I don't defend illegal immigration, I take issue with today's immigration laws.
I view our current immigration problems as an obvious side effect of welfare programs - creating financial incentives to physically be in the country means the government budget is a blank check and people have a reason to move here other than the hope of making a better life for themselves.
In my view, those immigration problems should be a sign that our welfare programs can't function without strong borders and heavily controlled immigration. We can't seem to solve immigration management, and until we do we should abandon the welfare programs and accept that people will move here if they want to.
Edit: I can also come at this from a fundamental rights angle. I am a strong believer in individual rights and don't believe that I have the right to decide who can live here.
Sure, I can agree with that. I mentioned the incentives welfare programs create and maybe that doesn't play as big a role as I expect for motivating immigrants. It is a structural problem of sorts though, welfare programs and immigration are financially at odds with one another.
I don't personally have any problem whatsoever with someone from a poorer country immigrating to the US (not saying that was your argument here) and don't agree with any immigration laws that limit based on wealth. The US wouldn't be what it is today if only the wealthy were ever allowed to immigrate here.
Yup! That's the point that gets talked past a lot in the welfare-immigration debate, as each side emphasizes only the facets that buttress their argument.
Welfare and immigration must be balanced, to some degree, in that total_production of a country needs to pay for total_welfare.
What gets lost is why welfare.
I'd say most Democrat would say "Because it's a moral imperative" and most Republicans would say "It's allowing people to be lazy."
Imho, both of those may be true to various degrees, but its utility is the prevent the negative consequences of extreme poverty, which also impacts those in extreme poverty's ability to lift themselves out of it and the next generation born into that situation, both of which ultimately impact the economy.
So a case of saving/making (future) money by spending (current) money.
That said, obviously even the US can't afford to provide welfare for the entire world's population, so there needs to be some cap to the immigration flow (probably much higher than the current legal limits).
Although it does fund 1/3 of the UN [0] and is the 2nd largest independent aid funder [1] (via USAID, behind China on an absolute basis, and behind many others on a per-GNI basis).
I don't defend illegal immigration, I take issue with today's immigration laws.
I view our current immigration problems as an obvious side effect of welfare programs - creating financial incentives to physically be in the country means the government budget is a blank check and people have a reason to move here other than the hope of making a better life for themselves.
In my view, those immigration problems should be a sign that our welfare programs can't function without strong borders and heavily controlled immigration. We can't seem to solve immigration management, and until we do we should abandon the welfare programs and accept that people will move here if they want to.
Edit: I can also come at this from a fundamental rights angle. I am a strong believer in individual rights and don't believe that I have the right to decide who can live here.