Government Is the Problem: Phil Orenstein on Immigration Reform

Over at Democracy Project Phil Orenstein chronicles the inability of a highly skilled mechanical engineer in his high-tech manufacturing firm to obtain a visa to stay in the US. Instead, Gianluca Mattaroccia, the Italian techie, is returning to Italy with a six figure salary offer. Phil notes that while legitimate immigrants with unique skills that are in demand globally cannot obtain a visa, those willing to come to the USA illegally but who lack skills and wish to mooch off welfare are welcomed with open arms. Phil's article points out that combined with America's bad educational system, dominated by progressive educationists who fail to provide the basics, our immigration laws do not work because they are ineptly administered:

"While American schools have succumbed to progressive pedagogies that focus more on social justice education and feel good outcomes than on competency, there is certifiable proof that Chinese schools have left us far behind, according to Andrew Wolf in the New York Sun. As we keep dumbing down proficiency tests year after year to make the results appear better and Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein look like heroes, our children and businesses suffer. Thus our own students graduate with less proficiency compared to foreign students who possess more competence with 21st century skills. The answer isn’t to kick out the smarter, more proficient foreign workers and students, so we can go on fooling ourselves that our schools aren’t failing.."

Phil suggests an argument against immigration restrictions, not because of the pros or cons of limiting low-wage immigration in order to protect low-wage American workers, but because the US government lacks the competence to administer an immigration program intelligently. I think that there is much merit in this idea. What scares me is that these bozos want to control what goes on on the operating table, your refrigerator, and your living room.

Isn't it time to roll back government bureaucracy?