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.
Hi William, thank you for your comments. Both Australia and Canada still have family-reunion immigrant visas. Advocating for skilled-based immigration doesn't mean any more family reunions. Instead, it is about emphasizing and encouraging more immigrants who are able and have the skills we need to go through skill-based immigration. So for situations like yours, a family reunion is perfectly fine. What has happened in U.S. immigration is that since we are so family-reunion-focused, even people with skills have opted to be sponsored by their family members, creating an enormous backlog for everyone.
(Sorry, I had to re-post my comment since I made a formatting mistake, heh heh)
I see, thank you for the additional information and explanation, Helen, this is good to know. With how you laid it out, it makes even more sense to have a skill-based immigration system, especially compared to the onerous, ridiculous process that we have at present. I’m grateful for your explaining this in detail here, and the next book I purchase will your second edition of “The Broken Welcome Mat.” I very much look forward to reading more on this issue and hearing more of your perspective.
On another note, I would like to ask if you have ever considered having another individual contribute a guest article or post. I only say that because as someone who has similar political (and perhaps philosophical) views as yourself, I would love to be able to bounce them off someone for whom I have a lot of respect and admiration.m such as yourself. And really, I would even almost prefer to correspond with you via email about these things, as I frequently as it may be, since I assume you have a very busy schedule. I know it would be beneficial for my intellectual development, at least in the political sense, but again, I’m sure you lead a very busy life. In any case, I’m thankful that I can read your thoughts on issues apart from just The Federalist, and you’ll have a lifelong subscriber in me.
I have yet to think about a guest post. But it sounds like an exciting idea, and let me give it some thought. Meanwhile, if you want to share your thoughts on political or cultural issues through writing, theFederalist.com is a good site. It was where I first got started. Here is a link to their submission guideline and email: https://thefederalist.com/submissions/.
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.
Hi William, thank you for your comments. Both Australia and Canada still have family-reunion immigrant visas. Advocating for skilled-based immigration doesn't mean any more family reunions. Instead, it is about emphasizing and encouraging more immigrants who are able and have the skills we need to go through skill-based immigration. So for situations like yours, a family reunion is perfectly fine. What has happened in U.S. immigration is that since we are so family-reunion-focused, even people with skills have opted to be sponsored by their family members, creating an enormous backlog for everyone.
(Sorry, I had to re-post my comment since I made a formatting mistake, heh heh)
I see, thank you for the additional information and explanation, Helen, this is good to know. With how you laid it out, it makes even more sense to have a skill-based immigration system, especially compared to the onerous, ridiculous process that we have at present. I’m grateful for your explaining this in detail here, and the next book I purchase will your second edition of “The Broken Welcome Mat.” I very much look forward to reading more on this issue and hearing more of your perspective.
On another note, I would like to ask if you have ever considered having another individual contribute a guest article or post. I only say that because as someone who has similar political (and perhaps philosophical) views as yourself, I would love to be able to bounce them off someone for whom I have a lot of respect and admiration.m such as yourself. And really, I would even almost prefer to correspond with you via email about these things, as I frequently as it may be, since I assume you have a very busy schedule. I know it would be beneficial for my intellectual development, at least in the political sense, but again, I’m sure you lead a very busy life. In any case, I’m thankful that I can read your thoughts on issues apart from just The Federalist, and you’ll have a lifelong subscriber in me.
I have yet to think about a guest post. But it sounds like an exciting idea, and let me give it some thought. Meanwhile, if you want to share your thoughts on political or cultural issues through writing, theFederalist.com is a good site. It was where I first got started. Here is a link to their submission guideline and email: https://thefederalist.com/submissions/.
Thanks, Helen, I’ll check that out. Much appreciation and keep doing great work.