{"id":7138,"date":"2014-07-01T15:56:36","date_gmt":"2014-07-01T19:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=7138"},"modified":"2018-12-28T14:52:39","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T19:52:39","slug":"who-are-you-rooting-for-mr-president","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2014\/07\/01\/who-are-you-rooting-for-mr-president\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Are You Rooting For, Mr. President?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Harvard economist George Borjas recently gave an overview of the economic impact of immigration on the United States in a lecture<\/a> at the Cato institute (see the issue brief<\/a> on the subject).<\/p>\n Borjas\u2019 insightful analysis is backed-up by scientific data yet many choose to dismiss his work if not ignoring it altogether. \u00a0As he explains, the immigration policy of the U.S. is not determined by facts and numbers. No matter how accurate and telling figures are, policy-makers are guided by their own sets of values, or shall I add, agendas.<\/p>\n It comes down to this: If policy-makers cared more about the immigrant then they do the American worker, they would design a policy that allows large-scale immigration despite the highs costs on American workers. The opposite is also true: if the American worker was top on the list, the U.S. immigration policy would be more geared towards controlling immigration flows. According to Borjas, it all boils down to one question: Who are policy-makers rooting for?<\/span><\/p>\n We are all familiar with the current\u2019s administration immigration policy. What is not openly declared, however, is the type of country those in charge want the United States to be (or rather become). What we don\u2019t have is a clear answer to a simple question. \u00a0And so today, I ask, who are you rooting for Mr. President?<\/p>\n It is crucial to keep in mind a number of Borjas\u2019 key points:<\/span><\/p>\n Knowing all this, which immigration policy should one advocate?\u00a0As Borjas stresses, immigration policy is not guided by economics. It has to do with the kind of country we want and the people we care about the most, the low skilled American worker or the low-skilled immigrant?<\/p>\n Immigration policy comes down to one simple question:\n
\nWho are you rooting for? That is a question President Obama needs to answer.