Thread: OPINION: Immigration debate should focus on jobs, not fenc

OPINION: Immigration debate should focus on jobs, not fences

By N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg - 06/23/11 08:16 PM ET

Today, more than three years after our country entered its deepest recession in decades, the single most powerful (and cost-free) step that the federal government could take to spur job growth – fixing our broken immigration system – is a casualty of partisan gridlock.

A new study by the Partnership for a New American Economy found that more than 40 percent of companies on the 2010 Fortune 500 list were founded by immigrants or children of immigrants. Why? Because immigrants come here to work – and their drive and entrepreneurship have helped build the United States into the world’s largest and most innovative economy. Immigration reform would spur more new business and job growth in a broad range of industries that are critical to our recovery – and some of those businesses would become major U.S. employers and Fortune 500 companies.

Other countries recognize how critical immigrants are to economic growth and have implemented policies that open their doors to them. But in the U.S., our immigration laws are shutting out too many immigrants that our economy needs. If this continues, the consequences for our future will be dire. We cannot remain the world’s economic superpower while turning away the world’s most talented and hardest-working people.

Leaders in both parties recognize that the current system is a drag on our economy. It was encouraging to see President Obama say recently that increasing opportunities for immigrants to come here is a top priority. And likewise, it was encouraging to see House Republicans put forward a “Plan for American Job Creatorsâ€

Other countries recognize how critical immigrants are to economic growth and have implemented policies that open their doors to them.

Says Bloomberg!
Bloomberg makes this statement without any examples. Exactly which countries followed such policies and are in good economic shape today?

you cannot compare immigration from the early 1900's with today's ILLEGALS..different animal altogether...our country was young and developing it was wide open with opportunity for all who came. Now, there are limited opportunities, limited jobs.

I believe that the illegal alien problem has escalated to such a degree in the past 10 years that it has adversely affected the jobs that remain in the US....i 've read articles that report that ILLEGALS are snapping up the jobs being created as fast as they appear.

Most immigrants who came here legally do NOT want the illegals.

I would like to see the FED GOV halt all immigration for 10 years so they can get a grip on the border and deport these illegals.

if they do not take care of this problem i do not see a future for our country at all. There are too many people, not enough jobs, not enough money to support our own much less 11 to 40 million illegals.

When is enough enough? When we are all speaking spanish?

I looked at the google translator and compared english to every language, English is a language that is compact compared to the others.

I forgot to say Bloomberg is just full of it...the visa quotas are "too low"...he is nuts. If they would CONTROL immigration by STOPPING illegals then they could consider raising the quotas.


Illegals already are working in the USA with their OWN companies, paying cash and NO taxes! This is a major problem of illegals. Some do pay federal tax 90 billion dollars of that they send 60 billion back to mexico.

Spread this on all our farmland and watch out for bumper crops. Hell, we all came from immigrants, including "Native Americans" (American Indians in my day.) Foreign companies and entrepreneurs are welcome here...just comply with existing laws.

1.We have guest worker programs up the wazoo. But that is not good enough for those who want cheap labor, so they violate the law and hire illegal aliens. No one manages the visa programs, so workers here legally, initially, become illegal aliens via the laxity and malfeasance of the government agencies charged with running the programs.

2. We used to have a first class education system in this country. That was before the federal government, state governments, and the teachers unions managed to screw it up royally( and where were the parents and local communities while all this was going on?). When I was a kid, California and New York had the two highest rated secondary school systems in the country. How are they rated now? Throw in the total sell out of most of our colleges and universities (basically to communism....no free speech, no academic freedom, multi-culturism and diversity at the expense of individualism, total disregard for the Scientific Method [global warming, climate change, environmentalism in general]) and it is no wonder many of our graduates may be lacking.


3. On the other hand, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, etc are never legitimately challenged when they claim they cannot get qualified computer scientists and programmers. I don't believe that is the problem. Techies from India and Asia are probably a lot cheaper, and what the hey, if necessary move the operations from the US to those regions.

4. Bloomberg totally disregards the impact unions and high taxes have had on the mass migration of manufacturing / industry out of this country.

I do agree with him on one point: immigration does impact the economy. What he does not say is that illegal immigration affects the economy negatively. If we want the problem fixed, keep emphasizing to our elected officials the negative impact illegal immigration has on employment, entitlement programs, and MEDICAID.