General Discussion

Assuming we get rid of true criminals (as in thieves, murderers, rapists...anyone like Trump) and we look at the rest of the immigrant population for what they are....raw human potential-- just like the millions that have come before all the way back to the 1600s. You know, like the ones that made a country here. What would the cost/benefit analysis show if instead of terrorizing half the country with masked storm troopers and locking people up all over the place, we instead worked on getting immigrants legally registered and naturalized and working? It is already becoming apparent in many industries (construction, agriculture, meat packing, hospitality) that when the immigrants fall out of the workforce for whatever reason, there is no one readily willing to replace them. We are not exactly in boom times, but if we were it seems doubtful we have the numbers in the labor force to support major economic expansion. I don't know how you would get after the numbers to prove this, but I suspect if you looked out 10 years, embracing and investing in immigrants would have a significant net positive effect on the economy. And who knows maybe you actually invest better in our education system and actually improve things across the board.