Responses to Bob Barr’s call for increased immigration and more foreign labor for lower home prices – Letters to the editor, MDJ
 Barr’s original MDJ column from April 12 here.
Bob Barr – photo: MDJ
Bob Barr wants to increase immigration
Apr 12, 2018
At more than one million immigrants each year and about 750,000 guest workers, American immigration numbers still are not high enough to suit MDJ writer and former Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr.
Barr assures readers that we should welcome even more foreign labor so that we pay less for houses. He also tries to convince us that the honorable construction trade should continue to be limited to foreign workers over Americans — because the foreigners will work for less money. Barr wants to increase immigration.
On the consequences of not “creating better and easier ways to enter the country for work” he writes “the hidden costs, however, such as increases in products and services, like construction, which rely heavily on lower-cost labor, are felt immediately and daily by citizens who must shoulder the costs of dwindling migrant labor burdening businesses.”
Barr ran for president on a platform of open borders. He hasn’t changed much. But he is still far away from the mainstream, even in California. A March poll from Pulse Opinion Research asked Californians about immigration levels. The Californians gave a very different answer than Barr and the construction lobby has offered.
“Question: Current federal policy adds about one million new immigrants with lifetime work permits each year. Which is closest to the number of new immigrants the government should be adding each year?
Responses:
34% — Less than 250,000
15% — 500,000
07% — 750,000
13% — One million
06% — One and a half million
13% — More than two million
At our house, where my wife is a proud immigrant, we support Sen. David Perdue and his RAISE Act precisely because it reduces immigration levels and would result in higher wages for Americans.
John Litland
Marietta
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Wages go up when we reduce foreign labor supply
In his Monday column, Bob Barr has done a superlative job of hitting all the talking points of the construction lobby’s quest for a constant flow of cheap foreign labor so as to keep wages low for American workers. Bravo!
Barr acknowledges that a high supply of labor creates lower wages for not only native-born American workers, but also for naturalized legal immigrants who came to our shores for a better life. There is no end to this “more immigration for lower prices” doctrine.
Most of us recognize that there are no jobs Americans will not do. Barr proves the point that wages go up when we reduce foreign labor supply – and then the builders are forced to hire Americans. He also gives us a clear picture of his political leanings by his objection to the process.
Thankfully, he is illustrating his anti-American worker worldview in the MDJ and not in congress.
Bill Buckler
Kennesaw
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Hire Americans first
Apr 12, 2018
Bob Barr’s column, “Hidden Cost of Immigration Crackdown” made some valid points, but missed some significant details.
He stated “that labor shortages are affecting more than half of the nation’s developers.” He attempts to tie the problem to President Trump’s “immigration crackdown.”
• The taxes that unauthorized immigrants pay simply do not cover the public expenditures they trigger. The shortfall is $116 billion or $8,075 per illegal alien family member. (FAIR)
• The unemployment rate for American 18-to-29-year-olds with a high school degree is 32 percent (Numbers USA.)
• “Nearly 7 million men between the ages of 25 and 54 unemployed (are) too discouraged to look for a job, and the millions more lower-skilled Americans (are) stuck in jobs whose wages don’t provide a decent living. (Washington Times)
• “It is silly to deny that the influx of nearly 11 million illegal immigrants — mostly low-skilled adults and their children — strain resources in public schools and for other social services.” (Washington Times)
• Companies all over the nation are finding ways to lure workers back. “Horizon Roofing lures workers with higher pay, training, as industry embraces apprenticeships.” (Minneapolis Star)
Bob Barr is correct when he says, “Americans are willing to bear tightening immigration restrictions. The point is that Republicans and Democrats should work together on solutions.” Additionally, employers need to do the right thing in offering training and a “living wage.” Hire Americans first. The labor pool is available.
Taxpayers are tired of picking up the slack.
Jan Barton
Marietta