This blog is intended to go along with Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues, by John R. Weeks, published by Cengage Learning. The latest edition is the 13th (it will be out in January 2020), but this blog is meant to complement any edition of the book by showing the way in which demographic issues are regularly in the news.

You can download an iPhone app for the 13th edition from the App Store (search for Weeks Population).

If you are a user of my textbook and would like to suggest a blog post idea, please email me at: john.weeks@sdsu.edu

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Immigration Common Sense in North Carolina

There was a ray of immigration sunshine coming out of North Carolina today, as noted by my son, Greg Weeks, in his blog, which I copy below:

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety issued a lengthy and carefully argued report on the potential effects of anti-immigration laws in the state. That report is now acting as a deterrent to supporters of such laws because it concludes that they will be costly (especially for incarceration and courts) and will not achieve their desired goals.
The 50-page study, released publicly last week, prompted the sponsor of the legislation mandating the study to say some of the proposals might not be essential. Said Rep. Harry Warren, R-Rowan: “They might be, and I stress might be, something that would be expendable.”
That's an interesting way to put it, but the basic idea is that common sense could possibly prevail.

The report also notes how unemployment in North Carolina has slowly trended downward, which negates the argument that immigrants are taking jobs from natives. In short, punitive laws serve little purpose and don't even achieve what you want.



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