crime is an accomplice.")

Or will we adopt a more modern version of honor similar to George Meyer’s, as related by Adam Grant? "(1) Show up. (2) Work hard. (3) Be kind. (4) Take the high road."

Or maybe cowardice rather than honor will be enhanced by technology, as “society is fragilized by spineless politicians, draft dodgers afraid of polls, and journalists building narratives, who create explosive deficits and compound agency problems because they want to look good in the short term.” (Taleb)

Despite everything, it's possible things will work out just fine, even as living spaces become smaller, consumerism and materialism continue to rule the day, and countries erect more barriers against foreign workers but not foreign capital.

As for me, I’m going to keep traveling.  I’ve been to 10 cities in the past four months, increasing my lifetime “countries visited” count to about 30.  I’ve decided the world is based on academic assumptions that no longer apply, but which have prevailed in large part because central bank spending has maintained the status quo.

For example, most economic theories and approaches are from times when tangible products ruled the day rather than services, which are more difficult to track, more easily manipulated, and more subject to cross-border competition. From Adam Grant: 

“In the 1980s, the service sector made up about half of the world’s gross domestic product. By 1995, the service sector was responsible for nearly two thirds of world GDP.  Today, more than 80% of Americans work in service jobs.” 

Of course, fraud and manipulation occurred regularly in the “analog” world, but the tangible has limits and leaves traces.  (One banker was fooled into guaranteeing a loan to a business by inspecting only the top of a vegetable oil tanker—the rest was water.) Still, there’s an upside to our rapidly changing world: even if you didn’t go to college or pay attention in high school, it may not matter in the long run—the information being taught might be outdated and therefore inapplicable to your life. 

My most interesting conversations have been with women. Educated women worldwide are quietly rebelling against traditional expectations.  (If I faced the prospect of coming home to a man who was content with drinking beer while watching a baseball game, perhaps I’d go shopping more and stay single, too.)  It’s easy to see the future will belong to societies that achieve higher female participation in politics and business through merit-based factors while encouraging career-oriented women to have children.  Whether this means more subsidized childcare, a greater appreciation for introverts, tax credits for each child, and/or social pressure on men to do more housework, I don’t know.  I do know, however, that current and future economic forecasts are based on women continuing to have an average of two consumers—er, children—and those children receiving adequate educations and stable living environments that discourage violent behavior.  Ideally, those two children would not be latchkey kids and would attend college and not graduate with crushing debt and non-existent practical skills, but from what I’ve seen, many educated women are not going to comply with all of the above assumptions. If uneducated women in poorer countries have more children over the next 100 years than educated women in richer countries, and public education systems are not reformed to increase practical and critical thinking skills, we could be looking at a world where we have a few Japans selling products to the rest of the world, or we could be looking at land and water needs and disputes controlling international relations. There are many in-between scenarios, but none likely without more segregation and walls.

Let’s hope we figure out how to appreciate ambitious, career-oriented women and not end the human race in the process. As the folk wisdom goes, “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,” but what happens when there’s no mommas left, or they’re mostly in some countries but not others? 

I’m single, 38 years old, debt-free, and childless.  I’ve decided that my new criterion for a relationship is whether a woman believes in character and whether she has it herself.  In the modern world, where everything is negotiable and where outcomes are unpredictable, only character will remain the true constant.  I’ll be visiting Canada and Australia at some point in my travels.  As Paul Coelho wrote in The Alchemist, “[W]hen you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” 

 I'm going to find out if he's right.

© Matthew Rafat (2016) 

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

More Data

Data from Pew Center on American demographics:

http://pewsocialtrends.org/2008/12/17/u-s-migration-flows/

Check out California--people have been moving out. If anyone has info on jobs in San Marcos, TX or Nashville, TN, please email me.

Bonus I: Grading the States.

Bonus II: Data on Immigration (2010).

Bonus III: Data on Immigration (2007).

Bonus IV: Immigrants by State (2007). [CIS report]

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Immigration Statistics

The right-wing Center for Immigrant Studies has a very interesting 2007 study here. Some excerpts:

"The vast majority of working-age illegals work. In fact, we estimate that 92 percent of illegal-alien households have at least one person working. This compares to 73 percent of native-headed households. "

"The primary reason for the high rates of immigrant poverty, lack of health insurance, and welfare use is their low education levels, not their legal status or an unwillingness to work."

"While immigrants overall are not more entrepreneurial than natives, immigrants from such countries as Korea, Iran, Italy, and Vietnam [and Poland] are significantly more likely than natives to be self-employed."

Friday, September 17, 2010

Monday, September 13, 2010

USA Today on Immigration

USA Today's Darrell M. West on immigration:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-09-01-column01_ST1_N.htm

One study found that 25% of all the technology and engineering businesses launched in the USA from 1995 to 2005 had a foreign-born founder. In Silicon Valley, that number was 52.4%.

If you live in a middle-class or affluent area of Silicon Valley, you probably owe much of your good schools, steady home prices and safe neighborhoods to highly educated immigrants from the Middle East, Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Goldman Sachs' Report on Immigration

In 2008, Goldman Sachs issued an excellent report on immigration and the American economy. You can read the report HERE. The paragraph below is probably one of the most interesting parts of the report:

Immigration is probably a small net positive for the federal budget, because incremental tax revenues outweigh the limited services allowed to immigrants. States and localities often pick up the slack in providing social services to immigrants, and therefore incur considerable costs, particularly in states with a large share of unauthorized migrants.

The costs immigrants pose to the federal budget are probably relatively low. The welfare reform passed in 1996 stipulated that states could not use federal grants to finance benefits such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Medicaid, etc. to non-citizens, though they could still offer such assistance with their own funds. However, the American-born children of immigrants (whether authorized or not) are citizens and thus entitled to benefits.

At the same time, immigrants do provide tax revenues to the Treasury. Even illegal immigrants pay federal taxes: in order to demonstrate eligibility for employment, undocumented workers often use fake Social Security cards with numbers “borrowed” from others or simply made up. When federal payroll taxes and income taxes are withheld from their paychecks, funds accumulate in the Social Security trust funds with no parallel entitlement. Since the Immigration Reform & Control Act went into effect during the late 1980s, inflows into the ‘Earnings Suspense File’ have increased dramatically (Exhibit 8). The cumulative taxes held in this account are $463 billion...

The situation at the state and local levels is very different. According to a ruling of the Supreme Court, these jurisdictions cannot withhold public education and emergency medical services from either legal or illegal immigrants residing in the United States (Hanson, p. 13). As states generally foot the bill for these services, outlays for immigrants likely outweigh the corresponding tax revenues.

Like I said, very interesting stuff. Overall, it sounds like Goldman Sachs is saying that the federal government receives benefits from illegal immigration while states and local governments do not.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

The More Things Change, The More They Stay the Same

In 2010, the immigration debate seems to be reaching a fever pitch. It's important to note that the same racially-charged arguments against immigration have been made before. In short, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Guess the year Economist W. Jett Lauck made the following statement:

"our industrial system has become saturated with an alien unskilled labor force of low standards, which so far has been impossible to assimilate industrially, socially, or politically, and which has broken down American standards of work and compensation."

From Wilson Quarterly, Summer 2010, page 20; originally from "The Lesson from Lawrence," published in 1912. Mr. Lauck was apparently referring to Italians, Slovaks, Magyars, and Croatians. I wonder what Justices Scalia and Alito think about the Arizona anti-illegal-immigration law.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Do Anti-Immigration Activists Use Funny Math?

Check out THIS article, alleging that illegal immigrants cost California 10.5 billion dollars a year.

The basic premise is that the children of illegal immigrants constitute 15% of the school-age population, which costs California 7.7 billion dollars annually. I call shenanigans.

How does adding an extra 15% to the school-age population add 7.7 billion dollars in expenses? Does that sound right to you? If you increase class sizes, other than extra classroom supplies, how exactly do costs go up by the billions?

At some point, new teachers have to be hired (usually resulting in jobs to American citizens), and new classrooms built, but new construction and new supplies do not cost billions of dollars each year. In short, there is some funny math going on here.

Here's how I think the partisan institute came up with $7+ billion: California's K-14 education programs receive about 50 to 60 billion dollars a year total. Take 15% of that, and you end up with about 7.7 billion dollars, a very rough estimate that doesn't factor in teacher pension costs, lifetime medical benefits, and other undefined wage/benefit obligations.

Remember: 80 to 85% of education funding goes to teachers and administrators (mostly to teachers and teaching staff). That leaves 15% to the kids. 15% of 15% = just 2.25% of total education expenditures--not an additional 15% increase in education costs. A billion dollars is still significant, but it's nowhere near the scary 7.7 billion dollars number.

Another person's response: Fact: illegal immigrants "tax" our system through free schooling, healthcare (going to emergency rooms for simple colds and ridiculous laws forcing hospitals to treat them), and the thousands of examples of illegal immigrants committing crimes and packing out jails. I know both legal and illegal immigrants. Guess which ones care about laws?

If illegal immigrants even cost the system $10 it's too much. THEY ARE ILLEGAL. Not sure what's so difficult to understand about that. Or, do you support rapists rights, too? How about bank robbers? How about people who double park or run red lights?

The article is a brief synopsis of expenses. Do you really need it broken down to understand that it's bankrupting our state? Maybe the public hospitals that have closed down in the Bay Area are example enough. No? How about the school closings?

Response to above: Illegal immigration is a complicated topic, made even more complex by the absence of reliable statistics on tax revenue (which includes sales, gas, and uncollected Social Security taxes). I just worry when anyone singles out a particular group for much of society's woes. Such resentment is easy to inflame into hatred—and easy to exploit.

I will say this: we've had illegal immigration for many decades, and we still managed to have schools and public/county hospitals do well. Thus, it seems that the issues facing schools and county hospitals result from a multitude of different factors, not just illegal immigration. Also, if the children of illegal immigrants do well and become net contributors to the tax base, many of the financial issues relating to illegal immigration become moot. Just my two cents.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Immigration: Does it Cost Americans Jobs?

"Immigrant workers 'create almost as many' jobs as they occupy, 'and maybe more,' said Madeleine Sumption, policy analyst at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. See here for more:

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/05/does-immigration-cost-jobs/

I am, however, willing to concede that immigrants take jobs from native-born American teenagers.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Will Arizona be a Democratic State by 2035?

The GOP doesn't realize it yet, but Arizona will be a Democratic state within 25 years. Under our Constitution, every child born in Arizona is an American citizen, regardless of his/her parent's immigration status. Also, children are able to sponsor their parents for citizenship, so the parents that Arizona wants to deport will one day become citizens through their American-born children.

Later, when the children of Mexican immigrants grow up, they will be able to vote. American citizens won't support a political party that wanted to deport their parents. And don't forget: the children of Mexican immigrants go to public schools and will make numerous friends of all ethnicities. Anyone who thinks that second or third-generation American children who grow up playing with their Mexican-American friends will share the same thinking as their parents doesn't understand generational shifts. Put simply, new generations always rebel.

Just look at North Carolina--who would have thought the same state that elected Jesse Helms would one day elect John Edwards?

As for me, I keep wondering when Goldwater/Eisenhower Republicans will create the third party that America desperately needs. Wouldn't most Americans vote for a political party that supports fiscal conservatism, a humble executive branch, and non-interference in our private lives?

Bonus: according to the Brookings Institution, nearly 25% of Americans younger than 18 have at least one immigrant parent.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

More Wisdom from Dick Armey

Republican Dick Armey:

Reagan went to Berlin and said, "Tear down this wall." We [Republicans] went to San Diego and said, "Build a fence." It was just stupid. You have Hispanics saying, "I’m not going to vote for those guys because they don’t like me."

More from Dick Armey here and here.

Friday, August 7, 2009

San Francisco Chronicle: U.S. Citizens Wrongly Deported

The SF Chronicle is doing a great job writing hard-hitting pieces. Here is one particularly good article on our convoluted immigration laws and procedures.

I've said before, and I'll say it again: America's immigration laws give too much power and discretion to unelected government workers. With such power, you'd think there would be better checks and balances in place, or at least incentives to expeditiously process applications.

For example, immigration authorities delayed processing my application for a citizenship certificate, even though they cashed my check and there was no dispute as to my citizenship. I was already a citizen, I had a passport, and I just wanted the actual certificate. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? Yet, it took me several emails to Senator Diane Feinstein's office to get a copy of my citizenship certificate--years after I'd paid the fee and received citizenship. Did anyone at the BCIS get punished for improperly sitting on my application for years? Probably not. There's no way for me to tell who handled my application or whose responsibility it was to process it. Even when I buy underwear, there's a sticker that tells me who inspected it. Isn't it sad that underwear sales have better safeguards in place than immigration laws?

In fact, immigration lawyers have one of the least expensive costs for malpractice insurance policies. Why? Because if the lawyer loses the case, the client--often someone who doesn't speak perfect English--leaves the country, making it difficult, if not impossible, to file a malpractice lawsuit. The entire system is obviously screwed up when it takes multiple contacts to a U.S. Senator to get a certificate confirming a citizen's existing status.

I'd like to thank Senator Feinstein's office for helping me when I had this issue. I don't know which individual in her office helped me, but I'd like to thank her, too. Without their help, I probably would have never gotten my citizenship certificate.

Monday, July 27, 2009

More Immigrants = More Safety

From Radley Balko, July 6, 2009:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/134579.html

Despite the high profile of polemicists such as Lou Dobbs and Michael Savage, America has been mostly welcoming to this latest immigration wave. You don't see "Latinos Need Not Apply" or "No Mexicans" signs posted on public buildings the way you did with the Italians and the Irish, two groups who actually were disproportionately likely to turn to crime. The implication makes sense: An immigrant group's propensity for criminality may be partly determined by how they're received in their new country.

"Look at Arab-Americans in the Midwest, especially in the Detroit area," Levin says. "The U.S. and Canada have traditionally been very willing to welcome and integrate them. They're a success story, with high average incomes and very little crime. That's not the case in Europe. Countries like France and Germany are openly hostile to Arabs. They marginalize them. And they've seen waves of crime and rioting."


I love the common sense.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Immigrants Founded Many Famous U.S. Companies

Whenever anti-immigrant sentiment arises--almost always during a recession--I wonder how people can forget the jobs and inventions immigrants have given to America:

http://www.smartmoney.com/investing/stocks/10-companies-founded-by-immigrants

If you've ever used eBay, Google, or almost any technology company's products, chances are, you are benefiting from an immigrant's work. Even Steve Jobs is ethnically part-Egyptian.

More on immigration here, where I wrote, "Being anti-immigration seems like another case of cutting your nose to spite your face--at the end of the day, you just hurt yourself."

Bonus: from Palo Alto's Sutter Hill Ventures, an article titled, "America’s Secret Innovation Weapon: Immigration."

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Immigration Laws Provide the Government Too Much Discretion

Ken McLaughlin has written an interesting story (SJ Merc, 7/3/09) about the broad discretion of immigration judges:

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12744965?source=rss&nclick_check=1

If the link doesn't work, try googling these words:

When he was 10, Hank Nijmeh moved with his family to San Jose when the Beatles were still together and much of the Santa Clara Valley was carpeted with mustard fields. He was one of five children in a friendly Palestinian Catholic family that established one of the valley's most beloved eateries — the Falafel's Drive-In on Stevens Creek Boulevard...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has kept Nijmeh in custody since April 2006, when he tested positive for marijuana while on probation....U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has kept Nijmeh in custody since April 2006, when he tested positive for marijuana while on probation...


Immigration laws may be unevenly applied and enforced because of the wide latitude given to immigration judges. Remember this immigration fiasco, when immigration authorities wanted to deport the widows of American citizens because BCIS delayed processing their citizenship applications? Talk about pouring salt into an open wound...

Monday, April 20, 2009

NYT Immigration: "Remade in America"

The entire NYT series on immigration--called "Remade in America"--is fascinating. The link is below:

http://projects.nytimes.com/immigration/

Here's a so-so link linking countries and occupations:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/04/07/us/20090407-immigration-occupation.html

Some interesting points: Iran is under Asia rather than Middle East; and sales-related professions seem to be the most popular occupation.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

NYT Immigration Chart

I am having way too much fun with this NYT immigration chart:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/10/us/20090310-immigration-explorer.html

You can get stats based on year (as far back as the 1800's!) and country.

Thanks to the NYT's Matthew Bloch and Robert Gebeloff.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Pete Murphy is Wrong about Immigration

Pete Murphy and I had are having another short discussion on immigration, this time on his blog. We've had this debate before, and I went back for Round 2. See below (comments section):

http://petemurphy.wordpress.com/the-case-against-immigration

Here are my responses to Mr. Murphy's anti-immigration views:

1. I agree that California is a fiscal disaster. That's because California spends most of its tax revenue on education. In addition, the salaries, medical costs, and pension obligations of public sector employees--officers, firefighters, teachers, etc.--create a significant impact on CA's budget. Illegal immigration is a convenient scapegoat for CA's refusal to cut spending across the board. See this PDF file for more information:

http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/pdf/BudgetSummary/SummaryCharts.pdf

It shows that education is the #1 spending item in CA, by far; then comes health and human services; then jails (CA jails too many nonviolent criminals). Some illegal immigrants may receive health and human services, but until we receive a breakdown of how much money or services is given to illegal immigrants, blaming them for CA's budget crisis is, at best, resorting to speculation, and at worst, scapegoating. Keep in mind also that immigrants pay sales taxes.

2. As for your dismissal of the idea that you might be deporting our next generation of ideas, you don't have any statistics supporting your view. My previous posting had a link showing that at least 1/2 of the companies in Santa Clara County were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants. If we accept your philosophy of slow growth, San Jose, S.F., L.A., and N.Y. all disappear as we know it.

Gone are also Google (Russian immigrant), eBay (Iranian French immigrant), Sun (Indian immigrant), Intel (Hungarian), and so on. Basically, if we followed your advice 20 years ago, we'd be decades behind in technological progress.

3. You want America to look like Indiana--a nice place, certainly, with good schools, low population growth, and ample land. But let's not confuse economic growth with other amorphous variables, such as happiness or quality of life. It is clear that more immigration leads to more jobs and more overall income. If that wasn't the case, immigrants and younger Americans would not be flocking to the larger cities. Your distinction that per capita income declines as more people gather in a particular place isn't significant in a globalized world where companies can ship jobs anywhere. There must be a reason companies and their employees stay in a particular city, even as per capita income declines. If declining per capita income was a problem, intelligent Americans would be flocking to smaller or low growth cities. They are not.

I am actually in agreement with you re: your main thesis. If you want a slower pace of life and a more close-knit community, lower growth policies and protectionism are conducive to those goals. Thank goodness we live in a country where you can freely move to Indiana, Montana, or another state where the majority population agrees with your slow growth philosophy. That's the beauty of America--there's somewhere pleasant for everyone.

However, advocating protectionism and closed borders would involve a serious reversal of American dominance and prestige. Other countries would start creating jobs and companies at our expense, immigrants would start going elsewhere (like to Canada and Australia), and America would fall decades behind in job growth. A reversal of overall growth, if accepted, may lead to future generations of Americans moving to Canada, Australia, India, China, and Singapore to find jobs or deciding not to work at all (e.g., Japan's "hikikomori"). We take for granted that much of the educated world speaks English, knows about the Simpsons, and drinks Coke. The minute we stop creating jobs and attracting foreign talent, we make it harder for future Americans to succeed in the global marketplace.

In short, be careful what you wish for. We owe much of America's progress--and almost all of its technological progress--to immigrants. Societies that fall behind the global race rarely catch up.