> Despite popular belief, there really isnt a waiting list for immigrants to join in order to legally enter the USA. From at least 1882, US immigration policy from generation to generation has been predicated on keeping foreigners out & insulating previous generations of immigrants. The quota system is also rather tone-deaf, paying little attention who the general levels of affluence in another country or even geographic proximity of that country to the US. Ever skeptical of jingoism & nativism, Im increasingly willing to conceive of natl / state borders as a consequence of public needs & administrative capacity to meet human needs & ecological concerns rather than a visceral desire for territory (IE, the usual reasons for natl borders historically really dont make sense). Stopping short of calling for completely open borders (which would be an administrative & logistical nightmare), I do think immigration policy anywhere should be reoriented to expanding the ability of cross-border travel, residency, & labor (an extension of the supposed freedoms of movement & residence enshrined in Article XIII of the UDHR). Alas, living in society is not a thought experiment. Living in society entails leading a life also burdened by a legacy of expedient political missteps in any sphere, in which stakeholders concerns were not always addressed (or at least not addressed for the right reasons) historically. No less is the case for US immigration policy. But aside from long-overdue & hopefully humane updates to a haphazard mess of immigration laws in a comparatively sparsely populated country, what could long-term reforms to immigration policy look like? One idea considered in this episode from the Planet Money podcast is an immigration tax. If Americans would like to expand possibilities for immigration while still reigning in legal immigration, an immigration tax makes sense: a modest surtax on the earnings of foreign professionals for the first five to ten yrs of their time in the US. Moreover, in the case of immigrants from developing countries, most if not all of this money could be repatriated to their home countries as part of non-food foreign aid, perhaps as grants for educational programs. There is a lot to be said for the economic impact of (albeit decentralized) remissions for consumption abroad, but I think provides a politically palatable mechanism to foster more robust/formal relations with ‘source countries’. Granted, I do think the esteemed Dean Baker hasnt fully developed this (sur)tax idea nor are foreign aid / development his area of expertise but its worth further consideration. (Yes, & questions loom whether the state of diplomatic relations with a source country or that countrys record on human rights could preclude the re-investment.) Its up there with my idea to add expenses for educating foreign nationals (in public, primary & secondary education) to the tab (balance of payments) of countries compelling their people to emigrate (premised on the idea that everyone has a right to a nationality & everyone has a right to an education, & the state has a role in providing for both). Furthermore, I hope that this (sur)tax + re-investment idea would keep the conversation open RE immigration of low-skilled laborers into the US. Even liberal-leaning pundits tend to draw distinctions btwn low-skilled laborers & their families vs the cool immigrants (usually of fairer complexions) who are expats & walk like them, dress like them, share songs on their playlists, etc, IE, high skilled labor. But where someone stands on immigration, be it as policy or as a personal experience, def is a function of that lottery of life that is our birth & people do not deserve to resign themselves to determinism… Hwvr, when advocating for more low-skilled immigration, we are effectively asking the poorest & least legally protected in our society to bear the burden of the poverty created by elites. CAVEAT Empirical evidence for the size of the surtax is pending (because Im not sure yet that a model like that exists anywhere), Im not talking about the need to expand the visa system, nor am I talking about families who slipped through the cracks or effectively had the border jump over them for them to get stuck as undocumented. Im not so idealistic to suggest no one would ever be repatriated but I stop short of deporting the undocumented parents of children who are US Citizens & I dont see immigration as a zero-sum game, esp in a country as sparsely populated as the US, the demands on existing infrastructure for accomodating extra folks aside.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 03:42:24 +0000
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