Why Legal Immigration Is Impossible for Nearly Everyone - eviltoast

The report is a uniquely comprehensive and jargon‐​free (to the extent possible) explanation of U.S. legal immigration. Contrary to public perception, immigrants cannot simply wait and get a green card (permanent residence) after a few years. Legal immigration is less like waiting in line and more like winning the lottery: it happens, but it is so rare that it is irrational to expect it in any individual case.

  • OldWoodFrame@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    10 months ago

    Full agree on all of this. Reduce red tape and increase legal immigration a lot to free up the system to refocus on actually stopping the people we don’t want.

    Credit to Cato for publishing the truth when really neither party has been up for discussing the nuance on this.

    • Neuromancer@lemm.eeM
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      10 months ago

      Yep. Focus on what we need for immigrants and make it easier for them to come.

      We need people to pick vegetables. Give them a path to come legally.

      Both parties are guilty of making it difficult

      • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        10 months ago

        How do we determine what we need. There’s a shortage of legal vegetable pickers but is that due to the wages or small worker pool. Would stopping the illegal hiring practices force wages up and more people would pick vegetables?

          • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            4
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            10 months ago

            There are many liberals that want to work for a living, I’m sure more of them would pick vegetables if the wages were higher.

            • Neuromancer@lemm.eeM
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              arrow-down
              10
              ·
              10 months ago

              I can’t see the liberals wanting to pick vegetables at any price. They tend to thumb their noses at physical work.

              • PizzaMan@lemm.ee
                link
                fedilink
                arrow-up
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                10 months ago

                If I could, I’d rather making my living gardening.

                But good on you for speaking on behalf of others that you don’t understand in the first place. /s

  • Throwaway@lemm.eeM
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    10
    ·
    10 months ago

    We still grant hundreds of thousands of immigrant visas every year. 493,448 were granted in 2022. The problem is simply too many people too quickly.

    • PizzaMan@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      10 months ago

      Copying and pasting from a previous comment, becuase this is the exact same thing.


      The number of immigrants adding to the population is a drop in the bucket in comparison to how much the baby boomers added to the population.

      The baby boomers added roughly 4.4 million a year, double that of immigrants.

      And then pretty much double it again on the basis of proportion, because the U.S. was far smaller in population during the baby boomers explosion.

      The baby boomers had to grow up before they could provide themselves, needing roughly 15 years before they could begin to provide for themselves. Immigrants on the other hand are typically adults, or families with parents already providing for their children.

      If we could handle an explosion of population of baby boomers, we can handle the comparatively much smaller, much more able bodied and self providing immigrants.

      And the already manageable numbers will die down again soon provided we stop raping central and latin america. The U.S. played a huge part in causing this issue. It’s only fair that we play part in handling the fallout.

      So no, it’s not too many people.

      • Throwaway@lemm.eeM
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        10 months ago

        That was during the biggest economic boom in American history, and we are suffering from their impact today

        • PizzaMan@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          10 months ago

          That was during the biggest economic boom in American history

          And the only thing stopping us from having that economic security again is neoliberalism/conservatism.

          we are suffering from their impact today

          Only because they are hoarding their wealth and power, not because there is too many people that showed up too quickly.

    • Djtecha@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      10 months ago

      Can we stop using the rest of the globe as our dumping ground then? We destroy entire countries so you can have your Walmart and then get mad when those refugees come here.

    • LesserAbe@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      15
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      10 months ago

      I read a book that you might find interesting, Open Borders by Bryan Caplan and Zach Weinersmith. Statistically immigrants add value to our economy, not take from it. Many parts of the world will also need more of them as the current population ages and there aren’t as many citizens being born.

      • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        4
        ·
        10 months ago

        Add value for whom? The companies whose wages can be lower due to a larger pool of workers or the people themselves?

      • Throwaway@lemm.eeM
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        11
        ·
        10 months ago

        10 bucks for reading something that’s probably just obvious propaganda? That’s not a good deal.