I can see the merits of an immigration policy that lets in lots of immigrants and I can see the merits of one that lets in much fewer immigrants. But a guest worker program — especially one that envisages large numbers of immigrants here to work on a semi-permanent basis with no prospect or ready access to a path to citizenship — is wrong. We’re not Kuwait and we’re not Germany. It’s bad for America to have a permanent class of residents who are here for their labor but who are permanently barred from becoming citizens. It’s bad for our society. It’s bad for the immigrants. And it’s bad for citizens who have to compete for jobs against an inherently exploitable class of whatever amounts to 21st century coolie labor.
No surprise President Bush is big in favor of such a bad idea. Bad economics, bad civics, bad social policy.
Late Update: Nathan Newman makes a good subsidiary point. Guest worker programs come in two flavors, bad and really unbelievably bad. It’s important to distinguish the two.
