A steady flow of talented, industrious immigrants can fuel a booming economy

AnIntellectualRedneck
There is no skills gap in the STEM fields, this is a bold faced lie, and so are most of the fields that they talk about Americans not wanting. Americans are perfectly willing to work in factories and in construction, and they're even willing to do it for the wages that a lot of immigrants, illegal and not, get paid. Companies just don't want to have to pay the taxes and benefits, though.

AND in many jobs, the govt GIVES $$ for the employer to hire the immigrant

In healthcare hospitals receive 1/2 the workers pay.. once again

CHEAP LABOR.. immigrants are SCABS, and America will become 3rd world, why?

we are importing MILLIONS of third worlders, and the quality of life of the third world

HanzHenry

we are importing MILLIONS of third worlders, and the quality of life of the third world

I've heard it posited t- and I'm coming to agree - that, whether intended or not, our policies are creating a split-society (for lack of a better term) - it's becoming:

Top .1% - political and business leaders - political power is worth a *great* deal of money these days; just ask Al Gore.
top 20% - Intelligentsia
--- a huge gap ---
most everyone else
bottom 10%

The "everyone else" includes both working people and government dependents, but, for many, there becomes less and less incentive to work. The real problem becomes income mobility - with the cost of college, lack of access to good schools and social networks, the children of this lower-class are going to become more-or-less permanent members.

Basically, with costs increasing, and salaries stagnant or dropping due to imported competition , and government safety-net programs easier to obtain, we're at-risk of creating a two America's - one where the wealthy live, and the one where everyone else lives, in a second-world slum.