Another great contribution to society...

From the November 25, 2007, New York Times we have the tale of a blind Turkish immigrant named Nihal Erkan. She moved here in 2005, and married a fellow blink Turk who moved to the U.S. with his family in '93. Here we pick up the narrative..

"In June 2005, Ms. Erkan graduated from college with a degree in psychology. She arrived in New York four months later, speaking little English. To prepare for her next goal, a master’s degree in child psychology, she knew she had to master the language. But she has no income. She and Mr. Durantas, who has a green card and works sporadically as an interpreter, live on his Supplemental Security Income of $629 a month. Their subsidized rent is $192 a month."

Now, this is going to sound mean spirited, and this woman is obviously not a total slouch, having earned her bachelor's degree. But again we have people who have not contributed to Social Security AND THEY ARE COLLECTING SSI!! WHY!? Don't get me started on the subsidized rent.

So we as a country limit access to H1B visas and charge an arm and a leg to talented people who will contribute to our technological leadership in the world. But the door is open to those who start taking immediately. Great idea.

Why are these people living here?

From the November 26, 2007 New York Times....
Mr. and Mrs. Bencosme arrived in the United States from the Dominican Republic in 1995, invited by a sister of Mr. Bencosme’s. After years of toil — she in a factory, he as a dishwasher — they won a small measure of comfort and ease. Now their days of paid employment are over: He has heart disease; she has back problems, arthritis and osteoporosis. But they have no time to relax, especially Mrs. Bencosme. Their older son, Pablo de Jesus, joined them first, about three years ago, bringing two of his children to Washington Heights, where the Bencosmes were living in one room of a three-bedroom apartment. They rented a second room in the same apartment, and a busy life of school drop-offs, job searches and sleeping arrangements began. Their younger son, Pablo Martin, 38, arrived about a year and a half ago, adding two more children to the household. By then Mrs. Bencosme and her husband were living on Mr. Bencosme’s disability benefits of $710 a month, her Social Security payments of $163, and about $400 in food stamps....

story continues....

Years of toil!? At most, twelve before they begin sucking up the benefits of living here. Why are they bringing over more family members who obviously cannot support themselves? This is one of the 'Neediest Cases?'

I have a few suggestions on how to make their lives not so neeedy.

1. Stop having children you cannot support.

2. Stay in the Dominican Republic where you don't have to worry about heating oil expenses.

The punchline to all of this is that while this is supposed to be tugging at our heartstrings their other son is still sending much of his money back to the Dominican Republic.