Immigration, America s Advantage By Lee Habeeb And Mike...

The United States is set apart from other countries in that we have a unique economic, political, and spiritual system from the rest of the world. This also poses a unique problem to our society: Since we possess desirable aspects as a country, we have to deal with the issue of immigration. Legal immigration is a great benefit to our society, and if we can control and harness immigration, it will better our country for years to come. While illegal immigration is an enormous problem that needs to be solved, legal immigration is a great asset to our economy and American society as a whole. In their commentary, â€Å"Immigration, America’s Advantage†, Lee Habeeb and Mike Leven make several interesting statements. They spend the first part of†¦show more content†¦The argument also states that because we turned away anyone over our visa quota for the year in which the study was taken, our society was deprived of that potential for growth (471). Their argument for unskilled immigrants is that if they want to come and work, then they have an American mindset and should be included (471). I agree with the article’s points about how immigration enriches our nation, brings diversity, and should be encouraged. But there are several points made in the article I feel to be in error. First, I disagree with the strong assertion that unrestrained immigration is the key to maintaining stagnant or declining population levels. The countries in the examples, Russia, Japan, and Europe, all have one thing in common: Their widespread birth-control practices and government-backed abortion programs. Perhaps if these programs were reduced in size, the â€Å"native† population numbers would rebound. Abortion is a big factor in population levels; the article itself says â€Å"this past year, more babies were aborted in Russia than were born† (Habeeb and Leven 469). My point is that when a large percentage of pregnancies are terminated before birth, the average age will go up and the population will go down. Perhaps instead of spending time and money to increase immigration numbers, we should curb our existing birth control practices. From an economic standpoint, illegal