Its Time for Immigration Reform Essay -- Illegal Immigration, Illegal

It's Time for Immigration Reform    News article after news article on immigration characterizes anyone who opposes the current level of immigration as anti-immigrant. This is biased and deceitful. It's like saying that anyone who doesn't want 10 or 12 children is anti-children. The truth is that many people are pro-immigration but recognize that the present level of immigration is unsustainable and will eventually be detrimental to Americans and immigrants alike.    One often-used irrelevant argument is that we are a nation of immigrants. While true, it does not shed light on the question of how many immigrants should be admitted annually and what should be the criteria for admission. To understand the issue, we must focus on the numbers involved. Although the Census Bureau has not released the number of immigrants for fiscal 1997, most analysts believe that at least 1 million legal and between 300,000 to 500,000 illegal immigrants are entering the U.S. each year. This is about four times the number who came to America annually during the 1950s and 1960s.    Even this does not put the issue in perspective, however. The crux of the problem is the cumulative impact. At present rates of immigration, the U.S. population will increase by up to 200 million persons in the next 50 to 60 years. Even if all immigration were halted today--and few persons are suggesting such a draconian policy--we will still add up to 80 million people due to the children and grandchildren from the wave of immigrants that have entered the U.S. since 1970.    So what? Isn't this unending supply of cheap, compliant, hardworking labor good for America... ...impossible task of building a school every day.    Although poll after poll indicates that most American would like to see immigration cut back to traditional levels (about 250,000 a year), present immigration policy has been determined by a coalition of businesses who benefit from a limitless supply of cheap labor, immigration lawyers, immigrant lobbies and naive do-gooders who think that bringing in 1 million of the world's 4 billion poor will somehow reduce world poverty.    Americans, like most people, tend to live for the moment, with little thought for the future. The hundreds of billions of dollars that are being expended to correct the Y2K computer problem were totally unnecessary with just a modicum of forethought. What can a nation do when it discovers it is overpopulated? Ask China and India.