We recently attended our granddaughter's graduation from MIT, where she majored in data science, a degree I had never heard of. She was brought up in a well-off family that could afford good high schools and tutors. President Donald Trump would like her background.
The romanticized view of unlimited low-skilled immigration ignores important realities. The United States built its success on immigrants who assimilated into American culture, emphasized education and work, and contributed to a growing economy under sound institutions. Earlier waves occurred without a large welfare state, bilingual education mandates, or the scale of today's low-skilled inflows that often strain public resources for generations.
Current data shows significant variation in immigrant outcomes by education, skills, and country of origin. Many low-skilled arrivals impose net fiscal costs through welfare, healthcare, and education services that exceed their tax contributions over decades. This burdens American workers through wage competition in lower-skill sectors, higher housing costs, and pressure on public services. A responsible policy must prioritize the interests of citizens first.
Trump's approach—securing the border, ending illegal entries, reforming legal immigration toward merit—focuses on education, job skills, English proficiency, and self-sufficiency. This aligns with systems used successfully in countries like Canada and Australia. It is not limited to any race or region; high-skilled applicants from Asia have long dominated programs like H-1B. Proposals to attract investment through significant capital contributions aim to bring productive resources, not create dependency.
Allowing other nations to recruit top global talent while we absorb large numbers of low-skilled migrants risks eroding America's competitive edge in innovation. Sustaining leadership in medicine, AI, and advanced technology requires attracting and retaining high-ability individuals who strengthen the economy rather than expanding fiscal liabilities. Prioritizing merit and assimilation is not exclusionary—it is necessary to preserve opportunity and prosperity for future generations of Americans.
No matter who you are, you must enter the United States of America legally ! No ands, ifs, or buts, about it, and no exceptions !!!!! The rules apply across the board equally to everybody seeking to enter.
It is too bad you criticize her for "crony welfare," which you define as having parents who did a good job of working hard, saving money, and passing that benefit on to their children. Where I come from, and where President Trump comes from, that is called "good parenting."
I guess middle-class or wealthy immigrants from China, Australia, Malaysia, Africa, the Middle East, Central Europe, and South America are just "white people."
Actually, prioritizing immigrants who are bringing money and skills to America is what our country has done for hundreds of years. It has only been recently, under President Biden and his ilk, that we have prioritized poor immigrants, some of whom come to America to work hard, and others come for handouts.
Your anger towards our return to normalcy in immigration policy should be directed at former President Biden, who allowed millions of illegals swarm into our country, unvetted. Unfortunately, they have ruined the goodwill that most Americans have towards poor immigrants. Had they applied and waited their turn, some of them undoubtedly would have made it legally and would have been welcomed.
I know the Left wants to make this about racism. That is how they try to control the narrative. News flash: It isn't working anymore.
My father-in-law earned his American citizenship the hard way. As a young US Army Scout in the Philippines during World War II, he watched Japanese forces overrun his village and slaughter most of his family. Near war’s end, he threw himself between a live grenade and his comrades. The explosion left him gravely wounded. He was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for valor and the Purple Heart. He spent nearly a year recovering in a VA hospital in Brooklyn, his face, neck, and chest scarred for life, his speech permanently impaired—so damaged that only his wife, son, and daughter (my wife) could clearly understand him.
Despite everything he lost, he was profoundly grateful to be an American. Every single day, he raised the Stars and Stripes in his front yard. He raised my wife and her brother to be proud, responsible Americans who cherish the freedom, security, and opportunity this country gave them. His example is one of the reasons I enlisted.
That’s why I feel such deep frustration today. We have millions entering the country illegally, many offering little more than outstretched hands, expecting American taxpayers to house, feed, educate, and medically care for them and their families—while waving the flags of the nations they left behind. They demand the benefits of a society they did nothing to build and show little interest in joining.
Susan, explain this to me: Why should America welcome anyone other than those who can contribute positively, embrace our values, and come through legal, orderly channels? What exactly is wrong with insisting on immigrants who strengthen our country rather than strain it? And what’s wrong with honoring parents who actually did their job—raising responsible, self-reliant children who become net contributors instead of burdens?
Susan, what’s wrong with wanting to preserve the America my father-in-law was willing to die for as a naturalized citizen?
Your father-in-law sounds like a wonderful man MEPD, but do you not see the obvious fact that your dear leader seeks to deny anyone but white people the ability to come to the U.S.? Barring almost everyone, but then created a special exception for White South Africans? Surely you see the bigotry, right?
As myself and others have said repeatedly, we must fix legal immigration so people aren't forced to enter illegally due to the insane bottlenecks in our legal immigration system.
That same bigotry is what leads you to try to lump current immigrants together as "offering little more than outstretched hands"? Do you not understand the historical pattern of EVERY immigrant wave being treated this way by bigots already here, many of whom had benefited from the very opportunities they seek to deny others?
Aside from the obvious bigotry of your statements and position, do you not see the America your father-in-law was willing to die for welcomed many flood tides of immigrants when their home countries had appalling conditions without insisting they be rocket scientists or computer geniuses? My ancestors came from Ireland, as many did due to the potato famine. Every group of immigrants comes with similar stories; the difference is now they can't come here legally, partially due to the broken legal immigration system, and more recently because we have a bigoted president who seeks to keep out anyone that looks or is different from him...and you support that. How can you not see the obvious problem with you and your dear leader's position? I thank my lucky stars a bigot like Trump wasn't president when my ancestors came here from Ireland. Even though they were White, they weren't white collar, so Trump would have likely tried to bar them.
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(5) comments
The romanticized view of unlimited low-skilled immigration ignores important realities. The United States built its success on immigrants who assimilated into American culture, emphasized education and work, and contributed to a growing economy under sound institutions. Earlier waves occurred without a large welfare state, bilingual education mandates, or the scale of today's low-skilled inflows that often strain public resources for generations.
Current data shows significant variation in immigrant outcomes by education, skills, and country of origin. Many low-skilled arrivals impose net fiscal costs through welfare, healthcare, and education services that exceed their tax contributions over decades. This burdens American workers through wage competition in lower-skill sectors, higher housing costs, and pressure on public services. A responsible policy must prioritize the interests of citizens first.
Trump's approach—securing the border, ending illegal entries, reforming legal immigration toward merit—focuses on education, job skills, English proficiency, and self-sufficiency. This aligns with systems used successfully in countries like Canada and Australia. It is not limited to any race or region; high-skilled applicants from Asia have long dominated programs like H-1B. Proposals to attract investment through significant capital contributions aim to bring productive resources, not create dependency.
Allowing other nations to recruit top global talent while we absorb large numbers of low-skilled migrants risks eroding America's competitive edge in innovation. Sustaining leadership in medicine, AI, and advanced technology requires attracting and retaining high-ability individuals who strengthen the economy rather than expanding fiscal liabilities. Prioritizing merit and assimilation is not exclusionary—it is necessary to preserve opportunity and prosperity for future generations of Americans.
No matter who you are, you must enter the United States of America legally ! No ands, ifs, or buts, about it, and no exceptions !!!!! The rules apply across the board equally to everybody seeking to enter.
Congratulations to your granddaughter.
It is too bad you criticize her for "crony welfare," which you define as having parents who did a good job of working hard, saving money, and passing that benefit on to their children. Where I come from, and where President Trump comes from, that is called "good parenting."
I guess middle-class or wealthy immigrants from China, Australia, Malaysia, Africa, the Middle East, Central Europe, and South America are just "white people."
Actually, prioritizing immigrants who are bringing money and skills to America is what our country has done for hundreds of years. It has only been recently, under President Biden and his ilk, that we have prioritized poor immigrants, some of whom come to America to work hard, and others come for handouts.
Your anger towards our return to normalcy in immigration policy should be directed at former President Biden, who allowed millions of illegals swarm into our country, unvetted. Unfortunately, they have ruined the goodwill that most Americans have towards poor immigrants. Had they applied and waited their turn, some of them undoubtedly would have made it legally and would have been welcomed.
I know the Left wants to make this about racism. That is how they try to control the narrative. News flash: It isn't working anymore.
To build on G's point:
My father-in-law earned his American citizenship the hard way. As a young US Army Scout in the Philippines during World War II, he watched Japanese forces overrun his village and slaughter most of his family. Near war’s end, he threw himself between a live grenade and his comrades. The explosion left him gravely wounded. He was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for valor and the Purple Heart. He spent nearly a year recovering in a VA hospital in Brooklyn, his face, neck, and chest scarred for life, his speech permanently impaired—so damaged that only his wife, son, and daughter (my wife) could clearly understand him.
Despite everything he lost, he was profoundly grateful to be an American. Every single day, he raised the Stars and Stripes in his front yard. He raised my wife and her brother to be proud, responsible Americans who cherish the freedom, security, and opportunity this country gave them. His example is one of the reasons I enlisted.
That’s why I feel such deep frustration today. We have millions entering the country illegally, many offering little more than outstretched hands, expecting American taxpayers to house, feed, educate, and medically care for them and their families—while waving the flags of the nations they left behind. They demand the benefits of a society they did nothing to build and show little interest in joining.
Susan, explain this to me: Why should America welcome anyone other than those who can contribute positively, embrace our values, and come through legal, orderly channels? What exactly is wrong with insisting on immigrants who strengthen our country rather than strain it? And what’s wrong with honoring parents who actually did their job—raising responsible, self-reliant children who become net contributors instead of burdens?
Susan, what’s wrong with wanting to preserve the America my father-in-law was willing to die for as a naturalized citizen?
Your father-in-law sounds like a wonderful man MEPD, but do you not see the obvious fact that your dear leader seeks to deny anyone but white people the ability to come to the U.S.? Barring almost everyone, but then created a special exception for White South Africans? Surely you see the bigotry, right?
As myself and others have said repeatedly, we must fix legal immigration so people aren't forced to enter illegally due to the insane bottlenecks in our legal immigration system.
That same bigotry is what leads you to try to lump current immigrants together as "offering little more than outstretched hands"? Do you not understand the historical pattern of EVERY immigrant wave being treated this way by bigots already here, many of whom had benefited from the very opportunities they seek to deny others?
Aside from the obvious bigotry of your statements and position, do you not see the America your father-in-law was willing to die for welcomed many flood tides of immigrants when their home countries had appalling conditions without insisting they be rocket scientists or computer geniuses? My ancestors came from Ireland, as many did due to the potato famine. Every group of immigrants comes with similar stories; the difference is now they can't come here legally, partially due to the broken legal immigration system, and more recently because we have a bigoted president who seeks to keep out anyone that looks or is different from him...and you support that. How can you not see the obvious problem with you and your dear leader's position? I thank my lucky stars a bigot like Trump wasn't president when my ancestors came here from Ireland. Even though they were White, they weren't white collar, so Trump would have likely tried to bar them.
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Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.