The Washington Free Beacon's Ellison Barber appeared on Fox Business Network's Lou Dobbs Tonight Friday to discuss, among other issues, the effect of low-skill immigrants on the economy.
Barber argued that average Americans don't see low-skill immigration as pertinent to them and are more concerned with the overall recovery of the economy and job creation.
Full exchange:
LOU DOBBS: When you want to absolutely leave the status quo intact, you expand the problem instead of dealing with the issue. How effective is that, Ellison? You watch that every day in Washington.
ELLISON BARBER: I do, and I think this goes to show you what a clear divide there still is on immigration. It's a complex issue, and it is always going to be one. There are a lot of different issues that need to be worked out. But when it comes to how immigration will benefit the economy, I think a lot of people do look at it and we've seen in poll after poll, that the priority for most people is not immigration right now. It's just the overall well-being of the economy and jobs, and I think that's something that the average person in the public is a little more concerned with right now than how much low-skill immigration is going to help the economy, because I don't think they see that as helping them personally.