Closing the Golden Door

Missouri legislators are trying to make it even harder for illegal immigrants to get an education or earn a living. State Sen Chris Koster explains why:

"At various points in our country’s history we have become addicted to cheap, illegal labor. We are again becoming addicted to cheap, illegal labor,” Koster said. “Unless we remove the needle of addiction from our arm in the very near future, we will not be able to ever get it out.”

First of all, if you allow immigrants to go to school, their labor won’t be cheap any more. Problem solved. Second, hiring unskilled immigrants isn’t a harmful addiction, it’s a way to help people who have few other opportunities.

If this country hadn’t been more open to immigration in the past, I’d probably be working for a Russian or Turkish free-market think tank right now. And I doubt that "Koster" is a Native-American family name either.