Paying to Immigrate

[jerseydevil77]

While looking for other information on the University of Chicago's website, I spotted this article about paying to immigrate to the United States. The researchers, including the University's Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker say that some people may find the idea 'repugnant' and they'd be right. They argue that people should pay $50,000

Comments

[langostino]

I guess it depends on the question of whether immigration to America is something you consider a right.

I mean, if I'm going to go on a camping trip and I want to charge people $400 to come along with me, there's really nothing wrong with that, even though it does mean I'll only be camping with people who have $400 to blow. It's quite unfair, and it'll skew the demographics, but it's not wrong, because there's no expectation that I should allow anybody to come camping with me.

That said, I do think this proposal is a bad idea. It makes more sense to admit people based on potential, as opposed to based on current achievement.

[jerseydevil77]

I don't think it's a right, we only admit a certain number every year. That being said, I think that this set of selection criteria does not parallel our history as a country, and what was laid out as our purpose and reason for becoming a country in the first place.

[langostino]

I don't think it's a right, we only admit a certain number every year.

We only let in so many per year, but we can do so fairly or not; what I meant was, is there a right to have that system be fair? Or is it perfectly all right to have a system which is biased in favour of, say, white people, or rich people, or whatever group?

what was laid out as our purpose and reason for becoming a country in the first place.

I'd be careful with that second argument. There are plenty of Founders who wrote about being an example to the rest of the world, but how many of them were all about letting the rest of the world come here?

I actually just read a fascinating book about how the early Republicans were super concerned about overpopulation. That was one of Jefferson's major reasons for the Louisiana Purchase--to procure enough land that the (in his mind) already-overpopulated Middle West and East Coast could be thinned out.

[jerseydevil77]

i am currently reading Ken Miller's book "Only a theory" and he makes a great argument that the reason america is the leader in science, and why so many scientists do (and want to) come to america is because we promote and support individualism, which is at the crux of making scientific discoveries - you have to be willing to go against the grain and try something new. so in my mind, that goes along with your idea of potential, not just cash. And of course we can have the system set up any way we want, I'm just saying that I don't like having the particular bias that this guy is suggesting we have. I don't think that will lead our country down the path it should be on.