[tptacek]

There is a huge labor shortage in the health care industry.

It's hard to take seriously the "lower class problems" that are created when you move someone from a place with no running water to a place with free public schools.

I don't agree with the "signals" thing, but you didn't make an argument against it, you just got huffy.

[angersock]

There's a huge labor shortage in the software industry, but we seem to be doing just fine. Simply pointing out that the shortage exists does not automatically imply that it's relevant or even useful to correct.

If you will not acknowledge that this course of action could well increase the class divide, or that widening said divide is bad for everyone, there's not much to be done.

(As an aside, why again is it undesirable to simply help them get running water and schools in their own countries?)

More concise explanation of the signal bit: the notion that we can get reliable factual signals out of the current situation does not work, because we can cherry pick any action (or lack thereof) and ascribe to it motivations at whim. Better?

[yummyfajitas]

If you will not acknowledge that this course of action could well increase the class divide, or that widening said divide is bad for everyone, there's not much to be done.

Could you justify this claim? Or is this simply an axiom of yours?

(As an aside, why again is it undesirable to simply help them get running water and schools in their own countries?)

It's not. It's just not as cost effective. Building running water in India is not under our control, nor is it free. Allowing people to live and work in the US has a negative cost - we benefit from their labor, and they benefit from our consistent water supply.

I think those benefits outweigh any liberal angst created by increased inequality (within US borders) and decreased global inequality.