Posted By: sc young @ 01/11/2008 8:50:48 AM
Comment: A degree does not a good citizen make
In ???Unleash the Little Guys??? Carl Schramm gets it wrong on immigration. A university degree should not serve as an automatic pathway to citizenship. We need more than scientists and engineers in the building of a great nation. We need immigrants who share our values, demonstrate a respect for the rule of law (vital to a healthy democracy), and who do not seek to exploit our generosity.
Take Chinese immigrants as one example. Today, there are 1.5 million Chinese immigrants living in America and fully one-third (500,000 people) are here illegally. For those of us who have lived and worked on the mainland, however, such flouting of the law is expected. In China, the rule of law is not respected because the government and its institutions are corrupt. Unquestionably, this has had a detrimental effect on society-at-large.
In China, few parents or educators focus on the impact of individual morality on greater society. Hence, it is no surprise that piracy, a rampant disregard for intellectual property, fake or ineffectual ???degree??? holders, and out-right thievery has meant that multinationals must take extreme measures to protect their interests. Even the Chinese government must develop excessive procedures to collect taxes and to prevent the pillaging of state assets. I ask Mr. Schramm- are these the citizens he seeks? I could list a number of endemic social ills that would render China a poor source of supposed talent at the present time.
Further, this culture of corruption migrates, infects our own society and costs us dearly: Studies in the 1990s demonstrated that new Chinese immigrants- more than other group- tended to take advantage of welfare. Many willingly signed Immigration and Naturalization Service affidavits declaring that parents "will not become a public charge." Later, however, these immigrants took advantage of loopholes to gain welfare and subsidized housing. Census data for California stated that 75 percent of the recipients' children were professionals with incomes above the state median. By 1990, 55 percent of Chinese seniors (who immigrated to California from 1980 to 1987) were on welfare.
First and foremost, let us solve the weaknesses in our education systems that have led to a shortfall in a particular professional area. Further still, entrepreneurs are not the great saviors Mr. Schramm suggests. Research has shown that big and small businesses contribute equally to job growth- although not to our society (small businesses are the biggest tax cheats). Regardless, I am certain our young citizens, given the right tools and opportunities, are quite capable of exceeding our expectations in the fields of science and technology.
SC
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