{"id":11901,"date":"2018-04-22T09:38:12","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T14:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/?p=11901"},"modified":"2018-04-22T09:48:19","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T14:48:19","slug":"responses-to-bob-barrs-call-for-increased-immigration-and-more-foreign-labor-for-lower-home-prices-letters-to-the-editor-mdj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/2018\/04\/22\/responses-to-bob-barrs-call-for-increased-immigration-and-more-foreign-labor-for-lower-home-prices-letters-to-the-editor-mdj\/","title":{"rendered":"Responses to Bob Barr’s call for increased immigration and more foreign labor for lower home prices – Letters to the editor, MDJ"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0Barr’s original MDJ column from April 12 here.<\/a><\/h3>\n
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Bob Barr – photo: MDJ<\/p><\/div>\n

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Bob Barr wants to increase immigration
\nApr 12, 2018<\/h1>\n

DEAR EDITOR:<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 because the foreigners will work for less money. Barr wants to increase immigration.<\/p>\n

On the consequences of not \u201ccreating better and easier ways to enter the country for work\u201d he writes \u201cthe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barr ran for president on a platform of open borders. He hasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

\u201cQuestion: 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?<\/p>\n

Responses:<\/p>\n

34% \u2014 Less than 250,000<\/p>\n

15% \u2014 500,000<\/p>\n

07% \u2014 750,000<\/p>\n

13% \u2014 One million<\/p>\n

06% \u2014 One and a half million<\/p>\n

13% \u2014 More than two million<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

John Litland<\/p>\n

Marietta<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

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Wages go up when we reduce foreign labor supply<\/p>\n

April 12, 2018<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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DEAR EDITOR:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In his Monday column, Bob Barr has done a superlative job of hitting all the talking points of the construction lobby\u2019s quest for a constant flow of cheap foreign labor so as to keep wages low for American workers. Bravo!<\/p>\n

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 \u201cmore immigration for lower prices\u201d doctrine.<\/p>\n

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I don\u2019t read Barr on a regular basis. But having seen him flip-flop on E-Verify in 2014, go from the Republican party to the open borders Libertarian Party and back again, this latest exercise in shilling for the corporate masters who wail at any possibility of paying American workers a wage that allows us to live a middle class American Dream provides insight as to what I am missing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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 \u2013 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.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, he is illustrating his anti-American worker worldview in the MDJ and not in congress.<\/p>\n

Bill Buckler<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kennesaw<\/p>\n

__<\/p>\n

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Hire Americans first<\/h2>\n

Apr 12, 2018<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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DEAR EDITOR:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Bob Barr\u2019s column, \u201cHidden Cost of Immigration Crackdown\u201d made some valid points, but missed some significant details.<\/p>\n

He stated \u201cthat labor shortages are affecting more than half of the nation\u2019s developers.\u201d He attempts to tie the problem to President Trump\u2019s \u201cimmigration crackdown.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Many of us are pleased to see a crackdown on \u201cunauthorized\u201d (illegal) immigration. The costs due to unauthorized immigration far exceed the labor shortage problem mentioned in the article.<\/div>\n

\u2022 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)<\/p>\n

\u2022 The unemployment rate for American 18-to-29-year-olds with a high school degree is 32 percent (Numbers USA.)<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cNearly 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\u2019t provide a decent living. (Washington Times)<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cIt is silly to deny that the influx of nearly 11 million illegal immigrants \u2014 mostly low-skilled adults and their children \u2014 strain resources in public schools and for other social services.\u201d (Washington Times)<\/p>\n

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\u2022 As of 2016 (prior to Trump), there were 34 unemployed construction workers for every 10 job openings. (Economic Policy Institute)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u2022 Companies all over the nation are finding ways to lure workers back. \u201cHorizon Roofing lures workers with higher pay, training, as industry embraces apprenticeships.\u201d (Minneapolis Star)<\/p>\n

Bob Barr is correct when he says, \u201cAmericans are willing to bear tightening immigration restrictions. The point is that Republicans and Democrats should work together on solutions.\u201d Additionally, employers need to do the right thing in offering training and a \u201cliving wage.\u201d Hire Americans first. The labor pool is available.<\/p>\n

Taxpayers are tired of picking up the slack.<\/p>\n

Jan Barton<\/strong><\/p>\n

Marietta<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\u00a0Barr’s original MDJ column from April 12 here. Bob Barr wants to increase immigration Apr 12, 2018 DEAR EDITOR: 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11901"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11901"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11901\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11928,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11901\/revisions\/11928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}