In an ideal world, anybody should be able to move anywhere they can find a place to live and work.
I was fortunate to live in a time when I was welcome anywhere as a Univac employee. I requested a transfer to Europe and wound up in Switzerland and then Italy. I requested a transfer from Italy to Sweden and was given it. From both places I worked in or traveled to almost all of the countries of Western Europe.
Because I was "from Roseville", the place where most of the 1100 series of Univac computers originated, I was perceived as an "expert", even when local people could solve many problems better than I could.
I had friends ask me to transfer to South Africa or Iran, both of which I declined.
I really think that anybody anywhere should have the mobility that I have had all my life. I grew up and was educated in Ohio. But I chose to work in Minnesota. From Minnesota I spent six years in Europe. Then I spent three years in SE Pennsylvania. Then I was able to transfer back to Minnesota. After 22 years in Plymouth MN, my wife was able to get a transfer to Duluth.
I think everyone should have such chances for the changes we had.
But... It is not an ideal world. Many of those who claim to want immigration reform don't want reform for its own sake, but "reform" to exclude those they don't like and “reform” to have access to those who will reduce their costs.
The people that "immigration reform" proponents want are immigrants who are highly-skilled. If you think about it and look behind the curtain, what they really want is lower-paid workers and is having somebody else pay for the education of these "highly-skilled" workers.
These potential immigrants were educated with the help of taxes in other countries. When "immigration reform" proponents entice these people to the U.S., they are depriving those countries of the benefits of their investments. Those investments could pay off for a better political and economic culture in those countries. As the saying goes, "Those with get up and go, go!"
The irony is that who want more "skilled" immigrants are destabilizing many of the countries where they immigrants come from. Rather than paying taxes for a bloated military that goes more places than it should, these people should be willing to pay for taxes to give the children in the United States a high-quality education.
