Sense on immigration: let them in

Here's a link to the review I did for this Sunday's Register on Jason Riley's recent book on immigration: "Let Them In." Jason, an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal, did an excellent job with this short book, making the case for open borders largely by confronting six of the most common arguments against more extensive immigration head-on, with logical arguments backed up by facts. You know the arguments, and some readers may have used them:

The country is already overpopulated and more people will degrade the quality of life; more immigration is dangerous to the environment; immigrants take jobs that "belong" to native-born; this wave of immigrants is dangerous to American culture; opposing immigration is a good "wedge issue for Republicans; unrestricted immigration is a danger to national security. All of these arguments, I'm afraid, are poppycock.

Of course, as some of the comments on the OCR Website illustrate, some people seem immune to reasoned argument, rejecting the book's argument without reading it. How sad that so many political positions are the result of emotion rather than reason or anything approaching weighing the evidence -- or even giving it a moment's consideration.