IMPORTING THE SUPERIOR CITIZENS:

[T]he fact of massive immigration, even illegal immigration, into the United States also undermines the left's complaints about American society. Why would millions of people, including millions of minorities, be so eager to come to a nation where there is supposedly systematic racism, a structure of white privilege, and little social mobility?

Every day, hundreds of people cast a vote with their feet by immigrating to the United States. Thousands more would add their thumbs up to this nation if they were permitted to do so. We have net positive immigration from almost all nations in the world, including developed nations. People of all income classes want to come here, from the very poor to the very rich. Immigrants of all races and ethnicities want to live here permanently.

And while it is true that some people immigrate to the United States because of desperate straits in their own nations, many still choose us over other developed nations if they can. Many others leave relatively comfortable lives, where they enjoy high status in their own societies. And these include people who are in the racial majority in their own nation but will become a racial minority here. Middle-class Nigerians and Blacks from the Caribbean Islands are examples are just a few of the groups who now form important communities in our nation.

And these immigrants flourish here. The income of almost all groups of "hyphenated" Americans is higher than in the nation from which they came. That is true not only of immigrants from poor nations but also those from wealthy ones. For instance, Americans of Scandinavian descent have higher incomes than those who stayed behind in their native countries. But so do people from the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Such universal flourishing undermines the claim that the United States is unfriendly to social mobility.

This better performance does not depend only on the selection effect--on the shared characteristics of those who decide to migrate--but also on the fine institutions of the United States. For instance, a recent study suggested that most talented migrants to the United States are up to six times more productive than migrants to other nations.

The United States certainly provides a stark contrast with a nation like France, which has struggled to integrate immigrants from Africa. The so-called banlieues--suburbs with high proportions of immigrants--have permanently high unemployment and high crime rates. The ability of the United States to assimilate immigrants is another reflection of its healthier society.

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