Last week, I wrote about why I oppose the silly immigration law that Arizona recently passed. Today, I feel compelled to say why I support reforming immigration policy. It’s not only because I feel current policies are cruel and discriminatory. It’s also because I love our country dearly and know that the reason we became so strong, so quickly was because we were open to immigration.

When we maintain a liberal immigration policy, we are essentially cheating every single nation on earth out of their best citizens. These countries spend billions of dollars feeding these kids, keeping them from playing in traffic and teaching them multiplication tables. During these years, these societies gain absolutely nothing. Then, when they grow up and start working, we steal these people. We just sing our siren song of good jobs, personal freedom and 24/7 Burger King, and people come to us, with all the skills and life experience they’ve accumulated.

From the highly educated, we steal the brilliance that is inadequately rewarded in poorer or less open nations. In the past, these immigrants have blessed us with inventions as diverse as the telephone, the alternating current electric motor and the helicopter. It is estimated that currently one in five U.S. patents is issued to an immigrant. From the uneducated, we steal the drive that leads them to leave everything behind and hustle over a border for a better life. Without the raw labor they provide, the agricultural and service industries would collapse.

Also, a steady influx of immigrants offsets the declining birthrate and increasing average age which results from a population becoming wealthier. It is estimated that by mid-century, America will be one of the few developed nations with a population growing at slightly above replacement rate, which is considered a sweet spot for economic growth.

It’s evil genius. I’m honestly surprised government officials can suppress the urge to cackle maniacally as they release the annual immigration statistics. Then yell, “They all belong to us now!” at the top of their lungs.

Of course, as with everything, there are drawbacks to immigration. We’re in a downturn right now, so there’s low demand for unskilled labor and the effect of most immigration is to depress wages. Also, illegal immigrants’ lack of documentation places extra strain on the police, insurance companies and many social services. But the solution to these problems is not to turn on immigration as a concept. It is to look for ways to integrate the immigrants already here, better police our borders to prevent illegal entry in the first place and make obtaining papers to work in the U.S. legally easier.

It will be hard work, but the rewards are well worth it.

Weinberg senior Michael Gsovski can be reached at [email protected].