Newspaper supports increased US immigration

July 20 2009 by Mark Johnstone

Kansas: home of US immigration debate

The editorial board of the Kansas City Star has written an article showing its support for an increase in US immigration in order to boost the US economy.

The article speaks of a report by Jeb Bush, the Florida Governor, and Mack McLarty, the former chief of staff for Bill Clinton, which says that the current US immigration policy overhaul being discussed deals mainly with illegal immigration, rather than introducing measures to attract more people to move to the US from abroad.

The report states that, “continued failure to devise and implement a sound and sustainable immigration policy threatens to weaken America’s economy, to jeopardize its diplomacy and to imperil its national security.”

The editorial board of the Kansas City Star suggests measures which could boost the pool of talented people coming to study and work in the US, thus helping it to recover from the current recession. It suggests removing the limit for the number of student visas granted. The more foreign students studying in the US, the more positive their communities’ impressions of the US, according to the board.

It also says that US immigration policy should be more flexible, with more short-term US work visas available for lower skilled workers moving to the US. This would have the effect of reducing the number of unregistered workers.