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To: Arv who wrote (26463)	1/6/2005 2:52:24 PM
From: John Vosilla	Respond to of 306849

<Elroy, I'm mostly just a lurker and find your posts consistently well-thought out. But when you write "When people cannot meet the requirements to emigrate to a place like Europe or Australia they have to settle for America." -- I get the feeling you are letting "homerism" get in the way. In my experience, USA is the place to emigrate to bar none even today.> Immigration from Europe has slowed to a crawl the past 30 years after the incredible rush to this country from our founding fathers to the post WWII period. Few outside of the truly depressed areas like the Ukraine would even think of venturing to the USA. Check out the average household incomes for most of western Europe and it stacks up nicely against the US. A great book out on the subject called "The European Dream".. utne.com

To: Arv who wrote (26463)	1/6/2005 5:25:09 PM
From: Elroy Jetson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

Saying people emigrate to America when they can't get in elsewhere probably does over-state the situation. I feel safe in saying America is no longer the premier destination for educated and well qualified people it once was. I think it's more evident that America's dual-track legal/illegal immigration program is damaging to the U.S. and unfair to those wishing to emigrate. A system which makes it easier to immigrate illegally than legally makes little sense to me. The legal immigration track is cumbersome and expensive. It consists of programs which serve the interests of large business which can afford the lobbyists and lawyers to work the system to their ends. This is fine as far as it goes but it doesn't serve the needs of smaller business or anyone else. The other part of the legal immigration program resembles a game show complete with lotteries. The illegal immigration track allows the immigration of anyone who wishes to over-stay their tourist visa or run across the border at night. I think our dual-track program is a poor substitute for a rational emigration and guest worker program like that found in other nations which place an emphasis on language fluency and contribution to society. Like other industrialized nations we also have a small humanitarian program for refugees but even this contains a game show provision for any Cuban who can set foot on American soil without being intercepted first by the U.S. Coast Guard while in the water. I think everyone would benefit from a new immigration program modeled after a program like Australia or some European nations. .