Re: How to Price US Citizenship

[climber]

On Nov 8, 2:47 am, "(David P.)" <imb...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> How to Price US Citizenship
>
> Nov 05, 2009 - By John Quelch
>
> In the for-profit sector, there are three basic ways
> to price a product: The cost plus profit margin method;
> benchmarking versus competition; and pricing based on
> customer value. But how should we think about pricing
> in the public sector? Let's take an unusual example:
> the price of US citizenship.  Legal immigrants to the US
> who are resident for 5 years (or 3 years for those who
> marry a US citizen) can apply for US citizenship.
> Currently, citizenship application and processing fees
> in the US are $675 per person, up from $60 two decades
> ago. These fees, which exclude the costs of individual
> legal assistance or private citizenship classes, were
> increased by 69% in July 2007. The basic fee is $595;
> a biometrics fee adds a further $80. Comparable fees in
> Australia and Canada are around $200 (and the Canadian
> residency requirement is just three years).
>
> Let's assume that the $675 reflects current costs, given
> publicly funded citizenship classes, law enforcement
> background checks, office processing, candidate inter-
> views, & swearing-in ceremonies. What then is the value
> of becoming a US citizen rather than remaining as a legal
> resident? New citizens get to vote, apply for federal
> jobs, and bring their families to the US. They also join
> the most exclusive 300 million member club in the history
> of mankind. How much is that worth? Not $675, at least in
> the eyes of 90% of 8 million legal residents eligible to
> become US citizens each year who forgo the option. The
> number of US citizenship applications from legal residents
> dropped by 50 percent in the two years after the price
> increase. As a result, the Fed agency handling citizenship
> applications still runs a budget deficit, suggesting to
> some bureaucrats that the price needs to be raised again!
>
> Should the rest of us care? Should we, as a nation of
> immigrants, subsidize the cost of processing applications
> in an economic recession to motivate more qualified but
> resource-strapped residents to apply? Would our democracy
> benefit if more legal residents joined the ranks of voters,
> became fully engaged in community life, & put down stronger
> roots? How can we quantify these benefits to justify a price
> below cost? Or should we leave the price as is but market
> the benefits of citizenship more effectively?
>
> Or should we raise the price of US citizenship again?
> Imagine that every naturalized citizen was asked what
> value he or she would place on having become a US citizen.
> In most cases, the estimates of net present value would
> surely exceed $675. Why not treat admission to US citizen-
> ship as Harvard treats its applicants: charge $30,000
> tuition but refund, on average, 50 percent of tuition
> revenues in scholarships to those who need help? Perhaps
> allow an income tax deduction of value-based citizenship
> fees over five years?
>
> What do you think? How would you advise the US government
> to set a price for citizenship?
> .
> .
> --

We don't need anymore immigrants. Deport all illegal aliens and then
we can start a debate. Limit legal immigration to persons with college
degrees in the sciences and engineering. Cap it at 100 thousand per
year.

climber

[Iconoclast]

> climber- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Excellent post. If for no other reason, illegals should be deported
because they tell us that our "broken" immigration system breaks up
families. For family reunification purposes, we should send them back
to their failed Hispanic homelands. After all, former President
Whorehay Bush said that family values don't stop at the Rio Grande.
That works in the other direction too. Send those family value loving
criminal aliens back to their wives and children in the backward Third
World villages in Latin America where they can reunite with their
loved ones.