High immigration levels, not immigrants, are the problem

Jan. 1, 2012 — Thanks for your thoughtful and non-hysterical piece on immigration.

I have all the sympathy in the world for the poor of third world nations but I simply don’t think destroying our own standard of living is the answer. If the [projections from Numbers USA] are anywhere near accurate, that is what will happen.

Neither am I a cultural bigot. I see things in every culture I like and things I don’t like, including my own. I also know that NAFTA has caused the displacement of a million or more small farmers to the city. I agree with Roy Beck [the Executive Director of Numbers USA] that they deserve our help, but letting our own country be flooded with them is not the answer. I also realize that each immigrant is a win-win situation for capital. Each one is a new customer and each one helps to drive the price of labor down.

— Jon Skelley, Franklin, North Carolina