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May 20, 2023Liked by Helen Raleigh

This was a really good and informed piece, Helen. I know I haven’t commented much in the past, and your other posts and articles are great, but this issue is so contentious that it’s especially important that learned and knowledgeable individuals like yourself weigh in on it. As someone whose wife is an immigrant from Vietnam, we are currently trying to get her mother and father over here. We desperately want them to come over and be with us, especially with us trying to have children and them wanting to be around us and help raise our future kids.

At the same time, from a macroeconomic perspective, I understand that moving from family-based to skills-based immigration would be very beneficial. It’s hard to separate the personal from the macro (principled) position in my mind sometimes. I don’t know if you have ever had similar thoughts in your mind after coming over to the States years ago when you arrived for school, but I admit it’s challenging

What is important is that we need skilled immigrants to maintain a competitive advantage in the global economy, especially with the Iran, Chinese, Russian, and other governments attempting to harm our digital infrastructure and other economic drivers. Again, thanks for laying this out and summarizing the various reports, I always enjoy your insight.

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