Thursday, January 16, 2025
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A better solution for immigration

| January 16, 2025 12:00 AM

It’s clear that the U.S. needs a better immigration system. That said, let’s see if I have this right:

The incoming administration wants to deport most immigrants. But that’s not exactly it. They want to deport some of them, ones who work in jobs that Americans won’t work, such as harvesting crops, food and hospitality service, roofing. These are the people who are not taking jobs from Americans.

On the flip side, they want to increase immigration for foreign-born workers in scientific, engineering and high-tech jobs. These are highly skilled, highly paid jobs. These are positions that do take away jobs, very good jobs, from Americans.

It looks like a lose-lose proposal, workers gone from jobs Americans don’t want, workers coming in to take jobs Americans do want.

A better solution is to improve our immigration system to get safe, honest workers that America needs, and to improve our education system so that highly qualified Americans are prioritized for scientific, engineering and high-tech jobs.

– Stephanie Brancati, Big Arm