On one side, people want border security, insisting that people should not enter the country illegally. On the other side, people want compassion for those who come to this country to better themselves, and escape poverty and violence.

Both concerns are reasonable and legitimate. But both concerns have been placed in opposition to each other because of the lack of understanding or clarity of the real issue. The U.S. economy needs workers and a rational immigration system would provide this necessary labor.

Everyone knows this, but instead of addressing immigration, a common narrative is that young people should consider blue-collar work instead of going to college. I know that there are a lot of people who would be better off in the trades and other blue-collar jobs, that was my decision and I’ve never regretted it. However, to think that that is going to solve the labor problem is very shortsighted. We also need medical professionals, scientists, and engineers, as much as we need truck drivers and plumbers. If someone decides to do blue collar work instead of going to college, that’s fine, but who is going to do the job that they would’ve done if they had gone to college? It is a numbers game, we do not have the people in the United States to serve an expanding economy, and if you take someone out of one field and place them in another, it doesn’t resolve anything.

Historically, people who are born in the United States have always wanted to do better than their parents. Is this the first generation that we are going to point them in the other direction?

Another narrative is that there are too many people staying home and receiving government handouts. Who and where are these people? The federal welfare program TANF, which is Temporary Aid to Needy Families, represents about 3 million people. Half of them are kids. Half of the other half are working but need additional support to support their families. That leaves about 750,000 people. If some of them were able to work that would not begin to solve the labor shortage. There always have been, and there always will be people who can’t or won’t work gainfully for any number of reasons.

One of the biggest lies promoted by the anti-immigrant spokespeople is that people come to the United States and go on welfare. That does not happen. Undocumented immigrants can receive emergency medical care, the kids can go to school, they can go to food banks, and they may even be able to receive housing subsidy, but they do not get cash benefits from the government. Documented immigrants must be sponsored by someone, and by sponsoring it is an assurance that if that person were to receive cash benefits, such as welfare or unemployment, the sponsor would have to pay the government back.

The important take away here is that people who come to the United States must work, unless they are supported by family, as in the case of children or possibly older family members. And often older family members are caring for children and a household, so that other family members can work.

The most obvious evidence is the “Help Wanted” signs almost everywhere across the country.

This crisis was exaggerated during Covid, but the trades have lacked people for years. If immigrants were taking jobs from other Americans, why can we not find plumbers, electricians, and carpenters?

There are places throughout the country where the economy is stagnant because of job loss. However, that’s not where immigrants move to, they go to areas where they’re needed. The people who claim that immigrants take jobs from native born workers have never demonstrated where that has happened in any way that is significant. If it had happened, where are the protests or lawsuits by the people who were displaced

Especially in lower-paying jobs (which the anti-immigrant spokespeople claim to be protecting) how could immigrants undercut wages, when the wages are so low to begin with? People who come here must survive the same as anyone else.

Our immigration system is a quota-based system, that essentially goes back to 1924, when immigration law was established to limit the number of Italians and other Southern and Eastern Europeans. Many considered these ethnicities to be “inferior” and believed many to be criminal, uneducated, and unwilling to assimilate into the culture that existed here. Previously, the only limits on immigration were aimed at Asians, specifically Chinese, for the same reason. These laws were overtly racist and re-written in the 1960’s, but the quota system was maintained. There are limits on the number of people allowed in any one given year, from any one given country. 100 years later, the intent of our immigration system is still to maintain a “demographic balance.”

Someone from the Southern Baptist Convention said it best. We have two signs on the border, one that says, “No Trespassing”, and the other says “Help Wanted”.

What people on both sides of the issue do not understand is that the situation at the border would be resolved if our immigration system allowed legal immigration according to our labor needs. No one is going to risk their life, or pay a coyote $6,000, to come to the United States if they can wait and get a visa in their home country.

It seems to be a common concept, with both Republicans and Democrats, that people will continue to come to the United States whether or not there are job opportunities waiting for them. This ignores the fact, that most immigrants clearly understand, that there is no point in coming here if you don’t have the means to support yourself. The anti-immigrant lies that people go on welfare, or take jobs from native born workers, are not real.

Proof of this is that during the 2009 recession immigration across the border dropped off sharply.

That wasn’t because conditions in Central America, or other countries, were any better. If anything, they were worse during that period. People make the decision to immigrate based on communication with family and friends, so they are aware of the job opportunities. That is what drives immigration, not the conditions in other countries.

On our side of the border. It is within our interests to allow immigration to support our economy. Outside of certain extreme humanitarian reasons, it is not within our interest to bring people to this country when they cannot support themselves.

An immigration system based on our labor needs would be self-regulating. It is classic free market, which many of the anti-immigrant people claim to promote.

Some say we need to secure our borders before we can consider immigration reform. They have it backwards. We can never secure our borders until we reform our immigration system.