Pertinent:

Taking the Sugar off the Table

• 11th September 2019

Michael Galak

Someyears ago, I wrote a piece for Quadrant, “Howto choose better migrants”, in which I argued that Australia’s immigrationpolicies should be based on the costs of absorbing migrants and the benefitsfrom their activity. I am pleased to note that this approach is being taken inthe US, where the Trump administration is attempting to implement something ofa revolution. Should it succeed, the positive consequences for Americans willbe incalculable.

Hereis how Reason, mouthpiece of thelibertarian Cato Institute, fumed that the open borders it favours mightsoon not be quite so open:

Therule, which is supposed to go into effect in mid-October (though courts arelikely to intervene, for now), would brand any immigrant who is likely toqualify for even minimal social services a “public charge” and make it harderfor them to enter the country if they are abroad—or, if they are already here,the rule will make it harder for them to upgrade their immigration status and obtaingreen cards or citizenship.

Themeasure’s goal is a limit on welfare spending, saving somewhere between US$57.4to US$112 billion, in part by restricting payments to non-citizens. Theproposal will be retroactive, should it survive the courts and furiousopposition on Capitol Hill, meaning anyone applying for US citizenship would bechecked on all computer bases, with the overall welfare costs associated withthat particular individual assessed and totalled. All such benefits receivedwould need to be repaid; if not, access to citizenship will be blocked. Welfarerecipients not living in America but residing in their countries of originwould have their benefits slashed.

Asmight be expected, the welfare lobby is apoplectic, accusing Trump ofheartlessness, lacking compassion and tormenting the most vulnerable. We’veheard all this boilerplate before, and the only thing that can be said infavour of the latest venom is that it makes a change from accusations thatTrump snacks on babies, curdles milk with a glance and is doing all he can topromote catastrophic climate change.

Stressingthe budgetary and social benefits, supporters make no bones they wish to see arevived American ethos of enterprise, independence and hard work. As RonaldReagan put it, “The best form of welfare is a job”, a point he expands in theclip below and to which it appears Trump also subscribes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=333&v=MjnTQ8b6byY (very good points)

Thefact is there is plenty of work in today’s America for both the qualified andthe unskilled. The White House’s position is that immigrants should startlooking for jobs from the day one, instead of sliding into welfare’s trap of inter-generationaldependence and addiction, burdening the taxpayer. The Democrats’ oppositionwill be ferocious, no doubt because the party sees the seeds of itselectoral base’s destruction if initiative were to replace subsidised indolence.

Thislooming conflict has a significance well beyond US borders. Parties of the Leftthroughout the West rely heavily for their electoral success on migrantcommunities in receipt of generous welfare hand-outs. Should the State’slargesse cease or be significantly restricted, their political clout would beeroded. Successful implementation of the Trump initiative would have otherconsequences: it is no secret that welfare in Western World is a powerfulincentive for migration, legal or otherwise, from undeveloped countries. AsScott Morrison put it during his stint as immigration minister, a prime moverof the leaky boat armadas that set sail for Australia during the Rudd/Gillardyears was “thesugar” on the table. Desperate to reach Australia, many drowned in thequest to attain the glittering prize. The Coalition adopted a policy ofmandatory detention and declared that noillegal boat arrival would ever be re-settled here. The boats stoppedcoming. Similarly, the refusal to grant welfare benefits to non-citizens wouldremove one of the most powerful driving forces of illegal economic migration tothe West.

Tomy mind, the Trump administration’s bid to limit immigrants’ access to welfareis one of the most important and reformative initiatives in seventy years. Manytrends and movements begin life in the US and ripple out across the world. Formy money, and that of all taxpayers, I’m hoping this one finds its way to ourside of the Pacific.