Guest Speaker: Sherry Neal

Monday's talk on immigration policies by Sherry Neal highlighted one of the major frustrations with the United States' government's approach to immigration.  The system as it currently stands is far too complex and restrictive for those individuals who would choose to immigrate legally to this country.  I see some clear and unfortunate parallels between our immigration policy and the federal tax code.  1) Both involve systems that are far more complex than necessary.  2) Both provide incentives for deception.  3) In both cases the deception often goes undetected by authorities, but once the authorities catch on, the penalties are severe bordering on draconian.  4) In both cases systems that are supposedly designed for the benefit of the people are primarily beneficial to a small number of people in positions of power who have learned to derive such gains.  No matter what one's views on how restrictive our immigration policies should be as regards outcomes, it seems clear that simpler is better.