Monday, February 25, 2008

Land of Opportunity or Land of Entitlement?

by NotYourDaddy

Wouldn't a true free market approach to illegal immigration be to just open up the borders and laissez faire? In an ideal world, perhaps. But we're dealing with reality.

This country was founded by immigrants. Part of what makes this country great is the diversity of thought and culture brought here by immigrants from all parts of the world over many generations. People who come to this country seeking freedom, and the opportunity to work hard and educate their children and provide a better life for those who come after them, often have a greater appreciation of this country and what it stands for than many people who were born and raised here.

But there are other people who come here who, like many Americans, would rather get a free ride. They see America, not as the land of opportunity, but as the land of entitlement. This has nothing to do with where they're from; it has everything to do with individual character. Unfortunately, there are a great many such people in the world. If we were to open up our borders, without first fixing the existing issues with our entitlement programs, it would only serve to further inflate the ever-growing subsidized class that never rises up to become productive members of society but, instead, exacts a constant and perpetual toll on the rest of us.

Anybody who has a child born in this country is automatically eligible to collect welfare, food stamps, and HUD rental housing assistance, whether the parents are here legally or not. If we grant them citizenship, they're immediately eligible for food stamps and HUD assistance, whether they have children or not.

If people want to come here and work, and there's work for them to do, we should make it possible to do that legally. But, when people want to come here just to sidle up to the trough, that's not right. We need to wean our own citizens off the trough, not encourage more people to come an' get it while the gettin' is good. We can't solve all the poverty in the world by opening wide our doors and hollering "Come and get it!" That's not a free market solution.

Another problem with aliens who don't come here to work is crime. From 2001-2004 (the latest period for which the GAO has statistics), ~27% of inmates in federal prisons were aliens, the majority of them from Mexico. The number of aliens incarcerated rose 15% over the four year period. The cost to the federal government (i.e., taxpayers) was over $5.8 billion. And this does not include the costs to state and local governments for aliens incarcerated in state prisons and local jails.

My first impulse is always to prefer a free market solution, because that aligns with my fundamental principles. But there are situations in which particular circumstances may make a complete free market solution impractical or impossible. This is one of those situations. I believe the closest we can get today is a guest worker program. That will allow those who want to come here to work to participate in the free market, while keeping out the ones who just want to suck on the system or prey on our citizens.

About the Author
NotYourDaddy is a conservative libertarian who believes in free will and the free market. NYD thinks the role of the government is to protect the rights and liberties of its citizens. Stop there.
NYD's attitude toward ever-expanding government can best be summed up by snarling "Get your hand out of my pocket and leave me alone!"
Visit NYD's blog at Government is not your Daddy.

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Land of Opportunity or Land of Entitlement?

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Friday, February 15, 2008

Tips For Finding A U.S. Immigration Attorney

Submitted By: Peter Sterling

Each year, millions of individuals want to migrate to the U.S. They are admitted into the United States because mainly of their legal preferences, individual qualifications and absolute determination in working through with the U.S. Immigration law requirements.

U.S. immigration law by far, is very complex comprised of regulations, formal laws, previous decisions as well as other unstable information providing set patterns and guidance.

Since there is so much information on U.S. Immigration law to cover, you can either pass through that puzzle yourself or save considerable time and disappointment by hiring an immigration attorney so to help you get through the way.

It is very practical to hire the services of an immigration attorney for three main reasons:

Immigration U.S. law is in fact a complicated area of U.S. law that comes second to U.S. tax law in complexity.

It is constantly changing and hard to follow even for a number of immigration lawyers.

Immigration lawyers will be very helpful in ensuring that your immigration application get through the immigration bureaucracy quickly and smoothly.

The most excellent way to hire a good and reputable immigration attorney is research carefully before deciding.

Here are tips for finding a U.S. immigration attorney:

1. Make certain that your prospect lawyer is an American Immigration Lawyers Association or AILA member. An AILA lawyer will guarantee you that he or she has access or way in to the remarkable flow of necessary information to follow through on the continuous change in U.S. immigration law.

2. Ask how your immigration attorney will charge you. If he or she charges hourly, what is your attorneys estimate of her professional fees so to do your case? If she charges a flat rate, ask what precisely does that exclude or include?

For instance, if your original request is denied and your attorney needs to file an appeal, will this be incorporated in her flat rate?

3. Ask how much work experience does your immigration attorney have?

Like other lawyers, immigration attorneys also specialize. Some in asylum, matters in business immigration or removal cases. Never hire an immigration lawyer who is specializing in asylum cases to handle his first business visa application at your expense.

4. Check your attorneys MartindaleHubbell rating. Note that MartindaleHubbell generally rates attorneys basing on ethical standards and legal ability. Their highest rating is the AV rating.

5. Call the attorney for an interview. If she is reluctant to take time the time to have a talk with you, therefore she is not likely to respond to questions that you might want clear answers and to any of your problems when dealing with your case.

6. Consult your attorneys website or directly ask him what percentage in his years of practice is solely devoted to immigration matters.

7. Ask your attorney for recommendations from contented clients. Call her clients in order that you can consult with them how the attorney handled their case and whether or not they are pleased with her service.

A note to keep in mind, generally the best attorneys are busy individuals, because they are attending to a lot of clients and their attention usually first goes to their clients legal needs.

Expect that you should pay your lawyer for his knowledge, experience, training and for his time as he listens to the information of any situation that you convey to him as well as for his advices.

Like any other profession, note that the best attorney generally charge the biggest fee, whether it be flat rate or hourly fee. Of course, an attorneys rate must not be the only criteria or gauge in determining whether you are hiring the right or the best attorney.

More importantly, you need an attorney whom you are very comfortable or at ease working with as well as whom you believe will handle your immigration case with diligence and expertise.

About the Author:
For more great immigration related articles and resources check out http://weknowimmigration.info

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Tips For Finding A U.S. Immigration Attorney

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Sunday, February 10, 2008

A Free Market Approach to Illegal Immigration

by NotYourDaddy

I applaud the work ethic of anybody who comes here seeking to do honest labor because there isn't enough work to support their families in their own country. But I do not support amnesty, nor do I welcome with open arms all who wander across the border for whatever reason.
From a free market perspective it's clear that, if the marketplace is providing jobs for illegal immigrants, there's a need that they're filling. Employers hire them because they're willing to provide a service at a fair market price that Americans either will not provide at an equivalent price because it's easier to collect welfare, or cannot provide at an equivalent price because labor laws and unions require greater compensation and benefits than the market will bear.

Some insist that it's not a "fair market price" because it doesn't satisfy U.S. labor laws, but labor laws are not what determines a fair market price. A fair market price is the price at which both parties are willing to freely engage in a transaction. If the workers were not better off accepting these jobs at the wages and conditions offered than they would be if they remained in their own country, they would not be so eager to come here and take these jobs. By eliminating the jobs, we hurt the workers as well as the employers. How is that more fair?

By hurting the employers, we also hurt the economy. The significantly higher labor costs would have to be passed on to the consumer and food prices would rise dramatically, driving up the cost of living across the nation. Food being, literally, at the bottom of the food chain, when food prices go up, people at the lower end of the economic ladder need to get pay increases (or apply for public assistance) to feed their families. This necessarily sets off a chain reaction up the economic ladder leading to overall inflation.

Nevertheless, I don't support amnesty. One reason is because granting amnesty to illegal immigrants is unfair to all the law abiding immigrants who have gone through the long and arduous process of obtaining citizenship legally. The other reason is because I don't believe it will solve the problem. In fact, I believe it will make it worse.

As soon as the illegal immigrants become legal, they lose their competitive advantage. As citizens, they'd have to make at least minimum wage, and the employers would have to provide benefits and pay employment taxes. Once the unions get involved, the stakes become even higher. The reason agribusiness employs illegal immigrants is to avoid those costs. So, once the workers gain legal status, what's to stop the employers from dropping them and bringing in more illegal labor from across the border?

Then we'd have a bunch of new citizens with no jobs, tossed into the already overloaded social services system, and we'd still have a problem with illegal immigration. Our social welfare programs would suddenly be flooded with hundreds of thousands of poor, unemployed (but legal) immigrants who can't find work because the only jobs they're qualified for have been given to a new crop of illegals. It's a bad idea.

What I do support is a guest worker program that provides temporary permits for people who enter the country to work and leave when the work is finished, deportation of anybody who's in the country illegally, starting with the immediate deportation of anyone who commits any kind of crime, and a constitutional amendment to cease granting automatic citizenship to babies born in this country to non-citizen parents. I also support anybody who wants to become a citizen getting in line and going through the citizenship process.

About the Author
NotYourDaddy is a conservative libertarian who believes in free will and the free market. NYD thinks the role of the government is to protect the rights and liberties of its citizens. Stop there.

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A Free Market Approach to Illegal Immigration

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