Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Finally Getting It Right

From the press release:

"As Congress gears up for ... intense debate on immigration reform, passing an effective reform bill remains a possibility.  In the Free Trade Bulletin "Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Finally Getting It Right," Daniel Griswold, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies, provides a pragmatic solution to the United States' failed immigration policy.

America's immigration problem has two causes: an increased demand for low-skilled, mainly service sector jobs, and a decreasing supply of native-born Americans willing to take these jobs. As the nation's economy expands, increasing numbers of low-skilled workers are required to support and facilitate the expansion of middle-class jobs -- a void most often filled by immigrants.

The government's approach of "enforcement only," has yielded a number of unfortunate consequences, failing to address immigration's underlying causes. Griswold proposes instituting a temporary worker program to fill the labor gap, enabling workers to enter the country legally. "If foreign-born workers are allowed to enter the country through a safe, orderly, and legal path, the number choosing to enter illegally will drop sharply," he writes."   [RJ]