View all Books
Economics

The Immigration Solution: A Better Plan Than Today's

By Heather Mac Donald, Victor Davis Hanson, Steven Malanga
Ivan R.Dee 2007 ISBN: 9781566637602
Contact
communications@manhattan-institute.org
212-599-7000

About the Book

Undoubtedly the United States needs a liberal and welcoming immigration policy, geared to the needs and interests of the nation. In this urgent new book, three astute observers argue that we have lost control of our southern border, so that the vast majority of our immigrants are now illegal Mexicans. Poor, uneducated, and unskilled, these newcomers add much less to the national wealth than they cost the taxpayers for their health care, the education of their children, and (too often) their incarceration. The Immigration Solution proposes a policy that admits skilled and educated people on the basis of what they can do for the country, not what the country can do for them.

About the Authors

Heather Mac Donald is author of The Burden of Bad Ideas and Are Cops Racist? and lives in New York City.

Victor Davis Hanson's most recent book is A War Like No Other; his syndicated column appears in newspapers throughout the country. He lives in Palo Alto, California.

Steven Malanga's most recent book is The New New Left. He lives in New Jersey. All three are contributing editors of City Journal.

Media

TELEVISION

RADIO

ARTICLES

Symposium: The Immigration Solution By Heather Mac Donald, Victor Davis Hanson, and Steven Malanga, Front Page Magazine, 01-18-08

Why Illegal Immigration Alone Doesn't Matter By Steven Malanga, WashingtonPost.com, November 15, 2007 (This article also appears on RealClearPolitics.com, 11-15-2007)

Hillary Clinton helped to elevate immigration to a central position in the Presidential election when she waffled on the question of whether she favored drivers' licenses for illegal immigrants. Yet much of the public discussion that has followed Clinton's confrontation with questioner Tim Russert has focused only on illegal immigrants. We still know very little about what the candidates would do to reform our broken system of legal immigration. . .

Click here to listen to podcast commentary of this piece.

REVIEWS

Immigration Insights Peter Brimelow, Washington Times, 01-01-08

Absent race, The Immigration Solution is an excellent summary of the state of economic, sociological and historical play in the immigration debate... The Immigration Solution concludes with sensible proposals, commendably directed at legal and illegal immigration, even including a "debate" on the citizen-child interpretation of the 14th Amendment— critical to getting illegal immigration under control. Who knows—in an election year, we may be hearing more about them...

ADVANCE PRAISE

"The Immigration Solution is a cogent analysis of our illegal immigration crisis and the public policy choices facing America. This book is a critically important read for our elected officials and the citizens they should be representing."
Lou Dobbs, anchor and managing editor, Lou Dobbs Tonight

"The Immigration Solution demolishes open-borders myths and provides a clear, sane path toward an immigration plan that benefits America and adheres to the rule of law. Heather Mac Donald, Victor Davis Hanson, and Steven Malanga battle muddled amnesty, advocates with impeccable logic, facts, and principle. This book is not just a must-read. It's a must-do."
Michelle Malkin, author of Invasion

"In this book, the writers from City Journal again show why that magazine is so indispensable. Having helped change conventional wisdom on the urban problems of crime and welfare, they have now taken a hard look at an issue even more suffused with sentimentality and cliche. The Immigration Solution is essential reading for anyone seeking to develop an informed opinion on this vital national issue."
Mark Krikorian, executive director, Center for Immigration Studies

"The divisive debate over immigration is going to continue for some time to come. Mac Donald, Malanga, and Hanson lucidly present their concerns over the current direction of immigration policy and offer more than a few suggestions for change. Even if you disagree with their preferred policy changes, their suggestions are serious, provocative, and worthy of careful thought—and, regardless of your ideological background, you might actually find yourself nodding more than a few times as you read through the book."
Dr. George Borjas, Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Economics and Social Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and author of Heaven's Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy

INTERVIEWS

Mac The Immigration Debate, Q & A with Kathryn Lopez, National Review Online, November 7, 2007

NRO: So what is "The Immigration Solution"?

Heather Mac Donald: Our immigration solution, in a nutshell: Enforce the laws on the books, and favor immigrants whose education and skills will add more to the national prosperity than they cost taxpayers in health care, education, welfare, and—in too many cases—policing and incarceration. . . As my co-author Steve Malanga explains, Canada and Australia, among other industrialized nations, now give priority to immigrants with technical knowledge and English language ability. Our immigration policy should continue to be welcoming and liberal, but it should seek to import expertise . . .