Debating Immigration

I RARELY agree with anything that NR’s John O’Sullivan and Mark Krikorian say about immigration, but they have set just the right standard for the debate: realistic or utopian. Which view is more realistic, theirs or mine?

The O’Sullivan-Krikorian stance, as argued in the September 12 issue, holds that we can seal our borders, do without immigrants, and easily drive the 11 million illegal immigrants already here to leave the country by enforcing existing laws. I believe that immigration is driven by market forces, and that by and large it is good for the U.S. Our challenge today is to find a way to control it-not pretend that it doesn’t exist or that we can simply wish it away.

TJ

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Tamar Jacoby

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I RARELY agree with anything that NR’s John O’Sullivan and Mark Krikorian say about immigration, but they have set just the right standard for the debate: realistic or utopian. Which view is more realistic, theirs or mine?

The O’Sullivan-Krikorian stance, as argued in the September 12 issue, holds that we can seal our borders, do without immigrants, and easily drive the 11 million illegal immigrants already here to leave the country by enforcing existing laws. I believe that immigration is driven by market forces, and that by and large it is good for the U.S. Our challenge today is to find a way to control it-not pretend that it doesn’t exist or that we can simply wish it away.