It's interesting you say that. A family member of mine has immigration as his top priority as well. Of course, he lives in Texas, so he sees more of it first hand.
My reasons are pretty simple. When we look at the problems we face, I tend to rank them in terms of total economic impact, based on my research and rough guessing. I believe that our budget deficits stemming from wars and oil usage are our biggest problems, since those two issues have cost us more than a trillion dollars in the past 5 years. Thus, I focus on getting out of Iraq, finishing the job in Afghanistan, and alternative energy. Next, I focus on foreign policy. Every strategic global aim we have is thwarted by Bush Jr's destruction of our national image and alliances. We need to rebuild that and ending our wars and rebuilding diplomatic relations with our friends and enemies will get us there. So my top priorities are 1) erase the budget deficit, 2) end Iraq war, 3) finish Afghanistan, 4) alternative energy, 5) Immigration. Obama and Biden have the best chance of making 1-4 of this happen. Maybe McCain would be more close to what I have in mind for Immigration.
So yes, I worry about the immigration problem. It is siphoning off billions in social security, medicare, and other entitlements they get from fraud. But if we say this problem is a $100B a year problem, it is still small in comparison with the issues I listed above. So it falls lower on my priority list, although still very important. |
