Back to economics for a bit

I've been focusing on the upcoming World Cup a lot lately. But I wanted to take a minute to get back to my other love, Economics. The debate over illegal immigration is about economics and sociology and very little else. I want you to consider a possible solution and then ask yourself why you oppose it:

Allow unlimited immigration if the immigrant can demonstrate:
No legal problems from the country of origin
A satisfactory command of the English language
Waiver of rights to entitlement plans (unemployment, medicare/medicaid, food stamps, etc.) for 2 years
Accompanied by increased enforcement of illegal immigration

Why would anyone be opposed to this? Here are the most common answers:

"They would steal American jobs": This has begun the catchphrase for people and the unfortunate reply is, "These are jobs Americans don't want". I say that it's an unfortunate reply because, like the argument it purports to contradict, it is wrong. Immigrants are neither more nor less likely to work crappy jobs then Americans. But, neither do they steal American jobs. In fact, the first argument hinges on the false assumption that there are a finite number of jobs in America. Let me say that again. There are an UNLIMITED number of jobs for people. That's the beauty of a market economy. If unemployment is high then start up companies can hire lots of people. The real problem is that we don't adequately encourage entrepreneurship. Would there be tough times in certain communities that were heavy centers of immigration? Sure... But we can address that with job retraining that probably needs to be done anyways. BTW: This is the same argument you should use against opponents of outsourcing, in case you were wondering.

"It would jeopardize our security": I just don't see this being a problem. The current system is so flawed and allows such a high traffic flow that our safety is already at risk. Incentivizing people to immigrate legally by making the process relatively easy would allow for a much more focused approach on those people coming across illegally. It would reduce illegal immigration to a manageable amount. And the unfortunate reality, as I see it, is that you can't truly do this unless you allow high levels of legal immigration. Our current system tries to metaphorically recreate the Hoover Dam to stop a flooding river. It just won't work. The best, and safest thing to do is let the torrent run its course and create a dam when the dust settles.

"It would change our culture": This is the one argument that I am the most sensitive to and the one argument that people voice the most quietly for fear of being called racist. It's the argument that Republicans are most worried about (because statistics show that immigrants tend to vote Democratic). But let's not forget, we impose a language restriction on legal immigrants. We've weathered immigrations storms in the past (Irish Potato Famine?) and have come away stronger. Our history has shown that waves of immigration lead to a stronger nation and economy and that second generation immigrants tend to be among the most patriotic and devoted citizens. Furthermore, if you truly believe that capitalism, free markets and democracy are the right choices than what are you afraid of? People come here because they want to leave their country. Sure, some want to recreate their homeland here. But, in my experience, those are relatively few. Most immigrants are attracted by the allure of America and the chance to create something for their future generations. I doubt that many Chinese immigrants want to recreate China. Most Mexicans who are old enough to remember the 80's in Mexico are probably grateful just to have a stable currency. Hispanics are among the most conservative of immigrant voters and, if the Republican party embraces immigration and frames Democrats as being against it then I see no reason they wouldn't reward that stance. Let's not forget, immigrants want to be small business owners and Republicans are traditionally against the biggest small business killer (the minimum wage).

So, I say, let's open up the flood gates. Let's let people in that want to be here. Let's not criminalize the act of wanting to be an American. With a few simple restrictions, we can make ourselves safer by knowing who comes in and also cast a substantial cloud of suspicion who choose to come here illegally.