Today is Part 2 of the 4-part blog series about the legacy we are leaving for our children and grandchildren. The question I posed in part 1 was “What impact does the single issue of abortion have on our nation?” Part 1 discussed the war in Iraq. This blog will talk about immigration and border control.

We have a labor shortage in America and it is only going to get worse as the estimated 77 million baby boomers retire. Ask any farmer who is trying to get his crops in. Ask any homebuilder who is trying to get his new home lots cleaned up. Ask any hospital administrator looking for health care workers. In migrant workers alone the United States Department of Labor estimates that there are between 600,000 to 800,000 undocumented workers annually.(1) “The Employment Policy Foundation (EPF) estimates the U.S. labor force will lack 35 million workers by 2030, with most of the shortage concentrated in highly-skilled jobs.”(2) Finally, Japan, one of the first countries to legalize abortion in 1949, is also the first nation to register more annual deaths than births and according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, by 2030 the Japanese workforce will shrink 20 percent.(3)

Because of the millions lost to abortion that will not replace retiring baby boomers, we are forced to supplement our American workforce with immigration. If we pulled up the proverbial drawbridge, according to former United States Commerce Secretary Carlos Guiterrez, we would not have enough foreign workers at “both the high-skilled technical jobs as well as low-skilled agricultural labor” to run our economy.(4)  The greatest natural resource any nation has is its people. Sooner rather than later we must reverse the course and begin building up our work force for the next generation.

In part 3 on Thursday, I will share about social security and the economy.

(1) Weyrich, Paul. “The Farm Worker Shortage, Immigration and a Probable Solution.” Town Hall. 13 February 2008. Town Hall. 6 September 2008 http://tiny.cc/hoFDy.

(2) Coombes, Andrea. “Coming up short: Worker shortage seen in decades ahead; degree debated.” The Wall Street Journal. 15 August 2002. CBS Market Watch. 6 September 2008 http://tiny.cc/AIJXc.

(3) Fujioka, Toru. “Japan's Shrinking Workforce Spurs Shift to Full-Time Employees.” Bloomberg 26 August 2008. Bloomberg. 6 September 2008 http://tiny.cc/iLNlV.

(4) Mikkelsen, Randall. “U.S. to erect more ‘virtual’ border fences.” Reuters 9 June 2008. Reuters. 6 September 2008 http://tiny.cc/AlqUJ.