Ilya Shapiro, frustrated at the difficulty of getting a Green
Card, writes:
It is perhaps self-serving of me to point this out, but
I think this country would be better off if it were possible to get
a green card by some method other than through family ties or a
difficult-to-obtain employer sponsorship (on which more later). As
it stands now, even those worthy skilled professionals who secure a
quota-restricted temporary worker visa (H1-B) have to leave upon
that visa's expiration, with no mechanism for applying for
permanent residence -- unlike in every other
immigrant-accepting country in the world.
It is indeed crazy that an American relative counts for more than a
law degree, and this reminded me of an interesting
paper (.pdf) that I read the other day on why immigrants from
Mexico assimilate more slowly than immigrants from other countries.
Its conclusion:
The source of the problem seems to be US immigration
policy. By admitting large numbers of Mexicans relative to other
groups on a family rather than job basis, the US selects a group of
immigrants from Mexico who are already at a disadvantage. The large
numbers allow highly concentrated ethnic enclaves to form, which is
not conducive to assimilation. Additionally, the fact that such a
small proportion of Mexican immigrants are admitted on an
employment preference basis means that the average level of skills
of incoming Mexicans is lower than that for other immigrant groups.
Mexico is a large country with an abundant supply of highly
skilled potential immigrants to the US. Changes in US immigration
selection policy that moved in the direction of employment based
preferences for Mexican immigrants would likely close the gap
between assimilation of Mexicans and other immigrants to the United
States.
Why was I reading this paper? I wanted to learn about the views of
the author, Edward P. Lazear, as he has just been
chosen to chair the President's Council of Economic Advisers,
replacing new Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. It would be
nice to see Lazear's insights on this issue gain influence.
topics:
Ben Bernanke, Law, Immigration
