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A solution to the problem

To the editor:

The pundits on TV and in print are wringing their hands about the horrible problem at the border with thousands of immigrants entering the country illegally. I would be wringing my hands if they were not entering the country. China, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea have no immigrant problems other than their citizens trying to escape.

The vast majority of them are coming here not to destroy America but to make a better life for themselves. Although many pay two or three years of their income to come here, the return on the investment can be five times that number once they begin a new life in America.

The problem with immigration is not at the border but in the halls of Congress with the nattering nabobs who refuse to fix the system. Our population growth is quickly reaching a declining point and the only way to reverse this is through more immigration. China’s population is projected to decline by 40 percent by the end of this century. They cannot solve their problem with immigrants because nobody wants to move to China and so they are doomed. We, on the other hand, have a great opportunity to make our country more prosperous.

Economists have devised many solutions to the chaos that currently exists at the border. My favorite one comes from my former professor, Richard Vedder, who proposes that the government sell 5,000 visas each working day on the Chicago Board of Trade to the highest bidders. He estimates that a price of $14,000 would bring in 1.25 million immigrants and $17.5 billion for the U.S. Treasury per year.

There are other “key-hole” proposals for bringing in less skilled immigrants. One needs only to google the name of Bryan Kaplan or the Cato Institute to find them. If only the blockheads in Washington had the intelligence to do this, we could all share in the “Trillion Dollars on the Sidewalk.”

Joseph Zoric

Professor emeritus

Franciscan University

of Steubenville

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