Recently my wife was reading the book Imagine, How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2012). One evening she read to me from it some startling statistics concerning the contributions of immigrants to our American economy.
Immigrants contribute profoundly!
“According to the latest figures from the U. S. Patent office, immigrants invent patents at double the rate of non- immigrants, which is why a 1 percent increase in immigrants with college degrees leads to a 15% rise in patent production. In recent years, immigrant inventors have contributed to more than a quarter of all U. S. global patent applications. These new citizens also start companies at an accelerated pace, cofounding 52% of Silicon Valley firms since 1995. We all benefit when those with good ideas are allowed to freely move about (p. 240).”
Why are so few green cards available?
These facts heightened my passion as an advocate for immigrants. Yet, even though we know these things, the wait for green cards is years. Why? Meanwhile cities like Detroit bulldoze housing for lack of citizens; while cities like Buffalo, Utica, and Syracuse struggle to rebuild their centers slowly with a trickle of immigrants. We are depriving ourselves by our restrictive immigration policies.
A Proverb
A Biblical Proverb reads, “A king’s glory lies in having many subjects; if the prince’s people are few, it is his ruin” (Proverbs 14:28 CJB). The lesson is common sense. A nation of ghost towns (or gray-haired towns) like many Northeast cities and small towns are slowly becoming cannot be strong and prosperous. I call on Senators Schumer and Gillibrand of New York to introduce legislation to greatly increase, maybe even double the green card quotas of our country over the next few years. Such an action would immediately bolster our declining Northeastern population. Besides, only when legal immigration is more easily accessible will illegal immigration cease to be an issue.
