Wednesday, March 11, 2009

TARP Recipients Discover One of Many Conditions

An amendment prohibits any recipient of TARP funding from hiring H-1B visa holders. These are the visa given to most highly skilled analytical types in finance. Bank of America recently rescinded job offers to 66 foreign born students graduating from US business schools.

Number of H-1B visas per year: 65,000
Number of illegal immigrants per year: at least 500,000

I am not a libertarian who believes in open borders, because as Milton Friedman noted, we have a welfare state that makes this not merely a transaction between two consenting adults. If we allow in the 3 billion worldwide who make less than a dollar a day, they will be happy for a while, but then they will complain they are being treated poorly and demand more rights, paid for by taxpayers. The second their kids are born here, they are US citizens. And basically, once in, they are de facto citizens, because it is politically impossible to deport illegals in any large number. Further, we apply exclusions only to those who follow the law. If you break the law, you get in. This is not a good filter.

Heck, Mexico doesn't allow illegals from Guatemala or Honduras, and you don't see illegals marching in Mexico City. Indeed, you don't see this in Tokyo, Frankfurt, or Paris. I like the Canadian, or Singaporean system. Why not have open borders to someone with a college degree who has a job here? As per unskilled workers, we have an excess supply here, and a simple way to raise their wages would be to stop this supply from increasing further.

I know banks are stressed, but I imagine over the next several years there will be many public interest inspired conditions on the TARP monies that will turn out to be similarly stupid. When you receive a favor from the Don, he owns you.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

in my best hitchens voice 'don't be ridiculous'. illegals get there because they want the same standard of living. if there's an economic impact it's remittances, but that can be fixed by legality. the few cases being demonized on tv are the exception.
but as someone who left a year ago this month, after 5 years on h1b with some of the blue chips, my advice to anyone is don't do it. it's not worth it. h1b is a career killer.

Anonymous said...

Letting illegals in isn't just about money, it's about culture. Illegals don't share our culture. Let in too many and your country is transformed into something unrecognizable. A libertarian utopia with open borders won't last a generation before its immigrants destroy it.