Let Them In - The Case for Open Borders

Jason Riley 2008

book notes

• Nativism for centuries
  • Ben Franklin feared Germans
  • Lou Dobbs, Don Goldwater, Pat Buchanan, Nicholas Kristof, Robert Rector
  • Ambrose Bierce, Henry George, Samuel Morse
  • Gingrich, Tancredo, O'Reilly, Beck,
• Reagan was pro-immigration
  • November 1989 called for free labor flows
• Bush did not want to lose Hispanic vote
  • 8% of the electorate, half of that foreign born
• Anti-imm Republicans lose elections

  • Hayworth, Graf, Hostettler, Beauprez, Kean, McGavick, Santorum

• Sierra Club neutral
  • nativists seceeded
    • John Tanton, Richard Lamm, David Pimentel, Frank Morris
• Eugenicists
  • Galton, Russell, Wells, Shaw, Holmes, Sanger
• Lomborg: Population growth peaked in 1964 at 2.17%
  • 1.26% 2000
  • 1% 2016 (est)

• US - half of pop growth immigration
• environment improving, technology the cause
  • 1976-2001 60% less toxic chemicals
  • "" 97% less lead air pollution
  • "" 67% less SO2 air pollution
  • "" 72% less CO air pollution
  • forested land increasing
  • 43% less soil erosion
• immigrants improve labor flexibility, improve economy, create other jobs
  • Giovanni Peri at UC Davis: 1990-2004, immigration induced 4% native wave increase
  • 2003 30% of PhD foreign born
  • 37% Cypress Semi engineers foreign born, create 5 jobs each
• Immigrants very low and very high skilled
  • complimentary to american mid-skilled
• If they can't work farm jobs, the farms move south
• Milton Friedman: minimum wage anti-black
• Legal immigrants far more likely to go on welfare than illegals
  • illegals: mostly pay SS and taxes
    • young and here for the work
    • if they use services, they get caught
  • 1995 legals 12% of SSI. TANF
  • 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act
    • 5 year bar following entry
    • program use halved
• 60% natives collect more in government services than they pay in taxes
• Urban Institute: illegals 1% welfare, native 5%
• Illegal alien education "cost" is for children who are actually 67% citizens
• Illegal labor force participation rate 94%
  • the longer they are here, the less they are unemployed

• 2005 census: < 10y 1/3 speak english well, > 30y 3/4 speak english well

  • 91% children 97% grandchildren speak english well
  • 89% of latinos believe immigrants need to speak English to succeed

• Joel Perlmann Italians Then, Mexicans Now

• 80% of MexAm children in raised two-parent families

• no Islam terrorists from Mexico
  • most legal
  • Illegals come through Canada
  • Michael Chertoff, DHS sec (also Tom Ridge, previous DHS):
    • "economic migrants are not a threat to national security"
    • "tall grass, a distraction"