Limits urged on new arrivals
Author cites societal changes
- |
WATERTOWN - Mark Krikorian is everywhere, it seems, making the case against immigration.
He has been on C-SPAN, testified before Congress, and this week he held court before a group of fellow Armenians in Watertown, many of them immigrants themselves.
He was not what they expected. He exudes a rumpled charm, with thick eyeglasses and a mop of thinning gray hair. But Krikorian's authoritative voice is so reasoned, and his demeanor so amiable, that it makes immigrant advocates leery.
Legal immigrants. Illegal immigrants. Krikorian wants fewer of both.
From the podium Wednesday night at the Armenian Library and Museum of America, Krikorian eyed the two dozen in the room. Some smiled, including his mother. Others sat stone-faced, arms folded. He quickly deadpanned that for a week his new book was number six on the
"For one week," he said with a smile. "I knew it would never happen again so I framed it. "
They laughed.
For the next hour, he held their attention. Krikorian is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington think tank that issues reports outlining the costs of immigration to the United States. This year, he is on a book tour to promote "The New Case Against Immigration." The cover features an image of the Statue of Liberty with her hand held up as if to say: Stop.
Krikorian's premise: America has changed over the last century from an agriculture-based society that welcomed millions of low-skilled immigrants to a high-tech, service-based economy that demands higher skills. Uneducated workers, he says, tap into healthcare and other government-funded services and compete with American high school dropouts for jobs.
His proposal: Sharply reduce immigration from the 1.5 million immigrants who enter each year - which includes roughly 500,000 illegal immigrants. He would reduce the 12 million illegal immigrants in the country now by several million people. And he would allow 350,000 to 400,000 legal immigrants in a year, reducing the number of relatives that US citizens can bring in and admitting a limited number of high-skilled workers and refugees.
"In the conditions of the modern society, a person with low levels of skill and education, no matter how many jobs he has, no matter how hard he works, he cannot support a family . . . without support from taxpayers," Krikorian told the group. "It just can't happen."
Krikorian's critics say his approach runs counter to the United States' history as a nation of immigrants and would force families to live apart from their relatives. The United States still needs immigrants for low-wage jobs, they say, and it is impractical to suggest sending illegal immigrants home.
"He's the moderate face of a very hard-line movement," said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that favors an immigration overhaul. "He talks in soothing and academic tones about an agenda that I find extreme."
But B. Lindsay Lowell, director of policy studies at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of International Migration, said Krikorian and the center are making an honest attempt to make their case.
"I think that they are intelligent brokers for a point of view I don't quite share," he said in an e-mail. "At least, they are honest about putting out a number that they think is preferable while their opposition mostly mouths vague platitudes about not 'restricting' immigration as if ever-growing numbers or open borders is a viable option."
Krikorian takes pains in his book to avoid blaming immigrants. He is the grandson of Armenian immigrants and speaks the language fluently. Now 47, he was born in Connecticut to parents from Medford and Watertown. He grew up mainly in the Midwest but lived in Massachusetts as a teenager and graduated from Winchester High School. He was educated at Georgetown University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
He fell into the immigration debate because of his opposition to bilingual education and eventually found work at the Federation for American Immigration Reform, among other jobs. He went to work for the Center for Immigration Studies in 1995.
After his talk, many in the crowd praised Krikorian.
"I would like to limit (immigration) if they aren't educated, if they are going to be a burden on government handouts," said Bette Ohanian of Watertown, the daughter of Armenian immigrants.
Barbara Merguerian, a freelance writer, questioned why the number of illegal immigrants had been allowed to swell.
"We're a country of law and order," she said.
"I just can't believe that the US government is unable to stop this mass of immigrants to this country."
If Krikorian's plan had been in place a century ago, some of the people in the room might not have been allowed into the United States.
"I disagreed with him completely," said Bethel Bilezikian Charkoudian, whose parents survived the Armenian genocide. "We're living in a world without borders."
Maria Sacchetti can be reached at msacchetti@globe.com. 
