by James R. Edwards, Jr.
08/05/2009


Immigration policy has reached a standoff in Washington.

Special interests keep holding enforcement hostage to their demands for amnesty and more cheap foreign workers. Those insisting on the rule of law want incremental enforcement measures and visa cuts.

Into this trench warfare’s no man’s land treads Mark Krikorian, executive director of the indispensable Center for Immigration Studies.


His new book, The New Case Against Immigration: Both Legal and Illegal, should at a minimum cause both sides to refresh their thinking about this vexing issue. With luck, and if politicians and cynical interests will open their minds for two seconds, this tour de force could break the logjam by infusing some realistic, hard-headed decisionmaking.

The insightful Krikorian, a frequent guest on national TV news shows and a contributor to National Review Online, mounts a moderate case. That is, he respects his readers, reasons closely and relies on good, old-fashioned logic. His well-known wit and intellect shine through in The New Case Against Immigration.

The central argument: America has changed, becoming the foremost modern nation on the planet. As a modern society, we’re a mature society. America today has different priorities than the America that existed at the start of the 20th century.

Therefore, immigration policy should be designed to serve the best interests of America the Modern. That entails much lower levels of immigration and keener intentionality behind the immigrants we choose to admit.

Krikorian says today’s immigrants don’t differ much in characteristics and qualities from those disembarking from ships at Ellis Island. But their (premodern) skill-sets don’t fit the society we have become. “In short, mass immigration is incompatible with a modern society,â€