海角大神

In today鈥檚 edition, our five handpicked stories explore democracy (Why Iowa?), leadership (Hindu nationalism), hope (in eastern Ukraine), generosity (in Maine), and endless creativity (Leonardo da Vinci).

But first, even legal immigrants are freeloaders.

That鈥檚 a perception underscoring Monday鈥檚 move by the Trump administration to make it tougher for legal immigrants to become U.S. citizens if they鈥檝e relied on food stamps or Medicaid or housing vouchers. Officials framed the decision as a principled push toward self-reliance.

True compassion isn鈥檛 giving someone a fish; it鈥檚 teaching them how to fish. In other words, tighter green card rules help people become self-sufficient, administration officials suggest. Of course, tackling the problem of 鈥渇reeloading鈥� immigrants plays well with voters as we head into the 2020 election.

But that perception is not based on the facts. Let鈥檚 take food stamps: 93% of all food stamp payments go to native-born U.S. citizens. What about Medicaid? The Associated Press puts that number at 93%.

In fact, if you鈥檙e a capitalist, you want legal immigrants. They create new jobs. , reports Harvard Business Review. Immigrants make up just 13% of the population but account for nearly 28% of America鈥檚 entrepreneurs. To become a U.S. citizen, immigrants need to be resourceful, persistent, and determined in overcoming obstacles 鈥� the same qualities that make good entrepreneurs.

Just ask South African immigrant Elon Musk (Tesla), Russian immigrant Sergey Brin (Google), or Taiwanese聽immigrant Jerry Yang (Yahoo).