This is my first diary, so you'll have to forgive me if its not as polished as I would like it to be.
I've always thought of myself as a strong progressive. I've supported strong environmental protections, social and economic justice, affirmative action, more labor rights. However, immigration is the one issue where I've felt out of step with my progressive allies. It seems that many progressives want to legalize the illegal immigrants here, increase legal immigration, and introduce a guest-worker program.
Simply put, I don't think the country can sustain more immigration. I'll outline my reasons and counterarguments below in the clearest way I can manage:
Labor
When I was growing up, my father put two sons through college doing manual labor. I was not alone. I can remember when manual labor brought home middle class wages. Trades like construction, roofing, and drywalling could raise a family on a single income. Even nonunionized trades paid a decent wage. Now its hard to find similar jobs that pay above $8-$9 dollars per hour. It really annoys me when people say that Americans won't do those jobs. Americans did do those jobs when the jobs paid a decent wage. I don't think its a coincidence that between 1924 and 1965, we had low rates of immigration and stronger labor rights/increased wages.
Welfare State
I believe in a strong welfare state to provide a safety net for those Americans who need it. However, I can't possibly see how you can have easy immigration and a strong welfare state. I would like to see universal health care system and world-class educational system, but I don't see how you can have those things while still inviting 1-1.3 million immigrants annually, many of whom are low skilled and whose children will need additional services. The welfare systems I admire, Sweden and Finland, have low rates of immigration to keep the public burden low.
Environment and Population
I believe in environmental protection. I don't think you can protect the environment while having lots of immigration, especially to the Southwest which is largely desert and is having water supply issues. America consumes so much of the world's resources and inviting additional people will certainly exacerbate consumption patterns. Although immigrants themselves have low rates of consumption, their children will have similar levels once they assimilate in the wasteful habits of Americans.
I also believe population growth harms our quality of life. While traveling through Europe and Asia, I couldn't help notice how empty America was compared to countries in Europe and Asia. I like having open spaces and forests and sparse countrysides. It would be a shame to lose all that through runaway population growth.
These are some counterarguments and my responses to them:
You're a racist since you don't want brown people coming here
This is the most frustrating things that people say about immigration. I hardly think that wanting to protect the country from the bad effects of increased immigration is racist. Its true that many people who want less immigration are racist, but it doesn't mean the argument itself is itself racist.
You're a hypocrite since your own ancestors were immigrants
I don't understand this argument. Just because we did something in the past does not mean you have to do the same thing in the present time. Its true that in the past, America had an open borders policy. Just because America had open borders back then doesn't mean America needs an open borders policy now.
The open border era shouldn't be so romanticized. It was a period of high income inequality and robber barons. America invited immigrants just so it could drive off the Native Americans from their lands. I don't think we should emulate this period of history.
Its wrong to discriminate between Americans and non-Americans.
Some progressives just have a problem with the concept of citizenship.Sometimes, progressives will say "Americans should have equal rights as non-Americans" or "Just because you have a piece of paper doesn't mean you have the right to a job."
This argument is almost treasonous. Every government looks out for the interests of citizens. Citizens of the United States should be privileged above noncitizens in the United States. Every country does the same thing in regards to its own citizens. If/when I have children, I would want the United States government to privilege my children above the children of foreign nationals.
This concludes the diary. I would love constructive feedback. Please no ad hominem attacks and no personal attacks. Debate the merits and not the person :)