We Need More Immigrants, Not Fewer

All this bellyaching about what should be done about securing the border or controlling immigration is not only annoying but counterproductive, even harmful to the prosperity of the United States. Suddenly, shotgun carrying gangs of roving yokels get to call themselves heroes, abusing historically honorable titles like "Minutemen" to suit their own agendas. Right wing hate groups that according to conventional wisdom were justly associated with domestic terrorism only need to speak the buzz word "immigration" to move themselves from the lunatic fringe to slightly right of center. The truth is that we need more immigrants, and not fewer. And here are five good reasons why:

• In a society where anomie and self-centeredness have moved to the fore, we desperately need an influx of people who harbor traditional family values. I had the privilege of being a house guest of a Latino family for a while, and I was amazed by what I found there: family dinners, for one, and parents talking to their children about abstinence and the value of education, for another. Institutions, such as the church and family holidays, are still held in high regard in immigrant families. Compare this to the 51% divorce rate among American families, the fact that US family members hardly ever share a meal - except maybe for Christmas and Thanksgiving - and you'll see that immigrant family values have much that can return us to our own cultural roots.

• Further, most immigrants love being here; they are here on purpose. There is a reason you won't find pallid emo-kids yammering about how America has become oh-so-bourgeois in immigrant families. While not all of them agree with all US politics, they all have a deep love for their newly chosen home. Despite so much gnashing of teeth by the native population about the economy, to most immigrants, the US is a wonderful land of opportunities. And while many immigrants resent the way some Americans treat them, you'll hardly hear them badmouth America itself.

• Immigrants possess the "immigrant work ethic" that has made this country the powerful, rich nation it is now. Personally, I think any person who makes it through the scorching desert and successfully evades roving bands of gun-toting rednecks, so he or she can work for minimum wage at day labor agencies, such as LaborReady, or in a meatpacking plant deserves a medal - not deportation papers.

I had the good fortune to meet one young man who hadn't been in the country for more than a few days, legally, and he was already working and looking for an apartment. There was no moping on mom and dad's couch for weeks and months. This young man was gung-ho about making and spending money.

• Immigrants are a dynamic economic force. They are here to make money and to spend money. Yes, some of it may be sent to the country of origin, but the lion's share is spent here in the US, fueling the US economy.

• Finally, immigrants are tax payers, not tax eaters. People who draw their income from the Bank of Mom aren't usually very good at filing income tax returns, although the law requires even minors to do so if their adjusted gross income exceeds the amount of the current year's personal exemption. In 2008, that was $3,500. Think it's not possible to mooch that kind of cash from mom and dad in the course of a year? Do the numbers, and you may surprise yourself. Your typical immigrant family expects Junior to hold down a job when the law allows him to. Even if it's a lousy one.

Which brings us back to the roving packs of yahoos driving around in the desert all day long. Isn't it about time for these guys to move out of mom's house and get jobs?