James D. Miller is not alone in arguing that the existence of the U.S. welfare state means that more open immigration — particularly of unskilled foreign workers — is unwise policy. My reasons for rejecting this argument are several, but at the top of the list is this reason: If immigrants come to America to suckle on the tits of American taxpayers, why does Uncle Sam spend so much effort trying to prevent these immigrants from working?
As long as the U.S. government persists in making the employment of immigrants artificially difficult, I can have little sympathy for the argument that "we" must reject immigrants because they will become unproductive drains on our economy.
