Thinking of immigrants as potential inventors and workers misses their most important impact: as unique humans, whose encounters with Americans can change lives. When an immigrant becomes a lifelong friend, or a spouse, no points system can capture what would have been lost had the immigrant been excluded.
Beyond that, let's not forget the Kantian admonition to treat people not just as sources of benefits, but as ends in themselves. Surely, that's how we want immigrants to treat us?
29
There’s another problem with merit based immigration. If you only let in people who are younger, healthier, better skilled and educated, more motivated and ambitious, and better behaved, then your new citizens are going to be better people than your regular, native born citizens. How do you feel about that? More to the point, how do Trump voters feel about that?
21
As an avid reader of the obituaries, I am always amazed at how many of the decedents' family histories start with a statement that they are the children of immigrants. On the other end of the spectrum, there are undoubtedly immigrants that were crooks, hustlers and fraudsters. But the number of problem immigrants is so small in comparison to the successful, productive and law abiding citizens that significantly restricting immigration would be to the determent of our country,
13
My mother's great-grandfather was a street child. The small town mayor decided that it would never do to have the youngest starving, begging and stealing in the streets and he was subsequently enslaved by a family which owned a vineyard. When their son died, they adopted him. His son came to America in steerage, where my grandfather was born "on the boat." He became a lawyer after graduating first in his class and broke the color line at his law firm in 1920. Italians were "not white" back then. His mother never spoke a word of English.
My mother's mother worked in a sweatshop from age 7, even after age 15 when she got her Normal School diploma and taught school. After her marriage, my (lawyer) grandfather insisted she stop, and go back to school and in 1935 she got her Master's Degree.
My mother married my father, whose family has been here since 1637. He was deported from England (or arrived on step ahead of the law, we can't decide), arrived as an indentured servant. He was an embarrassment to his son who was an Alderman. The house he built still stands.
If Donald Trump had his way, none of them would EVER have been here. Trump HIMSELF is the son of immigrants. THEY would not have been permitted in!
7
a boorish, short sighted simpleton is in charge.
8
What I want to know is: What special skills did the chauffer Viktor Knavs and the assembly line worker Amalija Knavs have to be admitted to the U.S. & become citizens? Oh right - they're Melania Trump's parents.
For that matter, what special skills, other than evading the German military draft & setting up brothels in Seattle, did Frederich Trump have when he came to the U.S in 1885?
Hypocrites! All of them.
11
Rabi’s father was a tailor. Is that not a “valuable skill?” Hence, he would have met Trump’s criteria. Even if a tailor was not considered a valuable skill, he still could have been one of the 40 percent of unskilled workers allowed to enter. The premise for this story doesn’t hold water.
5
Actually, we could use more good tailors in this nation right now, Jewish or otherwise.
8
Here in Nebraska we are desperate for workers both skilled and unskilled, educated and uneducated. Cf: Iowa. Cf: Maine. Send them here.
7
There is no rational to this piece, would it also be fair to state how many prospective Nobel prize winners have been aborted over the last 10 years? I doubt you would print that logic.
6
Yeah but are they from Norway?
4
The current immigration system in the US has lots of tracks and I guess it is a good thing to not have a single formula to decide who is eligible.
When people complain about the immigration system being broken, they are mostly complain about the fact of illegal immigrants being pushed at the margin of society while working here. That's wrong. We clearly don't intent to deport 10 million people, but we can't seen to acknowledge we need them here and provide some path to a legal status for most of them.
Regarding the worry about missing out of highly educated immigrants and the need to reform the system for them, I think highly educated people are more equipped to navigate the immigration process and have special paths to residency already. That's how my wife and I got green cards in under 2 years working at universities. The majority of tech workers are foreign or first generation immigrant workers in Silicon Valley. Somehow, most of them get to secure green cards.
1
The most substantive misrepresentation about the children and families currently being warehoused in horrifying conditions at our southern border is they are not desirable as new US citizens. Frankly, arguing in favor of permitting those seeking asylum at our southern border merely based on humanitarian reasons reinforces, unintentionally of course, this false narrative that there is no other strong argument in favor of them becoming citizens.
Those who have made the decision to seek asylum and then survive the arduous journey have displayed character traits that we ought to embrace in new citizens. They are tough, resilient, driven, family-focused, and once they arrive, they are grateful. They are capable of becoming anything and everything. And they do. We need them as much as they need us.
Our nation is at a turning point with regard to the aging of our population and the implications for economic growth Embracing new immigrants is a no-brainer. In the absence of racism, both explicit and implicit, we would not be having these conversations.
5
but the 1965 Act essentially demolished Western European immigration which has made it almost impossible for emigrants from countries such as Ireland and Italy to emigrate here--despite the incredible contribution both countries made to the American fabric. Good luck to all the new immigrant countries but now the system is actively biased against the old countries who contributed so much
8
The comparison of the Rabi family to the migrants storming our southern border is ludicrous.
Aside from other considerations: The Rabi family did not storm the border. They applied through the process -- as did my ancestors, fleeing pogroms in the Ukraine around 1900, just two generations ago --and were admitted in full compliance with the laws governing immigration. Indeed, they suffered religious persecution, one of the five reasons accepted internationally for seeking asylum and could have so claimed admission, but rather applied -- and were accepted -- as immigrants.
To repeat: Comparing how those such as the Rabis entered the USA, in full compliance with immigration law, to the hundreds of thousands invading our southern border every month now, is ludicrous.
15
@Austin Liberal The Central Americans are fleeing under threat of murder and rape.
4
With this ridiculous and specious proposition you prove Trump's point. The people coming in today are not Rabis. To be sure some may be decent and desperate people but almost all come from illiterate and impoverished cultures with no education and no hope of discovering the next MRI, I am sorry to break this news to you. All the comparisons of how open and welcoming we were 100 years ago to Jews Italians and Irish shows a willing blindness to the huge disparity between new and old migrants. While many individual Irish or Jews may have been illiterate, the cultures they came from were brilliant and produced some of the greatest thinkers in the Western world. And yet many of these individuals were quite educated and literate if not of genius stature like Rabi, but were more likely than not to start up a great Greek Diner or tailor shop than discover the next noble prize winning scientific device. The others well, there were so many farms and factories that an illiterate but hard working immigrant could do well here. Those days are gone, we don't have the room for uneducated migrants anymore. Immigration yes, Rabi's yes - who say he would not still be welcome, of course he would that is not who we are talking about be honest - well thought out and specific migration should be welcome. Masses of uneducated impoverished people unfortunately cannot.
14
My father entered the country illegally by swimming across the Rio Grande. He never learned proper English. His son is a law professor at Columbia. I am confident that we will recover from the racism of the 45th president.
14
This column highlights what Trump (and many others) don't understand about why the US is unique, and the primary source of our strength (even greatness). In breaking away from the highly structured social systems of Europe, the founding fathers asserted that all men are created equal (though they did not yet fully embrace what that meant). It doesn't matter who your parents are, or where you were born, you get a stake in society. And in return for everyone getting a stake in society, everyone has an interest in improving that society. That has proven a powerful source of our development.
The US is not some elite club that screens who comes in to separate out the those who are not worthy. The US is a society that (when we are at our best) welcomes everyone, and helps them to reach their full potential, to all of our benefit. The US government should not be prejudging people to pick "winners" and "losers", but rather welcoming all who want to come and rely on the unrecognized abilities of people from around the world who are inspired by the idea that they can take part in our grand experiment, which so far, when we have the courage of our convictions, has repaid our faith many times over (as the article points out).
10
Adolph Hitler thought that he could design a perfect demographic within his Reich were he given the power to do so. It was attainable in theory. He failed with absolute control at his disposal.
Similarly an immigration policy which posits the theory that we can intelligently select only the most promising candidates as though in a laboratory is nonsensical. We eliminate the promise of "chance" or serendipity to our chagrin.
8
in a cynical mood, i could ask:
"would djt and those who think like him even care?"
what role does science play for people like them?
as to migration:
people have been migrating since time immemorial.
what we need are JUST and FAIR economic policies for all.
stop all slavery, exploitation, land grabbing, monocultures, food speculation, biopiracy, corruption, tax evasion, money laundering and all the rest.
move from share_holder to care_holder value.
the global north has made life in the global south hell on earth.
change that - if you dare to share fairly what's there!
5
In light of the recent spate of anti-Semitism in this country as well as in Europe, it would also helpful if Mr. Baker would point out the disproportionate numbers of people of Jewish heritage who are academics and won accolades like the Nobel prize. Dispiriting that the one of the longest suffering and most loathed groups in history have contributed the most to humanity.
15
@KHM It is dispiriting, of course, that such bigotry continues. But it is a great testament to the human spirit, and specifically to Jewish culture, that the Jewish people have continued to contribute so much in the face of such prejudice.
Thanks for reading.
7
I had the good fortune of knowing Prof. Rabi when I was an undergraduate physics major at Columbia. At least, as best a lowly undergraduate can know a Nobel laureate.
One afternoon I walked into the men's room in Pupin Hall to find Prof. Rabi standing at the urinal. I thought for a moment about giving him his privacy--there were only two urinals--but the urgency was too great. I assumed my position next to him, did my business, then started to move away. As he was still at it, he said quietly, "It takes a little longer these days." He chuckled, almost privately, it seemed to me.
4
Wonderful. Given that survey studies show that most Americans have never wanted anything from Trump and his Republican ilk, now we must do all that we can to raise the levels of voter turnout in this country. If we cannot return to what greatness American has always been by any other means, including impeachment, then we must use the best lawful means ever--vote--vote him and that ilk away as we vote for others who will return it to us.
5
"There may not be too many I. I. Rabis."
Actually, there have been quite a few.
"Jewish laureates Elie Wiesel and Imre Kertész survived the extermination camps during the Holocaust, while François Englert survived by being hidden in orphanages and children's homes. Others, such as Walter Kohn, Otto Stern, Albert Einstein, Hans Krebs and Martin Karplus had to flee Nazi Germany to avoid persecution. Still others, including Rita Levi-Montalcini, Herbert Hauptman, Robert Furchgott, Arthur Kornberg, and Jerome Karle experienced significant antisemitism in their careers."
--- Professor Wikipedia
4
@A. Stanton
This is all good and well but.... the point really is that for every Einstein there were 1000 or perhaps even 10,000 people who were escaping the Holocaust or the Cambodian, Rwandan or Bosnian genocides; or some other calamity; or just looking for better opportunities; who were in most ways good and decent people who just wanted to live dignified and safe lives. They didn't have Einstein's intellect but their worth as human beings was no different.
7
Doesn't the NYTimes understand? Trump and his followers don't want people like Dr. Rabi, or Dr. Bloch or Dr. Damadian. Trump voters don't want this country to be full of educated people. They want this country to become an ignorant, racist backwater, where science and facts are discarded and replaced with their version of Christian Shariah.
Trump voters sneer at those of us who worked to become educated. Like Dr. Damadian's family, my grandparents were survivors of the Armenian genocide. They didn't speak any English and survived by taking any blue collar jobs they could find. But they made sure their children were educated. My father got a college degree in engineering in the 1940's. I then went on to obtain a bachelors and law degree, all the while working my way through school. Nobody paid my way or handed me anything. But like many other tens of thousands of Americans, I valued education. My adult daughter just obtained her PhD from an Ivy League school, and will start an assistant professorship this fall.
Our family, like the Rabi, Bloch and Damadian families, always valued education and we continue to do so. But all this is anathema to Trump voters. They now have a slur for those of us who work hard to become educated citizens, to have something to contribute to our country -- "elitist". Well, I'm proud to claim this mantel for myself and my family. And I never thought I'd see the day that this country would sneer at education.
13
Two glaring items not mentioned in this piece...
Did the individuals written here come to America through legal channels (irregardless of the time frame of whence they came)?
Did they skirt our immigration laws in order to gain a better life in our country?
Seems a bit different at the current situation at our southern borders
7
@DB This op-ed is about Trump's push to cut _legal_ immigration.
3
@Ilya Shlyakhter
No, this piece is meant to slam our President and is an outright advertisement for the Democratic party.
The Left has created a narrative that our President is against hispanics etc.
But in reality, this isn't true. Our President simply wants LEGAL and orderly immigration. He wants these immigrants to adhere to our immigration laws and enter our country legally.
As do many in our country.
The Left wants open borders and really don't care about the people overwhelming our southern borders
Why?
They want their votes, that's why.
So this is why they created this false narrative and scream "fake outrage" - all in an effort to win in 2020.
5
This a very naive interpretation of Trump’s agenda. It’s not the legality of immigration that bothers him; in his own words, he doesn’t want people from those “s...hole” countries. You know, where the black people live.
Andrew Carnegie began life in America as a 12 year old bobbin boy in a Pittsburgh cotton mill. We are in a new industrial and technology revolution. Don't shut out future Carnegies.
3
trumps helped his wife's parents just in time.
4
As much as I do not support Trump and the Republicans, this piece is counterproductive. One might just as easily argue, using any example of an immigrant that wreaked havoc on America, that we should close the border entirely.
Mr. Baker is a novelist and historian, but clearly lacks the quantitative and logical reasoning capabilities of the person about whom he writes.
12
@hammond Nonesense. Google "CCNY Nobelists". They are all either immigrants or their children. And that's only CCNY grads among all the great American colleges educating immigrants and?or their children. This article is not an "argument" but rather a statement.
3
not to take an iota of respect away from Dr. Rabi, but you could fill the Sunday New York Times doorstop edition many times over, weekly, with similar stories of those who have blossomed here and contributed to America. the lamp was lifted, even if not consistently, beside the open door. what Trump wants to do, basically, is sell the condos of admission and eventual citizenship to the highest bidders, much as his son-in-law's family promoted green cards ad citizenship to wealthy Chinese wiling to invest money in a New Jersey real estate scheme. as a businessman, Trump is remarkably unwilling to accept risk, seeking instead immediate payoffs. why not just set up ticketbooths at our ports of entry and charge admission to the already wealthy and educated who bring with them their status achieved on someone else's dime? the plan, like the President and his key advisors such as Miller, is nothing short of reprehensible - and deeply unAmerican.
2
Isidor Isaac Rabi was born in Austria on July 29,1898 and came to the United States while still a baby in 1899. Neither family reunification visas nor immigration lottery visas existed in the late 1890s.
Today, an Austrian would have a much better chance of immigrating to America under Trump’s proposed rules than under current rules.
Not many Austrians have close family in the United States because immigration from Austria to the United States was virtually shut down during World War I and World War II. So family reunification works agains Austrians. About 67 percent of immigration visa are family reunification visas Most go to Latin Amircans.).
The immigration lottery would also work against him because it rewards luck rather than brilliance. The proposed rules prioritize skills. A brilliant physicist told have no trouble getting an immigration visa indoor proposed ruled.
The English-language proficiency requirement would also tend to work in Rabi favor. About 40 percent of Austrians speak English fluently, but the percentage of English language speakers among Nobel-prize caliber European scientist is much higher.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1944/rabi/biographical/
4
Rabi was from present-day Poland (Galicia), not from actual Austria. At the time it was part of the Habsburg Empire.
I do not desire to be not liked, though if I can't speak my mind, then ... yuk.
Of course there is a good argument for qualifying immigrants, so I won't argue
against "both sides."
But I shall explain why I am for most of them.
They adapt to their circumstances by way of
hard work.
They construct housing, and their wages and benefits are often "sub standard."
Yes, exploitation IS immoral, but my house
would've been probably more expensive.
This confession is ugly, but the d truth.
Some/many are probably undocumented or
fake documented.
Contradiction is often me & ye, as is rhetoric.
Reality ain't ping pong.
1
We don't need sentimentality on this subject. Doubtless many never cultivated Nobel prize winners sleep in the earth everywhere.
I'm still waiting for a sensible article on sensible immigration policy. The US obviously has a lot of people in terrible financial straits already. The Dem policy on immigration is to insult the native born as racist, xenophobic, etc. Surely they could do better than that. Surely they could find that there are costs to the native population in all this.
9
The 'native population'? They're sitting on reservations, just trying to survive. We're all immigrants. I'm first generation, my husband is third generation. Someone, from somewhere came here before you, and probably wasn't welcome at the time either. Have a little compassionate for those less fortunate than you. These people are fleeing for their lives and you should be grateful every minute that you're not one of them.
1
@AMM Native born means born here. I was born here, my Dad came in with his parents. The countries south of us could be, should be, absorbing some of those fleeing. We are not the only country available.
3
@AMM The original "native population" let in too many immigrants. No one is required to live on a reservation.
1
"But I.I. Rabi knew: “It takes a person like me to really understand what a wonderful country America is.”"
Not if Trump can help it.
4
Trump's immigration plan is unsurprisingly flawed but the knee-jerk reaction by the more privileged liberals to a more merit-based system reeks of self-serving class protection, combined with a hypocritical dismissiveness of the negative impacts that our current immigration system has on blue-collar and working-class people, who are too often cast as racists and losers for complaining.
Increasing merit-based immigration would create job competition for the Democratic base of white-collar professionals. It would be a drag on their wages if they had more people from India who could do their job and do it for less. This is exactly the dilemma facing many blue-collar job sectors now. More immigrants increases the labor supply, decreasing the cost and holding down wages. Illegal immigrants, which can be easily exploited, particularly make the bottom fall out for wages in any sector that they enter, making it impossible for citizens and legal immigrants to compete.
We've been taken for a ride from large corporations, pushing for open borders and downplaying any of the downsides of immigration, even illegal immigration, all while calling themselves "progressive" in their attempt to lower labor costs. Skeptics are cast as backwards or worse. But what's good for the goose is good for the gander. We need a rational points-based immigration system, which could include points for family ties, to ensure the right level of blue-collar immigration as well as white-collar immigration.
5
So is the argument that we should admit every child with the hopes of molding them into a genius?
Making immigration merit-based is a no brainer to me. If it isn't, it has to be lottery based, or it has to be unlimited (the US taking every immigrant coming in). Under Lottery, all of the arguments here still apply - America would miss out on a bunch of "geniuses". And I am not even going to start the discussion of completely opening America's borders.
Merit-based immigration might literally be the one Trump administration proposal I stand behind.
7
Often, reference is made to Canada's immigration point system. Having lived there long ago, I became familiar with their immigration process. The point system is one of several ways that one can land in Canada. One can build up points based upon language ability, education level, work experience, relatives in Canada & a significant degree of discretion (20%) by immigration officers, but this is just one way to become a landed immigrant in Canada.
Canada has a generous family reunion program as well as a far more generous (than the US) system of asylum for refugees. it is disingenuous for those wish to restrict immigration in the US to constantly make reference to Canada's point system.
Regarding merit-based immigration in the US, this assumes that a person and his/her family are immutable; that human beings come as a prepackaged finished product. As the story of Dr. Rabi, and so many others, show, people do develop and grow. The kinds of people who would pull of stakes to take a chance in another country have chutzpah. Those who are willing to do it through death-defying conditions not backed by legal sanction have chutzpah upon chutzpah. Are these not the very types of people that we should welcome? Rather than take jobs away from Americans, these are the very people who create jobs & wealth. After all, an MRI technician could not have existed before Dr. Rabi.
As for family reunion immigration, who would be a better guarantor of an immigrant's success than his family?
3
It is impossible to predict what contributions immigrants will make to our country including by having children. As proof, check out the biographies on Wikipedia of the 10 Nobel Prize winners who were educated tuition free at CCNY over the years. And beyond them there were a multitude of others, less famous but no less important, whose contributions to our country would have been lost under Trump's immigration debacle.
3
Millions of Americans struggle to pay the bills. They worry about losing their medical insurance. They attend substandard schools. Before the relentless demands of open borders from Dems could you all return to your roots? If you want our votes could actually worry about our concerns? Instead of this constant posturing and demands for open borders?
7
In a national of 340 million you can cherry pick to make any imaginable point. This piece is just that and as such is utterly without value. When a country, any country tries to make broad policies such as how to deal with immigration they need to focus on how they will affect the largest numbers of people and bring forward the best results for the country as a whole. Switching largely to a merit based system would be such a change and a net positive away from our current family unification based one.
6
Not just inventors and workers, immigrants are unique humans. Think of someone for whom an immigrant becomes a close friend or spouse. What points system could capture that?
2
So what if some people don't get in? Do you think another Nobelist makes a difference? It does not. If MRIs had been invented in Europe or Asia we'd still have them.
Rabi wrote he'd have been a tailor in Europe. So what? What about all the Pakistani farmers right this minute who, if they had the chance, would be world-beaters? We don't agonize over them. Nor should we. We have our own lives to lead.
No system is perfect. I assure you the current system has problems. In particular, it lets in many unproductive people, including the uneducated and including elderly relatives who have never paid a cent into our Social Security and Medicare systems.
You have to make decision based on statistical reasoning. No process will perfectly separate desirable from undesirable immigrants.
Remember, these people have no legal or moral right to be here. If they don't make this country better for Americans they should not be allowed in.
5
At the visitor center of Sequoia National Park there''s an exhibit showing the seeds of the various trees in the park. One of them stands out, as it's the size of a cantaloupe.
That giant seed belongs to the Giant Sequoia, right? No, it's a trick. The seed of the Giant Sequoia is one of the smaller ones, about the size of a golf ball.
We can't know who will emerge from immigrant communities just by testing the first generation. You could get the next Rabi, or you could get the Trump family, a cancer on our society, who had enough money to buy their way in under any system.
8
Comparing 19th century immigration policy with 21st century policy is not a useful comparison and misleads the reader. In late 19th century Eastern Europe, few people were educated, especially if you were poor.
If Dr. Rabi was born in modern day Ukraine or Poland, his brilliance would have been quickly recognized and he would have excelled. If he applied to legally immigrate to the United States under President Trump’s new plan, he would easily qualify.
Mr. Baker is comparing comparing apples to oranges and trying to convince us they are both apples. He has obscured rather than illuminated the subject.
6
@Padraig Lewis The other mistake here is assuming that if Rabi wasn't around some other brilliant scientist wouldn't have done the same work.
1
@Padraig Lewis "If Dr. Rabi was born in modern day Ukraine or Poland, his brilliance would have been quickly recognized and he would have excelled." Uhm, no. Today he would face religious discrimination in those countries just as he did early in his academic career here.
1
American history is simple: nobody who built America ever came into this country under a merit system. And nobody who came in under the pseudo merit system based upon the size of one's bank account has ever done anything of note to build America.
6
Thank you Mr. Baker for one of the most convincing rational argument against Trump's merit based immigration proposal. However, we should also remember the humanistic ideal embodied by America and etched on the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Living up to our ideals is what makes America great.
37
@Peter
Nope.
he idea that because we have welcomed large numbers of immigrants in the past we must welcome them in the future is wrong. In the past labor was low-skilled and warm bodies would help the economy. Not so now.
AMERICA IS NOT AN IDEA! It is a country with a culture and with citizens and with borders. Starry-eyed optimism and consequent free flow of people will slowly turn us into the lousy kind of country that immigrants are trying to get out of.
8
@vbering
So, one LEGAL immigrant means we should accept 300 "gardeners and McDonald workers(fine people, but not what America needs)!
5
@vbering
What evidences do you have that immigration will lower living standard in our country? May I point out that while most immigrants are residing in US cities, numerous surveys have shown that economic output in urban centers have always out perform rural areas (see for example: https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/12/differences-in-income-growth-across-united-states-counties.html).
I am not for open broader because it is stupid and it takes time to assimilate new immigrants. Mr. Baker has already made a rational case illustrating that genius does not necessary come from affluent families. Here, I made an economic case. I just want to point out that there is also a moral imperative to help SOME (i.e. not all) people in need around the world.
brilliant, on point but ultimately only educational for those without the ability to understand.
our silver spooned President has shown his inability to procure talented people by looking at the number of people who either won't work with him, or people who have worked with him & then thought, "no. this is not what i thought it would be."
scandals in his cabinet abound; as well as in the WH.
those typify his 'best & brightest'.
If anyone needs convincing that the Donald J Trumps of the world are NOT the future, this article would be a great place to begin.
3
Dr. Paul Lauterber of Stony Brook U. received the Nobel Prize for M.R.I
1
@Gary
Yes but Damadian was unfairly treated by the Nobel committee and boy did he complain loudly!
1
Trump is a moron and a dangerous demagogue. But it doesn't mean that we should resist at all costs any attempts to reform the immigration system currently in place. Just because Trump keeps ranting about how broken it is does NOT mean it's perfectly fine. Bringing up Mr. Rabi, or any other talented immigrants who came to the country at the turn of the 20th century is irrelevant. Our country is vastly different now from what it was back then. It cannot possibly afford to admit everyone who wants to come here anymore. Trump's opponents often counter his anti-immigration rants by bringing up the statue of liberty and the "Give me your poor..." inscription. But our current system is not based on that. Rather it is is "Give me your... random people who may have a distant uncle already in the US". This unnecessarily extended and generous interpretation of family ties-based immigration is not in any way fair or productive. I would suggest we learn from our neighbor up North - Canada, a civilized, developed democracy. Their immigration system is split between accepting refugees who flee verifiable persecution and suffering and accepting other immigrants based on merit; with much less emphasis on extended family ties. Please stop assuming that one has to be a right wing nut and a racist to suggest that the US immigration system is need of a serious reform.
7
Who cares, someone else would have invented it. Pretty pathetic to see post-colonial journalists subscribing to the "great man" theory of history.
Lots of contradictions to unpack there.
3
@Emily Patents are given out for creative inventions, for the "unexpected". We don't know that someone else would have invented it, or, if true, when.
There is genius and creativity and kindness in every ethnic group, and liars and swindlers in every ethnic group.
An immigration policy that gives *extra* "brownie points" for achievement in the arts, sciences, engineering, etc, would have my vote, as long as it was absolutely independent of limitations by country of origin, religion, gender, and ethnicity.
1
Yes, let's let everyone immigrate to the USA so that we don't miss out on any future Nobel Prize winners?
11
I am a third generation offspring of a poor (first a sewing machine operator then a janitor) Jewish immigrant. I am married to a blond, blue-eyed descendant of German immigrants.
If things get any worse here, she has promised to hide me in the attic.
3
The point is that every time this country has gone off on one of our ugly little racist toots and started going after immy-grants as Trump proposes, we’ve ended up regretting it badly.
And every time we’ve behaved decently and generously, it has paid off for us.
Despite the right-wing yelling, nobody’s arguing for open borders. Nobody says we can take in every refugee on the planet. Nobody says immigrants should be handed everything. Nobody says we shouldn’t consider what’s practical for us to do. Nobody says hey, let’s get more criminals and terrorists in here. We say that we should follow our laws and treaties and principles.
And yet somehow, every right-winger screams the same accusations again and again and again. Somehow, the only numbers they offer are phony numbers. Somehow, they never know what the laws say. Somehow, their “solutions,” are always about one-half Nazi drivel and one-half boy drawing rocketships and making zoom noises.
And somehow, they never mind Trump’s lifelong employment of illegal immigrants.
3
Please don't compare the Holocaust to current problems people face in Central America.
11
Is it not paradoxical then that Steven Miller , conservative Jew and Trump’s immigration guru and much of Israel ruling Likud are right wing , anti immigration and blatantly racist at times?
2
@Mike Steve Miller, Trump flunky, never learned the morality and compassion his family's religion teaches. He is a failure on every level.
1
Every human has value. If only those who try to regulate the movement of humans had some inkling of our innate value as laborers, thinkers, and nurturers!
Each human can contribute to the health and welfare of the whole. Is that so difficult to comprehend?
We are equal, in that all humans are built of living cells that contain 46 chromosomes each; but we have different gifts and talents so that we can complement each other and work together, doing the various tasks required for the pursuit of happiness by and for all.
Isn't that what humans desire to do for and with one another? Work together in harmony, with respect for all?
1
The paternal grandfather of our President came over as a barber. After making some money, he tried returning to Bavaria, but was denied re-entry because he'd not fulfilled his required military service there.
"“Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family," wrote Friedrich Trump in 1905."
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trumps-grandfather-bavaria-deport/
The President's current wife came over as a model, worked a bit without legal papers to do so. Her parents are now citizens of the US because of her citizenship.
Properties of the President's family business regularly hire temporary foreign workers, including undocumented immigrants, claiming that many of the relatively unskilled positions can't be filled by Americans.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/mar-a-lago-rejected-dozens-of-americans-in-favor-of-foreign
It's impossible to say our country would be better off if we only brought in highly-skilled people (who would compete for high-paying jobs). Our President appears to understand the value to his family and businesses of allowing all sorts in.
1
@b fagan Don't forget that Friedrich ran a string of bordellos before turning respectable.
1
Thank God Dr. Rabbi became a physicist. But imagine what it would be like to have people like him —and not like the thoughtless Trump or, before him, the not too thoughtful George W Bush, or the small-minded Mitch McConnell—dominating our politica.
1
Please. You are advocating the immigration equivalent of the "infinite monkey theorem":
The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type any given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. In fact, the monkey would almost surely type every possible finite text an infinite number of times.
Infinite monkey theorem - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem"
Even during the heyday of Ellis Island, we screened out anyone deemed too sick, mentally defective, or likely to become a "public charge".
It should be clear to all that immigration policy should be designed to bring in productive people. Well meaning people can argue over the profile. And it may well change from time to time. But it makes no sense to adopt a Libertarian -- let anyone in -- approach. How many people does this country want to support?
9
Roald Hoffmann's story is similar (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1981).
1
We do not need any more immigrants, skilled or otherwise. Japan and South Korea take in practically zero immigrants and yet are at the cutting edge of scientific research. We need to focus on educating and investing in our own citizenry like they do instead of importing more people.
8
@Mike
Here in Maine we desperately need immigrants. We have an aging population, more people dying than being born & lots of available land.
There are Help Wanted signs everywhere! Every supermarket, every restaurant, every gas station/mini mart. Every big box store. Every hospital & senior living center. In our local paper last week there were ads for carpenters, masons, nurses, teachers, landscapers, wait staff, service technicians, sales clerks, receptionists, cooks, housekeepers, granite quarry workers, blueberry production workers & more.
Who is going to fill these jobs?
2
@Mike
False conclusion. Japan and S. Korea are innovators (what we used to be) because of the focus on education and the money invested in STEM. We have plenty of money (apparently Trump think we have billions for an unneeded wall) and if we used that money wisely, we too would have more "cutting edge scientific research".
@Mike As a sister cornhusker, surely you know as well as I do that our state is desperate for workers both skilled and unskilled. Cf: Iowa.
And if we opened the door to everyone who wants to come to the US, we would greatly increase the chance of having even more American Nobel Prize winners. Does that mean we should open the door to everyone?
5
I was born in 1959. My pediatrician, who was born in Minsk in 1905, came to this country with his family after a wave of pograms in Tsarist Russia made life untenable for Jews. When I was two I developed pneumonia. My mom took me to the local ER, where she was brushed off with "it's just a cold, he'll be fine". She got hold of my pediatrician who came to the ER, correctly diagnosed what was wrong with me, and got me the treatment I needed. If he and his family hadn't come here, I wouldn't be writing this today.
7
After World War One, Daddy was smuggled into the United States by way of Cuba, an illegal. To this day I can still remember the cold fear that settled on my heart in the 1940s when we got the letter from the government telling Daddy that he was to be deported to Cuba. Happily, he was subsequently allowed to stay and become a citizen of the country he had yearned for ever since he was a little Jewish boy growing up in Poland.
Apart from a love of cards, Daddy led a blameless life as a trucker, and his descendants have earned (so far) four PhDs, two MDs and various lesser degrees from Stanford, Harvard, MIT, and Johns Hopkins, I'll never forget what he said to me as we were walking down multi-faceted Devon Avenue in Chicago some 30 years ago: "Once we stop taking in immigrants, we stop being a great nation."
That is our greatest natural resource: our diverse gene pool and the institutions that hopefully give every American the opportunity to make the most of their gifts. We were the first nation to make the "pursuit of happiness" one of the pillars of our foundation, and just look at how that has worked out for us. We need to keep the Dream alive -- for all of us.
8
Unfortunately, if Trump reads this, he will hone in on the only sentence that he finds pleasing or worth any merit:
"In a Rose Garden speech last month, Mr. Trump presented his “big, beautiful, bold plan” for a predominantly “merit-based” system of immigration."
And he will skip past the rest as it may well be too challenging, as it challenges his POV.
In your list of geniuses having immigrated to the US as children, I noted that none seemed to come from Mexico/South America/Africa - surely you could have found some. Considering the conditions of the schools in these countries, it's no wonder that a child of genius would have little advantage to learn higher mathematics etc. But to admit a million souls, in hopes of finding a handful of children considered geniuses, would cost the US a fortune in caring for that million souls. Why not nurture those we have here? Why not vote out those who would let our city schools become cesspools of desperation, run-down buildings filled w/sullen, empty minds facing no prospect of advancing beyond the bottom rung of society's ladder?
6
I read this with a particular interest: Rabi was my intellectual grandfather. His Ph.D. student Norman Ramsey jr. (himself a Nobelist, physics1989) was my Ph.D. advisor. I only met Rabi once, but was impressed by his sly wit and insight in the talk he gave then. The inhumanity and folly of Trump's attempt to skim the cream from the rest of the world won't make America greater; it can only make future generations more ashamed.
52
"What Trump wants is to establish a system that will also supposedly have nothing to do with race, religion or national origin ... Leave aside ... Mr. Trump’s already stated predilection for immigrants from Norway over, well, other places ... " Mr. Trump's hypocrisy is over the top. While his confidence in his ability to sell his brand of political snake oil is off the charts, the polls seem to be showing more folks are seeing through the smoke and mirrors. Confidence and competence are inversely related.
Looking at donald trump, taking away the fact that every thing he has came as a result of his father's work, and his many achievements since - six bankruptcies, the cheating on wives, contractors, racial discrimination charges/fines, tax fraud, zero academic success and behavioral issues that sent him to a military academy for difficult children - would he have let himself in as an immigrant? Doubtful.
2
SO WHAT! An interesting anecdote that has little to do with the need to control immigration. There are plenty of other stories where the immigrant murdered, stole, raped and otherwise did bad things. Should that determine our policy?
7
As someone who is responsible for evaluating applicants for advanced biomedical programs in research and clinical care, I can say with confidence that many of our very best applicants are children of immigrants who can be described as "tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free". A tremendous resource to our country, that Mr. Trump and his syndicate is clueless about.
Excellent article, but one minor point NYT. Along with the contributions of others, you might have mentioned the seminal Nobel Prize-winning MRI work of Dr. Paul Lauterbur, working right in your own back yard at Stony Brook University.
1
Rabi did not believe women could do physics nor belonged on university faculty.
7
Not every immigrant, uneducated and seemingly unskilled, or their progeny, is as remarkable as the examples in your article, though there are likely millions of stories over time of extraordinary individuals, families, successes and contributions. There are even more stories of doctors and dentists and lawyers and public servants and educators and thought leaders and on and on who have woven the fabric of the success of this nation, from its earliest days, including, sadly, those enslaved by the titans of "industry" at the time. We don't just owe a debt of gratitude to these uneducated, unskilled immigrants, our success is the direct result of their efforts throughout our short history. That the members of Trump's cult don't know this demonstrates their own ignorance, lack of education, willful distortion of the facts. Anyone who is willing to endure what these people have endured to make it to our shores belongs to the same cream of the motivational crop as earlier immigrants, and we deport them at our peril. And aside from also needing the first generation of unskilled and/or uneducated immigrants to do the jobs current residents hope to move away from -- or don't/won't do -- how would the proposed system impact opportunities for our current residents to improve their lives? If new immigrants are admitted on the basis of their skills and education, wouldn't more of our current residents be displaced by them? Is that the kind of system Trump's supporters would support?
1
My great grandparents fled from the pogroms of Eastern Europe. Ellis Island to the Lower East Side, next generation to the Bronx, upper Manhattan, Westchester... They were tailors and seamstresses, sweatshop workers. Their kids were cab drivers, paralegals, some military. The next generation: doctors, lawyers, teachers, technicians, scientists, several Ivy educated. I hate several things that have happened to this country-- the neo-gilded age plutocracy and the ignorance that allows it are at the the top of the my list of those things. But the day we give in to the base emotions that allow for xenophobia and nativism to prevent people the opportunity that many of us were given is the day we are no longer the United States. I don't know if we've reached that day yet, but if we have then it can be reversed in the next election.
6
As a 'greenhorn' immigrant small family who arrived with nothing but a 'care' package in our hands - 60 yrs ago, I totally agree with I.I.Rabi's statement quoted in last par of the article. Only good to come of Trump admin's innanity is the civic lesson we get to re-learn, re-energizing our citizenry with renewed appreciation for the role immigrants can play in continuing to make America the truly unique and great nation that it is; despite Trump and his accolytes.
2
Yes, immigrants (which almost all of us Americans are, whenever our arrival may have occurred) may make unique and important contributions to society, whether in terms of science, technology, business, art, etc.
But an even more compelling argument, because of its ubiquity, is to call attention to the quotidian yet invaluable contributions offered by immigrants who don't exemplify conventional "success." For example, the women who tenderly cared for my mother in her final year and enabled her to fulfill her wish of staying in her home were all immigrants, and my brother and I are forever grateful to them. Do not underestimate the profound achievement of making other people's lives better, in however quiet a manner.
14
@Nora Odendahl
But we have a tremendous number of unemployed or "disabled" here already that are capable of doing what the immigrants did.
5
@Ny Surgeon
But they cannot be counted on unlike immigrants, because of their entitled attitude. They just don't have same working ethics and this is coming from 20+ years of observation.
@Ny Surgeon
In fact, there is a shortage of home healthcare workers, so clearly the US-born population is not clamoring to fill these emotionally and sometimes physically demanding jobs. Immigrants are filling a crucial need for us. See these articles for a more accurate perspective:
https://homehealthcarenews.com/2018/12/immigrants-play-large-role-in-combating-home-health-caregiver-shortage/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/04/09/us-home-healthcare-system-is-in-crisis-as-worker-shortages-worsen.html
Beautiful article … and if it were to recognize even one-tenth of the U.S. immigrants whose 'arrival-circumstances' wouldn't impress trump, each of whose 'value' -- by any measure -- trumps the sum of all of the trump's, it's repository would require all of the space in The Library of Congress, The Smithsonian, every 'branch' of the Federal Reserve Bank, and Fort Knox.
3
It has been over 100 years that US has welcomed millions of skilled and unskilled immigrants (roughly a million a year are current numbers) from all over the world and we should be thankful that among those millions there were gems like I.I.Rabi and 100s of others. But now Trump wants to give preference to those who bring scarce skills and not just all and sundry from the rest of the world and increase the concentration of people who would turn out like I.I. Rabi.
I accept Trump's argument that US is full especially in urban areas with growing homeless population and that we need to be very selective in the types of people with scarce skills we allow into the US for taking up jobs for which there is a shortage of selected skills. I also agree with Trump that orderly vetting of people entering the US is essential to the safety and security of America. As part of comprehensive immigration reform more entry permits should be given to seasonal temporary workers from any country. Right now I am hearing that Americans in construction business are experiencing acute shortage and short falls in their work force in being able to employ workers with appropriate skills. They complain that not many Americans are ready and able to do the jobs they are looking to fill.
Historian K. Baker is mixing time lines. The time in history when there was plenty of room and resources in US to optimally settle migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, job seekers, chain migrants is not the same today.
10
This country isn’t remotely full, and nowhere close to the end of its resources.
What we seem to be short on is common sense, knowlege of our laws and treaties, recognition of fact, and plain old decency.
16
@Robert from Out West. I don't know how far west we are talking about. Is it the Pacific Ocean. I did not say that America is at the end of its resources but I would think a 22 trillion dollars of national debt does not give the USA the sole capacity to take on problems of failed countries from around the world. What some Americans do lack is common sense in not recognizing the realistic limits of American generosity. America has exhibited decency throughout history except when it goes around the world until the end of the Obama presidency trying to change regimes.
5
Kotwal: You missed the next to last paragraph, "This is not somebody you find with a points system. It is not someone who arrives prepackaged with a big bank account and impeccable English and plans for a new factory in his back pocket, but someone who will be molded by America just as he or she helps to mold it."
2
MRI is only a small tidbit-result of Rabi's work. To talk as if it were the most important thing is like saying "an elephant is a grey animal with a small tail".
And his Nobel-winning experiment wasn't much like the NMR or MRI we do today. It involved shooting a beam of molecules into a vacuum, applying a strong magnetic field which split the beam into two beams because of the interaction between one of the nuclei and the magnetic field, then changing the spin-state with radio waves and watching the intensity of the two beams change. Really nothing like what we do today in NMR or MRI.
How many more geniuses are lost to poverty and inadequate opportunities for citizens?
How many people opposed to immigration are perfectly fine with "illegal" workers who work in the hospitality, agricultural industries for low wages? (As in Trump properties...?
6
And the point is what?
No limits on illegal immigration?
If there are limits, what are they and how are they enforced?
This weekend was an uproar on the left over deporting people who exhausted their legal option in the courts.
Does that mean we do not need the immigration courts and are wasting money having them. Win you stay- loose you stay.
I still have to hear any, not to mention detailed answer to these questions.
17
@Just Saying- The entire article is about legal immigration. Did you not read the first paragraphs of the article? What the author is saying is that the legal immigration that Trump wants would eliminate the possible diamonds in the rough because they did not have the skills that are required under the new proposed rules.
And I'll give you another reason to not do this: eliminating or severely restricting immigrants legally admitted to the US based on family ties will come back to bite us. We don't have the same problems with immigrants that France and the UK have because we allow families to immigrate here. Families count in the many years it takes to acclimate to the culture of the US.
As for illegal immigration, it will take more than a wall to stop it. It will take actual thinking not slogans to come up with an immigration plan that will secure our borders yet allow people seeking asylum or immigration to come here without breaking our laws. Temporary worker visas would be a start.
5
@Just Saying, here's the answer you claim you never hear:
No one on the left advocates for completely open borders. Are you under the impression that current immigration law is full of limits and rules? If the immigration system seems broken, it's because trump/Miller are responding to increased numbers of asylum seekers as if there were no processing system in place.
Why not hire more judges and processing centers instead of paying to guard them in filthy camps with no plan?
The uproar on the left about deporting people? It comes from the fact that ICE agents were going to go door to door, rounding up people, not targeting those who overstayed. Sloppy, scatter-shot tactics designed to strike fear, not to actually bring anyone specific in.
So no, it's not like the left just wants all criminals to stay. Deportations have always been acceptable, but unending detention, cruel conditions, terrified children, abusive for-profit facilities, SWAT team tactics and above all, lies. THESE things are what "the left" is concerned with. Don't you wish that there had been more liberals in Germany to stop the fascists from successfully demonizing Jews in1938? Don't you wish there had been more 'social justice warriors' to stop the rounding up of Japanese Americans here? Are you unable to apply the words of this article to your punitive position?
I hope you got the answer you wanted, and I'll welcome follow up. What I don't need are bad faith questions.
37
@deb,
Finally. Finally someone who calls out those who distort what we on the Left are saying. Thank you for speaking out. I'm tired of having Trump voters lie about my beliefs and get away with it. And yours is the best comment I've read on this issue, in years.
5
This is a really bad argument.
If we allow millions of uneducated and unskilled immigrants to come here then of course we will still find some gems, some people who work out fantastically well. But that doesn't mean it's a good idea! A points-based immigration system that favors merit -- the kind of system you find in Canada and other Western countries -- will end up bringing in far more people like I. I. Rabi than the irrational family based system America has.
A merit based immigration system is objectively better than a family based system if your goal is to serve the interests of the American people. But that's not the goal of the Times; they care much more about the millions of wonderful poor people in other countries who want to better their lives by coming to America than they do about selfish Americans who selfishly prioritize their own children over the children of others. As much as I dislike Donald Trump, the immigration system he is proposing is better than the one we have, and if he can get it adopted he will have done something good for his country.
22
@JohnB You missed the point of the editorial. The children of the unskilled or semiskilled immigrant became the contributors to our great country. Lowly tailors, grocers, farm hands raised families with often enough great descendants we hardly expected.
16
@cjg
You're making exactly the same bad argument that the op-ed makes.
Sure, the children of unskilled immigrants will sometimes become great contributors to the country. But are they more likely to become great contributors than the children of skilled immigrants? I see no reason to think so, and at least some reason to think the opposite.
Merit based immigration systems are simply better than family based systems if your goal is to serve the interests of the people of a country. That's the reason other Western democracies have merit based systems. Our current family based system has no good arguments to recommend it, which is why its defenders are forced to use bad arguments like the one being advanced in this op-ed.
10
Mr. Baker, eugenics has had so much traction in the US that it is said that our metrics influenced Hitler. The basic fallacy is that the effect of selection persists past the first generation. The great contributors and the intellectually deficient are spawned in equal numbers; only the presence of opportunity favors achievement. There would have been no Cornell for Rabi had the family remained in Europe, probably no existence either.
What’s needed to provide more than a transient filter for ‘achievers’ is opportunity for them and their offspring. Part of the awful damage our country has sustained lately, is the global image that we are no longer such a land, that we are stuck in a mode that denies science, makes education far less available, and inhibits innovation, manufacturing, healthcare, all in favor of special interests. Just on healthcare, an otherwise ‘qualified’ potential immigrant might have to think twice.
I’m a scientist, and am daily saddened by this evolution, accelerated so drastically by Republican perversion.
21
Thank you for this brilliant essay!
14
One need not even look at the huge contribution of immigrants to know the policy of "merit" is another ignorant and stupid Trumpism. Look at the children of immigrants to see the profound contribution these "meritless" people have give to this country. Many immigrants quietly toil in relative obscurity and raise families of great accomplishment and value to this country. My grandfather came from Ireland and worked 50 yrs for the Penn RR. His offspring are all people adding value to this country as educated professionals, unlike Trump who is a sociopathic, narcissistic grifter
15
Although the author could write about anything relating to immigration successes, I have some ideas.
1) the local bodega owner with a child in graduate school
2) a service worker who has multiple jobs to provide for
their family
3) first generation immigrant police officer
4) SE asian refugees who now are a dominant force in silicon
valley
essentially an illustration of the work that legal immigration (based on compassion and not on points) has on the american economy and society at large.
29
@I Heart: Or a housecleaner we employed for several years, who'd left an abusive husband in El Salvador and had brought her young daughter to the US. By the time this woman worked for us, her daughter was at Berkeley. The joy and pride in this woman's eyes when she first told me about her daughter seemed to elevate the thankless work she did to a job of nobility. I rarely see that happiness, even in the proudest parents.
4
I know a lot of smart, highly educated people, who are taking their families and moving back to Europe, Asia, Israel. When asked, they just say it's time. They feel unwelcome and insecure here. Most are permanent residents and citizens. So far the immigration agenda has worked in reverse, pushing people out. A lot of American born have also left or are thinking about it. Did you know that Canada permits indefinite residence for American who hold a remote job in the US? Anyway, better hold on to that foreign passport if you have one, for when the American immigration begins. Not sure what countries will take american refugees at this point.
47
@Moshe
Yup I plan on leaving after I turn 35. America is great to work in, terrible for everything else.
1
@Moshe
My son, a former Army Captain (and an Army Ranger), moved abroad last July taking his American born son and wife, a permanent resident in the States, with him.
I don't expect them to return.
1
Could Mr. trump please show us the documentation supporting the recent immigration of his in-laws to this country? Just wonder what life-saving technique they've invented, or what new patent they will soon receive. Indeed, it seems their only purpose here is to make life bearable for their daughter who appears to find the White House as intolerable as her husband does. Oh, it's in the file with his tax returns? I get it. Mere mortals don't get to examine the lives of the great ones.
Is it possible that trump didn't get around to his new "welcoming greatness" immigration plan until after his undistinguished in-laws arrived? Was that the reason he did nothing on it during his first two years when he had a supine Congress? Or did he only figure out that bringing in in-laws isn't so fun after his arrived, and so he now wants to help all the other immigrants here who don't want relatives tagging along?
20
@Paula
And what about Trump's grandfather, the brothel owner, whose native country, Germany, would not allow him to return?
3
So I'm wondering, how this proposed immigration policy going to help Trump staff Mar-A-Lago with low-paid maids, kitchen help and groundskeepers?
6
Belittling foreigners by accepting only those that poor countries already trained, a gift to the richest country (money-wise, at least), is an outrage. These United States were build by immgrants, documented and undocumented, mostly for the benefit of this host nation...but not always, as the Trump's exemplify with their arrogant flair.
6
A talk about electric light at his bar mitzvah? This is surreal - I love it. I wish I had met Dr. Rabi and some of the other immigrants mentioned in this piece. (Henry Ford, nnot so much, given his anti-semitism.)
9
Others who would most likely have been turned away under Trump's proposed rules:
Stephen Miller's family -(https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/08/13/stephen-miller-is-an-immigration-hypocrite-i-know-because-im-his-uncle-219351) whose grandfather lived "in a dirt-floor shack" and "though fluent in Polish, Russian and Yiddish, he understood no English."
And, Trump's "mother fled the poverty of rural Scotland" and of course 2 of 3 of his wives are immigrants, neither of them rich or job creating - though they were all lucky enough to have been European and white.
25
@democritic According to the Washington Post, Donald Trump's grandfather was a 16-year-old German barber's apprentice who knew no English and "didn’t have anything like a high school diploma." I wonder how the Stable Genius' new immigration plan would evaluate such an applicant. Is there a critical need for more barbers in this country today?
3
I just spent 3 weeks in 2 different hospitals with a serious case of pneumonia. If it were not for immigrants and minorities of every color and religion, I would be dead. We need these folks to run our health care system. We need to recruit these folks not ban them.
24
Merit is a cover for advantage and bias.
13
The same folks who want every baby born, regardless of the age of the mother, how she got pregnant or if the family can afford another member, ironically also want to limit who is allowed into our country unless they have “winning” credentials, a “beautiful” wealthy family or they are white.
10
Is the reason to allow immigration to find geniuses or is genius a byproduct of allowing immigration? What do you believe is the reason?
I believe that we as Americans allow immigration because we believe that all people—even those who are not white, Christian, and educated in Northwestern Europe—are created equal and that all have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, even the “tired … poor .. huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
These beliefs lead us to be better, to aspire to be our best selves. Consider what it means to discard them—and the people our nation is currently so against helping.
31
@rocky rocky Do you advocate for any restrictions or believe we should open the borders and allow millions of immigrants in to the country? I believe in a sound, non-discriminatory immigration policy but am concerned that your proposal of helping everyone needing help and only wanting it here in the US is not feasible nor is it in the best interests of the millions of immigrants that are already here.
2
@DLR: There is a major difference between refugees, who are fleeing from a particular problem, and immigrants who move by choice. It may make sense to ask immigrants to follow procedures that may take years (I would lean towards facilitating the procedures: but at least it isn't a matter of life and death.) In the case of refugees fleeing from various disasters, it would make sense in terms of human decency to accept as many as possible, and to do what we can to improve conditions wherever they are. We are a very wealthy country. My goodness, our president is a billionaire! And yet as a country, we act like some kind of mean old skinflint, grudging a penny...
2
One can't deny the contribution Mr. Rabi has made to America (and it will be greater than mine) but this does not put aside the issue that immigration must be discussed and dealt with. Alexander Mazin and Spencer Golvach (to list just two) were killed by people here illegally. Does this mean every immigrant is bad, absolutely not. Citizenship is a gift and unfortunately not to be doled out like candy on Halloween. One issue I wish politicians would deal with is population growth. While it currently has leveled, the population of this country has doubled since the end of WW2. Imagine if it goes up by another 50%, (another 160 million people) there's just no place to put everyone. Then there is the issue this will have on the climate.
13
A Trump Immigration Plan likely was ghostwritten by Sean Hannity and the name of any such plan by definition is an oxymoron. With the amount of people trying to enter the US both legally and illegally, what had just been a serious problem is now a full blown crisis that leaves individuals departing hazardous living conditions as pawns while politicians argue and cable news can use the conditions as filler until the next missing coed story dominates their news coverage. If our elected representatives can't determine what our values and policies should be, instead of another punting and stalemate festival, maybe a national referendum in 2020 on the issue could be added to the ballot and leave it to citizens to decide what ineffective representatives haven't been able to. If the required legislation were put in place to allow federal referendums (as some states routinely do in their state jurisdictions), other issues that similarly stalemated (like gun control) could similarly have voters intentions carried out instead of those of special interests.
2
Fact is, our country needs all kinds of people from all kinds of places, as it always has. Some will invent the next great thing and others will just do the work that needs to get done. And we can be sure that their immigration will always be opposed by at least some of us who are already here. They will be called dirty or stupid or threats to our national security by some of our self-satisfied or fearful citizens because they come from nations we oppose or look down upon. They might or might not speak English, but will learn to and will be unusual among us in that they are bi-lingual. They might or might not be Christians or religious at all and will help us, if we care to learn, that there are lots of ways to see the world and find hope.
I’m not generally big on the claims of American exceptionalism because I don’t find that we generally live up to the claim. But we are exceptional, in my opinion, when we give lots of different people the opportunity to become Americans and add their skills and drive and imagination to those possessed by the people who are already here. We are at times gracious and generous and positive about the future. But if we who are already here insist on excluding those who look different, speak differently, eat different foods, listen to different music, worship differently or aren’t already well off, we will end up with more of ourselves and our limitations and less of things we can’t even imagine. So let’s be exceptional - and maybe even great.
64
Well written. Who are we to know what genius will live in an unborn child. Especially a child born into poverty and determined to live a better life than her parents. A few more female examples would be appreciated.
Trump has patrician values: he thinks that the only good things in this world come from families blessed with money. If he can use Twitter and Citizens United to sell those values to 47% of the population, gerrymandering and census undercounts will make them the law of the land. We will be a poorer country forever, and we'll never know what we missed. Excuse me, I'm going to go cry...
3
I suspect we agree about a lot that's wrong with Trump's immigration plan, but I'm troubled by this focus on genius. It reminds me of arguments in favor of promoting the well being of children, because one of them might be a future Mozart. The very large majority of us aren't any kind of Mozart, and aren't going to win the Nobel prize, and yet I'm willing to claim that we deserve some consideration even so. If the most a kid can aspire to is to be a healthy Katy Perry fan with a rewarding career in the hospitality industry, then so be it. If we base our large policies on that level of aspiration, then the geniuses will thrive on their own.
I have to add, from my experience with immigrants, family connections are a major plus: neighborhood stability, emotional and economic support networks... this is where "family values" can have a genuinely positive meaning.
15
Wonderful piece insofar as it highlights the little people in our midst that put this country where it is. This humble and inquisitive immigrant tailor I.I. Rabi was a great American. We don’t need to bring in any more ‘born on 3rd base’ types who may well exude entitlement and other trappings of homegrown aristocratic privilege. Trump’s eutopian plan is patently crafted in his own image: a young man who was given a lot of family money, access to the finest schools, universities, lending institutions, etc.. Let’s keep it real and fair and let America shape her immigrants admitted from every class of people from all corners of the world! e pluribus unum...
12
Trump's Immigration Plan?
Trump doesn't have an Immigration Plan.
All of these Crimes Against Humanity on the southern border, are the work of Stephen Miller.
Trump just gives his blanket okay to Miller, because Trump knows that it will make the crowds cheer at his rallies.
Other than the adoration of the cheering crowds, Trump could care less about Immigration.
21
Forming an immigration policy that only exacerbates the problem of the "brain-drain" of developing countries seems like it would only further contribute to immigration issues later on. These are the best, brightest, most motivated in their respective countries, and we're saying we want them to emmigrate even faster. The US needs a foreign policy that understands that what's better for other countries is also good for the US; the current crisis fueling immigration across our southern border isn't necessarily caused by this brain drain, but it was started by actions the US took that helped destabilize the region. The administration's policy should partner with countries of emigrants to include incentives or mandates to return to the origin country and help reinvest their skills/talents.
8
@Bryan Maxwell
They're emigrating so as to avoid violence. Trump wants the brain drain from Norway, rather than saving the lives of those who might otherwise be killed or oppressed, e.g. Rabi.
5
hindsight is such a wonderful thing, now maybe the author of this piece can tell us how to identify the Rabis of the world out of the millions of people seeking to immigrate to this country.
5
How ironic! Does anyone believe the President could pass the type of civics test he proposes other must take?
38
Mr Ravi had to flee Germany because his fellow citizens wanted to kill him because he is Jewish. The people fleeing Central America are fleeing because of poverty and crime by their fellow citizens and not because they are different
.
14
@Peggysmomi: Something about the tone suggests that you don't think refugees from criminal violence are as deserving of refuge as those fleeing political violence. I would disagree one hundred percent. You will notice that the rhetoric of those opposing current refugees from Central America is pretty much identical to the rhetoric of those who opposed immigrants and refugees from Europe, back then. And just as wrong.
7
@Peggysmomi No, Rabi's family wasn't from Germany, and they came to the US long before the Nazis -- before WWI, even.
6
@John Bergstromthe Jews were murdered because they were Jews, hardly political.
Well one things for sure, under Trump’s meritocracy plan he never would have gotten in.
70
This is a wonderful article. Rabi is certainly an incredible story with a strong family that pushed him to go after the American Dream. Back then, America needed labor of all types. I wonder how applicable it is today. We are now in an Information Age where there are major shortages in highly skilled jobs. These positions create many service and lower skilled ones. While family based immigration is important to maintain the fabric of society, shouldn't we prioritize legal immigration towards where the country's needs are greatest? Shouldn't those jobs that do not need a college degree go to those already here? It's a conversation worth talking about.
5
And not to forget his work at the Radiation Lab at MIT during World War 2 supporting developments in radar. Some of the first airborne radar systems were developed there. One of those efforts was to develop the radar to be used in the expected invasion of Japan. Those systems were operated by a bunch of kids (as young as 19) in a squadron that was planned to fly out ahead of the invading fleet as an early warning system for the wave of kamikazes. Among those kids were a number of children of immigrants, one of them my barely out of high school father, who later was also a professor at Columbia. Our country has been spectacularly enriched by the spirit, energy and genius of immigrants. From taking on dangerous missions in war to winning Nobel Prizes to founding a disproportionate number of companies, immigrants have made this country.
24
My parents fled communist Hungary in 1956, they would never be allowed in today . They stayed and payed taxes and allowed me to grow up, go to college and pay much more in taxes. This also allows me and my family to vote against this administration.
63
@Peter You parents probably fled to Austria, where they had to wait in line in Vienna at the US Embassy. They were then properly vetted, and a few months later either flown to Camp Kilmer, NJ or they came by ship. They did not enter illegally. Who you vote for is your democratic right, although your parents might consider it also a privilege.
2
My mother escaped the Nazi’s because of the quota system. Although a naturalized Austrian citizen my grandfather was born in Russia. After the Anschluss Austrians wee under the German quota, which was full while the Russian quota was open.
3
Not only scientists but across the society.
Read John Gunter Dean’s recent Obituary. On the other hand there is Henry Kissinger.....
Countless others have contributed in large and small ways to prove their loyalty.
An immigrant needs drive to make the journey into the unknown, a positive attribute and bringing free skills to the U.S. economy.
And while barriers are being erected to keep out non-whites little notice is paid to the lack of oversight given in the past to those claiming refugee status from Communist regimes.
5
@Judith
You bring up a very good point. Alas, tis a pity Kissinger was ever allowed in this country. The damage done.
3
Skilled tailors are getting harder to come by in this country.
7
Amazing stories that remind us of valuable inventions by immigrants- the very group of folk that Trump wants to bar from coming to this country. He would not admit tailors or simple folk. Narrow minded ideas abound in this president's mind!
14
Well, then, let's just have a giant lottery, and see what geniuses randomly arrive. Issue solved.
4
Cherry picking a few unrepresentative examples does nothing to further the reasonable debate we need to have on this subject. It's like saying ms13, is a typical Central American immigrant. Given how over populated the U.S. is now (and the planet in general) we need to be far more selective in who we let in and how many. We can help countries solve their problems at home, but we can't just continue to flood the country as we are now. We have an extravagant over supply of poor, uneducated citizens who need our help here. Adding to this population is not in our best interests.
8
@Al
Al I suggest you educate yourself a bit about the Central American gangs. The ol' US of A has their hands, and weapons, and covert fingerprints all over their formations.
7
@Al: OK, reasonable debate: you're essentially wrong about overpopulation. This is an issue that solves itself with education and improved standards of living. You could make a case that inviting more people to this country and supporting their well being will go towards normalizing the global population. Realistically, its not the population numbers that are the problem, it's patterns of consumption and energy production, and solutions lie in education and global social welfare. Focusing on how people are moving here and there around the globe is to miss the important issues.
5
@John Bergstrom. At 5% of the worlds population using 25% of its resources, we are the very definition of over populated. We are also 25% of GW emissions. I guess we can assume you don't believe in climate change? Adding people to the U.S. population by any means, immigration of native birth rate is simply the worst thing you can do for the environment, both here and the planet at large. Afa the gangs like ms13 go, they formed in the 80s in the U.S. when we naïvely let them settle here and they rewarded us by becoming vicious Murderers. The era of an unpopulated continent in need of more people ended well over a century ago.
1
President Trump lauds "genius" and "brilliance" because he possesses both qualities in greater measure than any human being living, or not, on the face of the Earth.
That said, he cares nothing for the rigor that produces Nobel laureates beyond the Peace Prize he covets on the strength of the "beautiful love letters" he is putatively exchanging with a murderous dictator and the alliances with figures who deal with journalistic criticism by assassination followed by bodily dismemberment.
All that, apparently, for the jobs that arms sales would generate in an America made great again. This is what a shining city on a hill does.
20
Great article and example of one immigrants story. The man that sits at the head of a great nation created by none other than "immigrants" should be ashamed. But his retoric should not come as a surprise when we have an "orange tan/orangetan" sitting in the "White House".
11
Trump's plan is exactly to get more people like this. Eastern European jews have extremely high IQs and a record of tremendous achievement especially when allowed to work in in a free, resource rich environment like the US. Trump's plan specifically allows for "outstanding students". This guy would have gotten an 800 math sat score (or equivalent) probably at the age of 12. Sorry liberals. This it is precisely Trump's plan to get more people like this. Trump wants to move from 12% admitted for merit to 60%. Nothing could be more sensible and moderate.
7
@Aurthur Phleger: On the other hand, he wouldn't have gotten an SAT score at all before he got to this country. It's easy to say, now, that Eastern European Jews have high IQ's, but that's not what the best minds of America thought back in those days. You might be shocked to find out what the educated elite of America thought about Jews back then. It wasn't very nice.
The lesson should be, when our elites make their sophisticated judgements of who is deserving, and who is not, we shouldn't have any respect at all for those supposedly sophisticated judgements. They have never been right in the past.
2
Not sure what the point of this opinion is. The more people we let in the more the chance that one is a genius who will invent something great? Why stop at 2 million immigrants a year? Let's let everyone in? Maybe those geniuses could help their own impoverished countries if they stayed there.
7
@John Dyer. Excellent point. If we get all 7 billion to come here, it will obviously be paradise. Or we could assume that among the 330 million we have now we can possibly solve a few of our problems and selectively add immigrants as it benefits the country. The left assume that if you allow everybody in you'll get a few diamonds. The fact that we have so many needs here and are over populated now doesn't even occur to them.
7
@Al: No, the left doesn't generally share this obsession with "diamonds". We on the left have a tradition of thinking more in terms of people.
1
What Trump wants to do is turn our immigration system into a big beautiful HB-1 program except that employers won't have to pretend to prove that they tried to hire an American before hiring a foreigner at a lower wage. It's a purely transactional system in which skilled people will immigrate to the United States when a better paying job appears and go someplace else when it is in their economic interest.
America was built by the 'huddled masses' who came here to escape persecution or to find a better life. They may not have had PhD.'s, but they came here to build a new life in a new country. They may have had to take the most menial of jobs and work long hours for starvation wages, but they fed their families and their children worked as hard as their parents to make a better life for themselves and their children.
Trump doesn't want those people. He wants people who will make bigger profits for his friends at Mara Largo.
20
@Andrew Zuckerman. The U.S. was once an empty continent and in need of unskilled uneducated labor to be exploited. Those days and that world are long gone. This country and the planet are in a permanent over supply of people and labor. We will not solve our problems by importing poverty.
4
@Al
You are right. We have enough poverty already.
However, our population is aging, and we need people who are ready and willing to work and pay into the Social Security system.
We are not going to get many new citizens from Norway. It's a democratic socialist country whose citizens are doing quite well where they are.
I don't advocate importing poverty. I do advocate importing people who are hardworking and will take any job they can get so that their children can integrate in their new home, go to school, work as hard as their parents and contribute to their new country which they love.
What we don't need are PhDs who will come to work here as long as it is profitable and then go home to work for their old home countries. What we don't need are the rich people Trump's family tried to buy who can by a visa and eventually citizenship which they can use to make themselves rich for a relatively small investment.
3
@Andrew Zuckerman. We have plenty people now. An aging, falling population is the only sustainable way forward for this country and the planet. The Ponzi scheme of ever more workers and consumers has gotten us in this mess. We are 5% of the worlds population using 25% of its resources. We are the highest per capita co2 emitters. Unless you don't believe in climate change and you do believe in ever more people being stuffed into the same living space, we need a new way to run the economy and the planet. Moving people here can't be part of it. It doesn't work anymore.
1
This is a wonderful inspiring article. Examples are many but another is Steve Job's father, a Syrian immigrant. Consider is how much more difficult it would have been to win WWII if so many European scientists had not fled racism to come here.
9
Is Baker saying there will be fewer geniuses in a selected sample than in a random sample? Maybe the number will be the same, but it's doubtful there will be fewer.
3
@Jeff White
Since Trump's plan emphasizes merit, it's likely there will be more under his plan.
2
@Jeff White.
He's saying the children of genius may not have the drive of the children of poverty. It's not just about today, it's about tomorrow.
3
It doesn't work that way. Why would a country let go of their best and brightest? And why would they want to come here, where there's no healthcare and no safety net? Brilliant people abhor the idea of hoarding money, but that's the center of American 'culture'. In other words, truly smart people would be a poor fit in the US.
19
@Merno. Yeah I guess that explains why pretty much everybody on earth wants to come here and we are the world leaders in almost every field.
4
@Al Not-actually- true. Everybody on earth wants to come here? Where did you get that idea? Mexican people who had been living here are returning to Mexico in greater numbers than are migrating here. Other posters here have given examples of people returning to their 'home' countries. What are the numbers of Norwegian immigrants to the US?
3
As an immigrant from Indian occupied Kashmir, I fully agree with the author. I love America for its liberties, its freedoms and its people. In Indian occupied Kashmir, my children would be lucky to get into a good school or college, without a " recommendation from a crooked politician " or a " donation /bribe " and here my two children out of three went to a top notch college on a merit scholarship. Now they are serving this nation as best as they can. And my family did not come here on a " merit based point system, but on a visa based on family relationship. Allow geniuses into this country as well as those who are diamonds in the rough and come on family based Green cards .
21
Thank you, Kevin Baker, for your deep insight into the insidious nature of Trump’s immigration policy and its resonance with my grandfather’s life. I often find myself imagining a debate between I.I. Rabi and Trump and would cherish the former setting the latter on his pins.
49
@Alice Rabi Lichtenstein Thanks for sharing, Alice—if I may. It must have been a privilege to know him.
1
If the 20th century's achievements can be ascribed to one man - it would be Albert Einstein, of Eichenau, Prussia - who opened the world of relativity and quantum mechanics that enabled the transistor microchip, the laser, the CCD camera, and, yes, the atomic bomb. But Watching Ron Howard's 'Genius' I learned that no less than Albert Einstein was nearly prevented from getting a visa and entering the US, being persecuted by Hoover's FBI, as a potential Communist (Same Hoover's FBI also investigated Dr. MLKing 40 years later).
Even FDR, who I admire greatly, openly prevented Jewish refugees from entering the U.S. to avoid disturbing a largely White Protestant nation.
So even now, we have to be careful, just as not all native born Americans are creative like Albert Einstein or MLKing, not all potential immigrants will become I. I. Rabis - there is nothing wrong in discussing rules for entry and naturalization -
Unfortunately that chance for dialogue is lost between racist cruelty on the one hand, and blanket support for open ended immigration on the other.
12
@Ramesh G. Are you saying that Hoover and FDR were right? Actually, I doubt that's the case; but what are you saying? What must we be "careful" about? Admitting only those certain not to strain the social safety net?
I'm aware of very few people who advocate completely open-ended immigration, but there do appear to be a lot of people like Trump, who think they can unpack a ouija board and predict who will prosper here. Good luck with that.
4
@Ramesh G. We may find ourselves with a problem if Trump/Miller have their way: who among us is 'worthy' of determining which of the potential immigrants should be granted entrance? Not any of the present policy makers in the administration.
2
@heyblondie
my point 'to be careful' is merely that just as not all native born Americans are like Donald Trump, even fewer immigrants are like Einstein or Rabi.
that said, immigrants almost always inject bravery and hardwork into the society they enter - that is, after all, what immigrant means - a human being who wants to work for better.
(correction to my previous comment: Einstein was born in Ulm, not Eichenau, Germany)
I agree that immigration is best for the U.S. when the talented and ambitious arrive here and go on to lead productive lives.
So the initial premise of this article resonates--immigration is good for the U.S. when immigrants make outsize scientific and economic contributions.
So why can't we try to steer immigration policy to target that goal? Surely we can do better than random chance?
I agree that we'll miss a genius here or there if we exclude say illiterate subsistence farmers from Guatemala, but probably not many. So disagree with the author's leap of logic that to create an immigration system that works best for the U.S. we just have to admit people blindly and cross our fingers.
9
@Mmm
Let's go a step further, OK? Deport the ones who don't have promise. Everyone with low IQ's or criminal tendencies or without any talent to speak of -- or good looks -- out. That way, America will be great again. (So we won't have folks like Leonard Bernstein or J.F. Kennedy, whose ancestors were nobodies from nowhere. Who cares?)
3
@Rea Tarr I not really convinced--I'm confident we could implement immigration screening that could serve U.S. interests better than random chance (or family connections).
It wouldn't be perfect--just like college admissions aren't close to perfect. But if Harvard admitted people solely by family connections rather than looking at GPA, SATs, essays, etc., I think you would concede that their class would be less talented.
2
A marvelous story about a brilliant physicist
5
What an odd article. The author describes an immigrant admitted long before the Johnson reforms, during the "racist, anti-Semitic national quotas," while noting this policy let in at least three Nobel laureates of Jewish ancestry.
Mr Baker lambasts quotas as racist, but makes no mention of a diversity lottery that handicaps probabilities on - you guessed it - quotas. In all likelihood, Dr. Rabi and many of the other Eastern European immigrants that enriched our country at the turn of the twentieth century would not have been admitted in the present diversity lottery program. The early twentieth century saw a great wave of immigrants from that part of the world and the quota based calculations of the diversity lottery would have cut into that immigrant pool.
Finally, the article shows little awareness of the past. He attempts to diminish Mr Rabi's father's profession of a tailor. Tailors were a skilled trade at the turn of the century and the proximate equivalent of an undergraduate degree in modern time. Further, if Mr Rabi's parents were able to start a grocery, that indicates both an economic stimulus and saved capital - two attributes that would be valued in a merit system.
The President is wrong on most everything, but he may not be wrong on this issue. Even if he is, this confused and contradictory argument isn't the one to defeat him. This comes down to two values, diversity and merit, both are centrally American. Lets debate along the honest lines.
4
@Toby Yes, the only thing that annoys me about this column is that the author disparages skilled trades - tailoring (I don't even know how to hem my own dresses!) and being a local shop-keeper. We Americans tell each other to buy local, stay local. Well, that is what Dr. Rabi's parents and their neighbors did.
3
@Toby It seems clear to this reader that Mr. Baker is saying not that the skill set of Rabi's father was worthless because it was already ubiquitous but because that would likely be the attitude of a system like that proposed by Trump, fixated on admitting only those guaranteed to be successful.
Sometimes the truth is uncomplicated. Trump is wrong about everything.
2
@Toby Before you question my intellectual honesty, you might want to do a little more historical research. Rabi's family came to the U.S. decades BEFORE the racist quotas I mentioned were installed, back when there were very few restrictions on immigration—at least for healthy Europeans, or those from Latin America. (It was very difficult for Asians and Africans to get in, which was our loss.)
You are also wrong in claiming that I am somehow disparaging tailoring. I very much respect the craft—and all honest work, as I thought I made clear. But you seem to have little realization of just how many Americans were skilled with needle and thread 120 years ago. My point is that it was not hard to find tailors back then—and hence Mr. Trump's plan would have inclined against letting more in.
For that matter, I suspect that you overestimate just how much money would have been necessary to start a grocery in Brownsville at the time. Making a go of it was another thing, of course, which speaks again to the Rabis' work ethic and gumption.
My point in this article is that genius is a difficult item to uncover, that wealth is not the same thing as genius, and that it takes more than genius to make an American.
Thanks for reading.
2
While the accomplishments of I.I. Rabi and the others profiled in this article are impressive, the author still buys into the basic premise of Trump's immigration plan: that we want geniuses. The only difference is that Trump thinks they should arrive with the Nobel Prize in hand.
The Rabis were ordinary human beings who were fleeing oppression. Had they and their children done nothing more than make livings for themselves, that would have been enough. Most people will never lay the groundwork for an MRI. They just want to live and raise their kids in a place where they are not in constant fear for their lives and they can have a decent life. Isn't that enough? America can provide that place; are we not morally obligated to do so?
44
In general the educated and skilled of other countries do not need to or want to migrate to the United States. Historically this country has been a haven for the poor and and oppressed of other countries. (Read the inscription on the Statue of Liberty) . I think it has worked rather well for us. Maybe the very bravery and confidence needed to choose to migrate selects for the qualities that creates success in a free country. These poor and oppressed proved to be as intelligent and hard working as any people. The only difference now is the color of the skin of most of these immigrants. I bet in a generation or two these immigrants will be successful as other immigrants have historically been. Maybe that is why people are so scared?
35
This is an inspiring essay about some remarkable people who contributed enormously to our nation. It makes the point that they never would have become Americans under Trump's immigration plan. But, to be honest, I doubt Trump's plan is intended to bring deserving, talented people to the United States, but rather to keep out people who aren't white, Christian, and wealthy.
60
Taking one outlier data point and trying to extrapolate doesn't make for good policy.
12
@MS how do you know it's an outlier? Did you do the research?
2
It's true that many great americans, from scientists to CEOs, have been immigrants or the children of immigrants. However, how many have been from South America, the Middle East or Africa? Pretty much zero.
(And to people who will jump in to point out that Elon Musk is South African, do you really want to have that discussion?)
Trump's plan will make it more likely that talented and accomplished people will come to America, and less likely that people will get in just because their brother's father-in-law's nephew won the lottery.
11
@KM Elon Musk is not Jewish, if that was what you were implying.
2
@KM Steve Jobs birth father was Syrian, and a low wage worker to boot. He certainly would not be allowed in now.
7
@KM you need to look at this proportionally. How many of what nations had the chance and didn't produce? And last I checked Syria (Steve jobs) is is in the middle east.
5
A fantastic essay. You never know what someone can become until given the opportunity. The US is supposed to be about opportunity. The current right-wing wants to take away opportunities and make America about lineage and wealth.
56
Is the author trying to tell us that the lottery and “family ties” system is better and more logical than a rational merit system based on preferences offered to the educated and skilled candidates for immigration? If so, then give us the arguments instead of tearful stories of some geniuses. A valid argument must be based on statistics rather than exceptions like Rabi or other Nobel laureates.
18
@math45oxford Statistics do not provide validity to an argument. They only provide statistics. If you look at statistics the present immigration system would meet future needs better than a merit based system. The fastest growing occupations are office and administrative support, sales and related occupations, and food preparation and serving related occupations.. Salaries range from the high teens to low thirties. There is not a demand for educated and skilled workers.
18
The stats exist but the story is what make people, voters, stand up to bigotry. Immigration is not just facts and figures it’s people, flesh and blood. Think of the number of lives saved in your own circle of friends and family because of the MRI. Do the numbers matter more than the individual lives?
11
@Maria Erdo Do Americans literally have no say in our own immigration policy?
1
Thank you for this story.
However it is very clear Trump never-ever does anything himself. Although he is technically involved in construction he'd rather be and will someplace else. He points and directs from the safety of his office, plane or golf course & cart.
He does not want to be seen anywhere near an actual construction worker, maid, dishwasher or any worker without a an office wearing jacket and tie.
President of the common man.
10
And here’s another quality that virtually all immigrants have, of which we could use more in this country: Courage. An immigrant leaves the only home she has ever known for a strange, unknown place, often knowing no one there, usually being unable to speak or read the language (even the alphabet may be different). Would any of us be brave enough to do that?
150
@Anne Golden I have been appalled by the almost total lack of courage in the Halls of Congress today, along with an equally absent sign of imagination. Many immigrants needed a strong combination of both to leave what they knew and come to a not always welcoming new land.
31
@Anne Golden I can't answer that for myself, but I don't have a lot of faith in the courage of Trump supporters. Every utterance they make screams of their weakness and cowardice. Right wing media has socialized them to believe that a like or a share is courage, and being criticized for their repugnant beliefs is oppression. If someone rounded them up for the camps they'd probably sit there placidly waiting for Sean Hannity to tell them what to think about it.
4
A wonderful story of a brilliant man!
I suspect, given the immigrant story that is America, it could be multiplied a thousandfold. Ten thousandfold.
And those are the stories we know.
The hidden stories of human kindness and creativity in everyday life from immigrants all over the world in every part of our history? These are not PART of our history.
These ARE our history.
65
Trump’s proposed merit based system is already in use in many countries. Immigration should benefit the US, not just the immigrant fleeing poverty. Having a point system is the fairest way to achieve a goal of having immigrants who will contribute to our country, not drain our resources. Our citizens have a right to expect that our government will protect us from unvetted, out of control illegal immigration and implement a system of merit based, legal immigration.
16
@Independent--How are points given to children who have not yet shown whatever genius or promise they might develop to become the next Nobel winner? Or, even a young adult who might become a late-blooming genius if given an opportunity? Points are assigned based on what the person is today, not what they might become. The danger in "vetting" is that we could be turning away people with the potential to really make America great.
33
@Independent this system will not stop or fix illegal unvetted, out of control illegal immigration. Do you think illegals apply for any form of legal immigration? No they don’t as they are illegal. They would be detained, shoved in a horrible concentration camp, separated from their kids then mistreated.
The system you’re Presidennt is proposing is similar to Canada’s system. We still have illegal immigration and asylum seekers. It does not fix what you think it will fix. You’re being had!
2
@Independent - what you seem to have missed is that the system that made this a great country -- and an economic powerhouse, though those are not the same thing -- is the system that welcomed immigrants fleeing poverty, without regard to how their admission would benefit the US. That, Independent, is what truly made us great. And, as it turned out, that "what can you do for me"-blind system had some truly remarkable, unanticipated, benefits for our country, too. So the dividends made us great in more than one way. Not just in innovation, and industry, and economic successes, but great in terms of the kind of place we are -- or were, until Trump unleashed the Pandora's box of deplorables. One that welcomes the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breath free. That's what made America great. And Trump and his ilk stand poised to wipe out nearly four centuries of progress in four years.
4
The government posted the point system online, with an app that will calculate your points. I put in my information like age, education, and income and did not have enough points. I raised my education from a BA to a PHD and still did not have enough points. I raised my income to over 250K and I had enough points. I did not lower my age so I don’t know what effect that would have.
96
@Allen--I venture to guess that millions of Americans would not be accepted under the current point system. Especially the blue collar, working class Trump supporters. Most of them would never be let into the country under Trump's system.
91
@Ms. Pea Which is precisely why those trump supporters support his highly biased immigration formula: the threat to them is like a surgical strike.
8
@Allen. You should have just snuck over the border and cut the line. And as we all know, once you get here, it's nearly impossible to make you leave.
2
How many high skilled immigrants have been denied entrance because we’ve been taking in the uneducated? It’s impossible to prove a negative, but how many of them would have won a Nobel but never got the chance? Probably a greater percentage I would guess.
23
@DRS
How many college graduates (with debt) would not be able to find jobs (it is already tough) if these highly educated people were let in? Would they have to have blue collar jobs to pay off their school debts thus competing with the hs graduates for the jobs?
I guess that could be called trickle down.
3
@DRS well you can put a definite upper-bound on this number.
Multiply 3 x the number of Nobel prize categories x years you want to go back (say 1965).
Ask yourself how this small number compares to poor immigrants who propagate poverty to next generation....
Nobel prize is a terrible argument...
1
As usual, the Time's cherry-picks history rather than attempting to give a balanced treatment. The point of this article seems to be to undermine Trump's immigration plans but where is the analysis of how many other Nobel Prize winners would have been admitted to the US if Trump's plan had been in effect.
22
@Amy An interesting observation, but probably incorrect. I am glad the US admitted Einstein on moral grounds, but by the time he arrived his days of discovery were largely behind him. I recall reading that Freeman Dyson didn't have the heart to tell Einstein his later research was just plain wrong. I think one could say the same about Dirac. Some, like Fermi and von Neumann, continued their brilliant work, but often one's best days of research are long gone by the time the Nobel is awarded. It brings to mind that (possibly apocryphal) story about the poem once found on Dirac's door:
Age is of course a fever chill
That every physicist must fear
He's better dead than living still
When once he's past his 30th year.
13
As it is an op-Ed piece the writer gets to promote any viewpoint of their choice.
Also I think the point is a merit based system would deny our country of potential, innovation, and the subsequent contribution there of.
“Give me your tired and poor, your huddled masses yearning to breath free.”
13
@Pam It's a poem not an open invitation. We should not allow people here who can only survive by forcing the rest of us to pay the real costs of their labor. The left likes the poem but they seem to forget that people went home if they couldn't make it here. The literally believe no one should be refused admission here and everyone should be given access to our tax dollars, infrastructure and social services. That is not the purpose of this country.
3