Last week many countries celebrated World Day for Migrants and Refugees. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Ellen Sauerbrey gave a speech marking this occasion at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. She noted that the United States still welcomes refugees and considers aiding them to be one of its deep-seated traditions.

Sauerbrey also stressed that immigration is beneficial to the United States since refugees have always made significant contributions to the country's economic and cultural development.

The Assistant Secretary of State cited the following figure: "From 2000 to 2005 almost six million people were granted permanent residence in the United States. Immigration continues, even though stricter border control measures were introduced after 9/11. People are having lively debates about what shape immigration policy should take. Many are convinced that we should close our doors to immigrants. I believe, however, that the face of the Statue of Liberty is still turned towards the world and that we will remain an open country."

New immigration laws have made it more difficult to enter the country. According to Sauerbrey, however, the State Department is working on how to remove obstacles for people who deserve to be admitted into the country. Experts note that the administration may receive unexpected support for its immigration policy from the new Congress, where Democrats now hold a majority. So far, Bush's proposal for a system of worker visas for qualified foreigners has met with stiff resistance from a number of Republican legislators, mostly those representing southern border-states.

As the respected political analyst and editor-in-chief of Newsweek Farid Zakaria writes, a poll conducted by his publication showed that on a list of Americans' major concerns, the immigration problem has fallen to fifth place behind Iraq, terrorism, the economy, and healthcare.

Also, the attitude of citizens of the country of immigrants towards this issue is remarkable for its consistency: two-thirds are for tightening entry requirements and are convinced that the current system does not work. About the same number states that the flow of immigrants has a negative effect on the size of local residents' salaries – new arrivals will work for any amount of money and thus cause wages to fall.

Zakaria calls this viewpoint erroneous. He notes what calculations by experts show that immigrants are beneficial to the country. Moreover, the country has a great need for both legal and undocumented immigrants. Zakaria stresses that America is the only industrialized country whose population is increasing appreciably. This fact will guarantee stable economic growth and meet the needs of retiring baby boomers (78 million Americans born after World War II). Without immigrants, writes Zakaria, production growth in the United States over the past 20 years would have been as low as it has been in France.

As far as debates about how immigrants have forced down the wages of Americans are concerned, Zakaria cites research conducted by Professor Giovanni Perry of the University of California, which uses numerous models to prove that including immigrants in labor activity has a positive effect on the welfare of all workers.