Tapsearch Com EditorThe easiest decision a government can make
September 14th 2007 22:02
The New York Review of Books has a great article about immigration today.
One quibble:
Yes there is: Natives win. A government's job is to protect its own people's interests.
UPDATE: Actually, one other quibble:
Second-generation immigrants have plenty of problems, but these problems are a consequence of assimilation, not its absence. Second-generation immigrants have sex at an earlier age than their parents did; they also drink more, and are more likely to join violent gangs. All these changes make the children of immigrants more like the children of natives, which is one reason why many immigrants resist the idea of across-the-board assimilation.
Actually, at least regarding Hispanics, it doesn't make them "more like the children of natives." It makes them worse than the children of natives.
One quibble:
Nor is there any simple way to balance the economic desperation of immigrants against the economic claims of poor natives, especially if the natives are African-Americans or second-generation immigrants.
Yes there is: Natives win. A government's job is to protect its own people's interests.
UPDATE: Actually, one other quibble:
Second-generation immigrants have plenty of problems, but these problems are a consequence of assimilation, not its absence. Second-generation immigrants have sex at an earlier age than their parents did; they also drink more, and are more likely to join violent gangs. All these changes make the children of immigrants more like the children of natives, which is one reason why many immigrants resist the idea of across-the-board assimilation.
Actually, at least regarding Hispanics, it doesn't make them "more like the children of natives." It makes them worse than the children of natives.
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