TRIM: Tri-State Immigration Moratorium, Inc.

PO Box 1812, Cathedral Station
New York, NY 10025
(212) 439-8746
trim@trim.org

Welcome to our home page! TRIM is a volunteer-based, non-partisan, grass-roots immigration reform organization, incorporated since 1995, with members in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. TRIM supports the total elimination of all illegal immigration into the United States, and a reduction in legal immigration from the current level of nearly a million per year to between 100,000 and 300,000 annually.

Why Reduce Immigration?
What Does TRIM Want?
What Does TRIM Do?
What Can You Do?
Links
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Why Reduce Immigration?

There is nothing wrong with most immigrants. They are mostly ordinary, decent people who happen to have been born in other countries, and on the whole they are no better or worse than people born in America. The problem is not the people, but the numbers. Even good people can cause serious problems if too many are coming too fast!

Immigration has increased radically over the past few decades. Legal immigration has leapt from 300,000 a year in the mid 60's to over 1,000,000 a year in the 90's, and the increase in legal immigration has spurred a corresponding increase in illegal immigration. (Illegal immigrants tend to come from the same countries as legal immigrants, work at the same kind of jobs, and often live with or are employed by friends or relatives who are here legally). All serious polls show that most Americans have wanted less immigration, not more. But the American people have had little say in the matter! The issue has been controlled in Congress by pro-immigration special interests: big corporations and agricultural interests, who want a steady supply of cheap labor; ethnic politicians and activists, who see imported voters as a way of increasing their own power and influence; and even immigration lawyers, who simply want more clients.

The problems caused by too much immigration fall into several categories:

Environmental. Immigration is currently the source of most US population growth, and population growth is at the root of all environmental problems. Americans typically have small families, so our population should not be growing rapidly. Yet the U.S. Census Bureau is projecting that our population is going to grow from 283 million in 2000 to over 400 million by 2050 and over 570 million by 2100. (This is the Census Bureau's middle projection; the high projection is 553 million by 2050 and 1.18 billion by 2100). About 90 percent of this growth will be due to immigrants and their children. If immigration had remained at the level of the mid 60's America would be close to zero population growth today, and protecting the environment would be a much easier task.
Labor market. It is a shocking fact that despite the recent economic "boom" America's working poor make less money today (after adjusting for inflation) then they did in 1970. According to a study by the National Academy of Sciences almost half of this decline in wages is a direct result of competition between American workers and unskilled immigrant workers. But it's not just the poor who suffer; employers have been steadily replacing educated American technical workers with foreigners on "temporary" H-1B visas, workers who are no more skilled than the Americans they replace, but who work for less and are easier to exploit. Big business is an avid supporter of mass immigration; an example of this is the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, which since the mid 80's has repeatedly proposed a five word amendment to the Constitution: "There shall be open borders." This would effectively dissolve the nation, and would devastate most Americans workers, since a truly free labor market would equalize American wages with those of the Third World, much of which lives on less than two dollars a day. But on the plus side it would be great for corporate profits.
Quality of life. The impact of immigration on a community can vary greatly according to the number of immigrants, their origins, and conditions in the community when they arrive. But common sense will tell you that in most cases it is simply disruptive to flood a community with newcomers who do not speak the language or share the customs of the natives. Immigration is often said to "revitalize" troubled neighborhoods, yet even there what is usually really happening is that the original inhabitants of those neighborhoods -- the very people who were "troubled" to begin with -- are simply being pushed aside and marginalized by immigrants who are more aggressive economically. But most American communities are not "troubled," and what is far more common than "revitalization" is that normal, average American cities and towns suddenly find themselves overwhelmed. Their schools suddenly have large numbers of children who do not speak English and who require expensive special education. Real estate values fall as impoverished immigrant families crowd into housing and carve out enclaves. There are new crime problems and new demands on social services. Cities become more crowded and suburbs sprawl as population rises. Ethnic tensions increase, as long term residents complain about the changes and the newcomers respond that any such complaints are racist. Some Americans may benefit (for example employers seeking cheap labor), but for a far greater number the impact is simply to make their lives more complicated and difficult.
National integrity. Diversity can be a dangerous thing. One need only open a history book to find examples of nations that have been ripped apart by conflicts fueled by ethnic, cultural, religious, or linguistic diversity. Our founding fathers understood this, and believed that "United we stand, divided we fall." The motto of the United States is "E Pluribus Unum," which means "Out of many, one," and in the past great efforts were made to ensure that immigrants assimilated to the dominant American culture. But today the very idea of assimilation is under attack by multiculturalists, who glorify diversity and believe that it is racist to expect immigrants to give up their own languages and cultures and become Americans. Spanish speaking immigrants in particular, because of their numbers and the proximity of Latin America, threaten to permanently divide America on the basis of language. In many immigrant communities today a Hispanic immigrant can go for months without ever needing to speak or understand English. In some cities, like Miami, it has become difficult for people who don't speak Spanish to find jobs. In the American Southwest -- an area that will soon be dominated by Spanish speakers -- small separatist groups have already formed, and are actively seeking converts among the young. No one can predict the future, so nothing may come of this, but history does not repeat itself, and the fact that we successfully absorbed one fairly brief wave of mass immigration at the beginning of the last century is no guarantee that we will be able to absorb an unending flow of newcomers in the changed conditions of this new century. Our history as a nation is shorter than many people realize, and immigration is a powerful engine of change. It is arrogant pride to believe that the United States is so different from the rest of the world that we can consider ourselves forever safe from the kind of problems that have plagued so many other nations.

We need to reduce immigration because our current immigration policy is irrational. It benefits only the few, not the many, and it puts the future at risk. Mass immigration might make sense if America had a shortage of people. But we are already a nation of over a quarter of a billion people, and there is nothing we want to accomplish as a nation that requires a larger population. Immigration advocates often imply that immigrants are smarter, more energetic, more vital, or even more American than the native born. This is an insulting myth. There is nothing wrong with immigrants, but neither are they in any way superior to people born in America. (In particular it is absolutely reprehensible to allow our immigration policy to be influenced by the idea that poor people from other countries are superior to American poor!). Some say that high immigration is an American tradition. But we are not slaves to the past, and if a tradition starts to hurt us we have every right to change it. Finally, some argue that -- whatever the impact on Americans -- we have a moral obligation to help the world's poor by allowing them to come here. But even leaving aside the impropriety of a U.S. government policy that places the well being of foreigners above that of Americans, there is still the problem of numbers. The world's poor number not in millions, but in billions, and their number is growing by over 80 million a year. We could not begin to scratch the surface of world poverty even with ten times as much immigration! We may flatter ourselves that our immigration policy is "compassionate," but in truth it does little to relieve world poverty, while cruelly giving false hope to billions of people who will never be able to come here under any circumstances. There are much more effective ways for America to help the world's poor.

If we allow immigration to continue at current levels the result won't necessarily be disaster. As other countries have done, America can probably muddle through with a divided, multilingual, and growing population of half a billion, or even a billion people. But is this the future we want for our children and grandchildren? And if it is not, should the United States government be forcing this future upon us? In 1995 the bipartisan U.S. Commission on Immigration -- established by Congress, and chaired by the late civil rights leader Barbara Jordan -- recommended a reduction in legal immigration, an end to "family reunification" and the "diversity lottery," and other changes in immigration policy that the commission considered to be in the best interests of the American people. The recommendations of the Jordan Commission were fiercely attacked and eventually defeated by an unusual coalition of left-wing ethnic lobbies and right-wing business lobbies, none of which had the best interests of the American people at heart. Unless the American people fight back our immigration policy will continue to be controlled by special interests, and our country will suffer for it.

What Does TRIM Want?

Many people think that immigration into America has always been high, and that the current situation is normal. But in fact immigration has been low as often as it has been high. Low immigration is as American as high immigration, and these periods of low immigration have given America time to rest and assimilate the newcomers. American immigration policy is determined by Congress, so that is where change must come from. TRIM wants Congress to:

Reduce total immigration to between 100,000 and 300,000 a year. At these levels the number of people entering the United States each year will roughly equal the number who leave, and immigration will no longer be a major factor in U.S. population growth. (This reduction is what we mean by an immigration "moratorium." We do not advocate stopping immigration entirely!)
End illegal immigration. The United States has a right to control its own borders. The rest of the world must respect our immigration laws.
Eliminate the "diversity lottery." Immigrants should be chosen on the basis of what they have to contribute, not random chance.
Reserve "family reunification" for nuclear family members. Immigrants should be allowed to bring in their spouses and unmarried minor children only. The current practice of "family reunification" results in chain migration, where immigrants bring in relatives who bring in an endless chain of further relatives. When we allow an immigrant to come to this country we are granting an enormously valuable favor; immigrants should not be allowed to turn around and demand more favors for other members of their families.

What Does TRIM Do?

Get people involved. This is our first priority. An overwhelming percentage of Americans believe that immigration is too high, but immigration is not issue number one for most of these people. American politicians listen carefully to the American people on certain hot button issues, such as taxes, abortion, gun control, or Social Security, but for issues like immigration, which are just as important in the long run but less pressing on a day to day basis, our politicians very often ignore the voice of the people and listen instead to special interest groups. Unless the American people can organize to make their voices heard on this issue the special interests will win, and our children and grandchildren will lose.
Provide speakers. TRIM has provided speakers for numerous television and radio debates, as well as academic panels and other local events. Please get in touch with us if you are looking for articulate and well informed immigration reform spokes people.
Organize public activities. TRIM has organized or been involved in a number of public demonstrations, which have been covered by local and national media. We are particularly interested in members who are willing to show their commitment by participating in such demonstrations.
Lobby Congress. TRIM has sent members to Washington D.C. to lobby for immigration reform. We have sent both individuals and groups as large as 24 people, who in cooperation with activists from other parts of the country have visited hundreds of Congressional offices to deliver our message in person.

What Can You Do?

Join an immigration reform organization. This is the simplest and easiest way to get involved. Not everyone has time to attend meetings or write letters, but everyone has time to write out a check once a year, and if you are not willing to participate at this level then you really have no right to complain about what immigration is doing to your country.
Write or telephone Congress. Very few people ever bother to contact their Congressmen, so considerable attention is paid to those who do make the effort.
- You can reach any Congressional office by phone via the Congressional Switchboard, at (202) 225-3121. Your call will be taken by a member of the Congressman's staff. You must be very brief and to the point: you think immigration is too high, and you are for or against a particular bill or policy which is currently under consideration.
- You can also write to a Congressman via e-mail, fax, or regular mail. E-mail is easiest, but is often ignored. Faxes are better; you can write your own, or you can send free pre-written faxes from the NumbersUSA web site. Best of all are letters delivered via regular mail (especially if hand written or typed on an old-style typewriter!). Letters can be longer and more detailed than phone calls, but generally should be limited to one page. The staffers who read these letters are very busy, and are unlikely to read past the first page, unless you have a striking personal story to tell which might be of direct interest to the Congressman.
- Letters to Senators should be sent to: The Honorable [Name of Senator], United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510. Letters to Representatives should be sent to: The Honorable [Name of Representative], United States House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.
Write to newspapers and magazines. Most newspapers and magazines receive far more letters than they can print, so your letters need to be well written and concise, and should make a clear and forceful point. Study letters that have already been printed for tips as to length and style. Letters that aren't printed can still make a difference; they demonstrate that people are concerned, which makes it more likely that somebody's letter will be printed, even if it's not yours.
Educate yourself. The better you understand the history and impact of immigration, the more convincing you will be when you speak or write about it. We recommend that you read at least one of these three books:
- Alien Nation, by Peter Brimelow (Random House, 1995). Peter Brimelow is a Senior Editor at Forbes Magazine. His June 22, 1992 cover article in The National Review was instrumental in reopening the immigration debate, and his book -- which expands on that article -- looks at the issue from a traditional, conservative point of view.
- The Case Against Immigration, by Roy Beck (Norton, 1996). This book will come as a real shock to liberals who think that only conservatives want to reduce immigration. Roy Beck, an author, journalist, and director of the NumbersUSA web site, lays out the liberal case against immigration, with special emphasis on the negative impact of mass immigration on poor Americans and on the environment.
- Heaven's Door, by George J. Borjas (Princeton University Press, 1999). George Borjas is a Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and widely acknowledged as one of the nation's leading authorities on the economic impact of immigration. His book -- which is occasionally rather technical, but can be profitably read by non-specialists -- persuasively demonstrates how excessive immigration has hurt America's poor.
Recruit. Many people are reluctant to become involved in immigration reform because they are afraid that they will be called uncompassionate, or because they think nothing they do will matter. You must help them understand that they can make a difference. It isn't enough that most Americans want less immigration; unless we chose to make our voices heard the well financed and vocal pro-immigration special interests will win!
Show respect. Immigrants are just ordinary human beings who happen to come here from somewhere else, and it is extremely important that you speak of them and treat them with respect. One of the biggest problems the immigration reform movement has is the stereotype that people who think immigration should be reduced are motivated by hatred. If you are obnoxious, bigoted, or excessively angry when you talk about immigration you risk confirming that stereotype, and turning away people who might otherwise be on your side. Remember, it is not the immigrants who are at fault. The fault lies with our own government, for maintaining an immigration policy which makes no sense for most Americans.

Links

There are many good immigration reform web sites. Listed below are some of the most important.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, is the most important national immigration reform organization. FAIR has been fighting hard for lower immigration since 1979. With over 250,000 members, FAIR is in many ways similar to other big-time Washington special interest lobbies, the difference being that they are on our side! FAIR staff members are quoted regularly in the national media, and have developed close ties with key members of Congress. Although TRIM is not formally affiliated with FAIR we have worked with them on a number of occasions, and they have provided enormous help and support to TRIM and other grass roots organizations. If you feel that you are able to join only one immigration reform organization then we strongly recommend that you become a member of FAIR.

NumbersUSA is maintained by Roy Beck, author of The Case Against Immigration. It provides educational resources and up-to-the-minute information on the latest immigration legislation before Congress. In addition you can use NumbersUSA to send faxes to Congress and influence legislation. This service is free! The faxes are written by the NumbersUSA people; all that is required of you is that you register at the site and check occasionally for new faxes. The faxes that you decide to send will be received with your name and address, and you may receive replies from Members of Congress or their staffs. Please register with NumbersUSA and start sending free faxes to Congress!

The Center for Immigration Studies is an excellent source of scholarly studies and information on immigration. They also maintain the very useful CISNEWS e-mail list.

Immigration Forum is maintained by Norman Matloff, professor of computer science at the University of California at Davis, and features articles on a wide variety of immigration related topics. Dr. Matloff has been especially active fighting efforts by the high-tech industry to increase the number of "temporary" H-1B workers. Read his Congressional testimony on this issue.