Those who support liberal immigration policies claim immigrants do all the dirty jobs that Americans won't do.  The supporters claim that our economy would crash without our 12 million legals and illegals.

Those who oppose immigration insist that immigrants harm the economy by driving down the wages of our poorest workers.  Opponents also insist that immigrants are bankrupting medical and other critical services.

All those things are more or less true.

But there is a huge, secret upside to immigration that no one seems to want to talk about.  Politicians are afraid to touch it.  Pollsters shy away from it.  But the secret is seeping out to the public.

The secret is quality.

Immigrants offer much higher quality work at every level.

• The nurses and nurses' aides at the large hospital are a far cry from the caring nurses of twenty years ago.  The new crop goes listlessly through their checklists, frequently falling short of their minimal tasks.  Malfunctioning machines are left beeping.  Loved ones have to come in to supplement the patients' care.

When I commented about the poor quality of nursing to a doctor, she said, "It's a shame.  The quality of nursing has gone down substantially.  That's why I always choose Filipino or Indian nurses when I can.  They're much more dedicated and much more intelligent."

• The newly opened hotel at the Renaissance Center in Detroit was bright; everything was spic and span.  For about thirty days, that is.  By the time the hotel had been open for six months, it had deteriorated.  The rooms were dirty, the beds sloppily made.  It was obvious that no one had made the acquaintance of a vacuum cleaner.  I stayed there several times, and all the housekeepers I observed were Americans.

The J.W. Marriott at Cherry Creek in Denver has been open for more than six years, and yet it appears to be brand new.  Everything is in tiptop condition.  The rooms are clean and neat.  The cleaning staff wield their vacuum cleaners with great enthusiasm and great skill.  During my three week stay, all the housekeepers I observed were Mexicans.

• In Naples, Florida, a large condominium complex hired a construction company to restore its concrete balconies, which were showing obvious spalling and deterioration.  The repair work was slow and sloppily done.  One worker spent his days on the swing stage, sniffing a paint can and getting high.  His replacement was even worse. Overall, the steel and cement work was terrible.  Balconies began showing deterioration within six months after the job's completion. The workers were all Americans.

Eight years later, the condominium association hired a different firm to restore its (by then) badly deteriorating balconies.  This construction company sent a bilingual Mexican foreman.  The difficult project was completed effectively and on time.  No deterioration has been observed in four years.  The workforce was 100% Mexican.

• The highly rated public school in upscale Westchester, New York, employed American teachers teaching American students.  Everyone thought it was a very good school.

Then several Japanese executives moved their families into the school district and enrolled their children in "the very good school."  Before long, a Japanese teacher was hired by the Japanese families to open a "Saturday school" to make up for the deficiencies of the educational program provided by one of America's very good schools.

It isn't just the Japanese.  Teachers frequently say, "Our foreign students really work hard, but then slack off under the influence of their fellow American students."

• A manufacturer of gears and speed reducers was renowned for the quality of its products.  When asked how it could produce much higher quality than its competitors, the company's treasurer remarked, "We never hire American machinists.  We hire only German immigrants.  They are very skilled and have enormous pride in their work."
• A periodontist was famed throughout his very painful profession.  His patients never complained of pain following his surgery.  When asked the secret of his patient-friendly success, he replied, "It's all in the sewing.  My father was an immigrant tailor and he really taught me how to sew."  How many American surgeons have been taught basic sewing?
• The trauma unit at Ft. Myers Hospital saved an American woman who arrived with less than a 50 percent chance of surviving a brutal auto accident.  Her ER and OR surgeons had emigrated from India, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Morocco.

Well, there you have it.

Another word for immigrant is "quality."

If you were a patient or customer in any of the above situations, wouldn't you choose an immigrant over an American?

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