Tournament: Sonoma Academy | Round: Quads | Opponent: NA | Judge: NA
Hi Y'all, Hannah can't make it to Berkeley. So Gibran is going to be debating with Miron English, but I will still use this wiki- Gibran

Tournament: Sonoma Academy | Round: Finals | Opponent: NA | Judge: NA
Hi Everyone,
If there is any way we can make the round more accessible for you, please let us know.
2A- Gibran Hassan- gibran.hassan@sonomaacademy.org
1A- Hannah Nabavi- hannah.nabavi@sonomaacademy.org

Tournament: Berkeley | Round: 2 | Opponent: Homestead KW | Judge: Gabe Cook
AC High Skilled Workers- HN
Cyber
A perfect storm of geopolitical and technological factors have created a grave threat of cyber attack
Kilovaty 17 – Cyber Fellow at the Center for Global Legal Challenges, and Resident Fellow at the Information Society Project, both at Yale Law School. (Ido, 1-7-2017, "The world is on the verge of a cyber war," The Jerusalem Post,  http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-world-is-on-the-verge-of-a-cyber-war-477732)
A combination of geopolitical and strategic circumstances is leading to an inevitable war. It's
AND
carefully. Otherwise, 2017 just might be the year of cyber war.

High skilled immigration is key to resolving cyber work shortages and spurring innovation in the cyber security field
NAE 17
The New American Economy is a think tank founded by Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch. It is a coalition of over 500 bipartisan congressman and governors, 3/29/17 ("Sizing Up the Gap in our Supply of STEM Workers", https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/sizing-up-the-gap-in-our-supply-of-stem-workers/, NEA, Accessed 7/14/18)DG
In recent years, however, some policymakers have raised questions about whether the shortage
AND
share of such workers who are unemployed at the time of the survey.

Cyber-attacks threaten vital infrastructure – escalate to nuclear conflict
Tilford 12 (Robert, Graduate US Army Airborne School, July 27, "Cyber attackers could shut down the electric grid for the entire east coast", http://www.examiner.com/article/cyber-attackers-could-easily-shut-down-the-electric-grid-for-the-entire-east-coa, brackets edit out ableist language)
To make matters worse a cyber attack that can take out a civilian power grid
AND
include the use of "nuclear weapons", if authorized by the President.

Blackouts cause nuclear reactor meltdowns—guarantees extinction
Hodges 14 Dave, an established award winning psychology, statistics and research professor as he teaches college and university classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level, an established author as his articles are published on many major websites, citing Judy Haar, a recognized expert in nuclear plant failure analyses, "Nuclear Power Plants Will Become America's Extinction Level Event", April 18 2014, www.thelibertybeacon.com/2014/04/18/nuclear-power-plants-will-become-americas-extinction-level-event/
Fukushima is often spoken of by many, as a possible extinction level event because
AND
the Chinese to park right next door to so many nuclear power plants?

Strong cybersecurity is key to prevent collapse of democracy and rigged elections
Gumbel 18
Andrew Gumbel, 8-1-2018, "Why US elections remain 'dangerously vulnerable' to cyber-attacks," Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/13/us-election-cybersecurity-hacking-voting
Cybersecurity experts have warned for years that malfeasance, technical breakdown or administrative incompetence could
AND
do is attack our systems and get us to delegitimize our own democracy." 

US democracy is key to check global backsliding which unravels international problem-solving on multiple existential threats and causes wars
Kendall-Taylor 16 7/15/2016 (Andrea, deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council and a nonresident senior associate in the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "How Democracy's Decline Would Undermine the International Order," Center for Strategic and International Studies, https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-democracyE28099s-decline-would-undermine-international-order)
It is rare that policymakers, analysts, and academics agree. But there is
AND
distracting their publics from regime shortcomings and fostering public support for strongman tactics.

Innovation
Current restrictions on high skilled immigration undermine US innovation across the board – the best evidence supports the conclusion that foreign born workers are the vital causal link for patents, business startups, and strong entrepreneurial activity.
Griswold 17
Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC.
Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth
https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf
The US immigration system is poorly designed to meet the needs of America's 21st century economy.
AND
The weight of the evidence points to high-skilled immigrants boosting innovation and productivity—mainly through increased quantity of skilled individuals pursuing innovative work."30

There is no alternative for US led innovation – no one else can fill
Gentile 12 (James M., PhD., Emeritus Herrick Professor and Dean for the Natural and Applied Sciences at Hope College in Holland, MI., Past President of Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), Huffpost, "Accepting the Challenge of Continued U.S. Science Leadership," 9/12/12, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-m-gentile/accepting-the-challenge-o_b_1870744.html, accessed online on 6/22/18, AAB)
Globally, there is urgency to the situation, as the world depends increasingly on the scientific breakthroughs for which the United States is legendary. The population of the underdeveloped world is projected to increase by 2.9 billion by 2050, and that growth is likely to add exponentially to problems of health maintenance and disease control.
AND
Given the recent revival among some politicians of the practice of ridiculing ("Proxmiring") National Science Foundation-funded, peer-reviewed, scientific research, as well as congressional gridlock and continuing budget battles, it is unlikely that there is a taxpayer-funded rescue armada steaming this way. We in the academic-based science community must rise to the challenge ourselves.

Expanding the supply of highly skilled immigrants is necessary to develop and commercialize innovative alternative energies
Richard T. Herman 10, immigration lawyer and founder of the Herman Legal Group, "Why Immigrants Can Drive the Green Economy: The Need for New Policy, Vision, and Story Telling," June 2010, https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/Richard_Hermans_Green_Economy_062310.pdf
It should come as no surprise that immigrants will help drive the green revolution. America's young scientists and engineers, especially the ones drawn to emerging industries like alternative energy, tend to speak with an accent.
AND
 The challenge is getting the American people to understand that high‐skill immigration creates jobs, that the current system is broken, and that action is required now.

Infrastructure modernization and innovation is crucial to fight climate change
Wilkins 17
Wilikins Head of Environmental and Climate Risk Research at SandP Global, 2017 (Michael, "Fighting climate change with green infrastructure" The World Bank Group's Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships Blog, November 23, http://blogs.worldbank.org/ppps/fighting-climate-change-green-infrastructure, accessed 7-10-18, HSS RH)
According to NASA, 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001
AND
Ultimately, the advantages of green infrastructure projects are two-fold: they can mitigate the production of GHG emissions and also provide extra resilience against the effects of global warming. And, in doing so, they can bring communities and economies together to find common strategies to tackle climate change.

Climate change outweighs all other impacts – it's a threat multiplier and higher probability
Torres 16 (Phil, affiliate scholar @ Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 7-22-PhD candidate @ Rice University in tropical conservation biology, Op-ed: Climate Change Is the Most Urgent Existential Risk, http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Torres20160807)
Humanity faces a number of formidable challenges this century. Threats to our collective survival stem from asteroids and comets, supervolcanoes, global pandemics, climate change, biodiversity loss, nuclear weapons, biotechnology, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and artificial superintelligence.
AND
Given the potential for environmental degradation to elevate the likelihood of nuclear wars, nuclear terrorism, engineered pandemics, a superintelligence takeover, and perhaps even an impact winter, it ought to take precedence over all other risk concerns — at least in the near-term. Let's make sure we get our priorities straight.

Independently, restrictions on high skilled immigration hamper medical innovation
Rapaport 17(Lisa, Freelance Journalist, Writer and Editor, "US immigration restrictions may slow medical research," 9/25/17, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-immigration-physicians/us-immigration-restrictions-may-slow-medical-research-idUSKCN1C02XE, accessed online on 6/25/18, AAB)
(Reuters Health) - Recently proposed changes to U.S. immigration policy may slow the progress of medical research, some doctors argue. Nationwide, roughly 18 percent of medical professors in the U.S. are graduates of foreign medical schools, according to an analysis published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
AND
. "Diversity is the key to success, and science has no boundaries," Masri said. "You remain the best by attracting the brightest minds."

Innovation key to the entire foundation of the health care system
Bhardwaj 18 (Gunjan, Dr., Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Innoplexus AG, Forbes, "Why The World Needs Health Care Innovation Now," 3/19/18, https://www.forbes.com/sites/unicefusa/2018/06/22/bringing-hope-to-children-in-kenyas-kalobeyei-refugee-settlement/~~#7e3d06804326, accessed online on 6/24/18, AAB)
While some of these issues are difficult to resolve quickly, innovators in all corners of the health care industry are working to try and make improvements for patients, practitioners and companies alike. And since health care spending increased by $3.3 trillion in 2016, the opportunities for growth are replete. The following are some of the top reasons that we need health care innovation now.
AND
This isn't just a challenge in the U.S., either — even in countries with universal insurance, access to care can be limited by geography. Smaller communities may not be able to find the services they need locally. 

Health care collapse risks disease spread, ABR and extinction
Dhillon et al 17
(Ranu, faculty in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Senior Health Advisor with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Harvard Business Review, "The World Is Completely Unprepared for a Global Pandemic" 3/15/17, https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-world-is-completely-unprepared-for-a-global-pandemic, accessed online on 6/23/18, AAB)
In 2003 a doctor with SARS unknowingly infected several guests while staying at a Hong Kong hotel, and overnight the virus reached across the globe. China is currently battling a bird flu that kills nearly half of the people infected. If Ebola, which transmits through fluids, were spread by air, or if Zika, which has reached over 50 countries, were as deadly as Ebola, we would be facing an unprecedented catastrophe.
AND
We also face the specter of novel and mutated pathogens that could spread and kill faster than diseases we have seen before. With the advent of genome-editing technologies, bioterrorists could artificially engineer new plagues, a threat that Ashton Carter, the former U.S. secretary of defense, thinks could rival nuclear weapons in deadliness.

Plan
The United States federal government should repeal the per-country quota cap in INA Section 202 and substantially increase green cards for high skilled workers to be employed in the United States.

Solvency
Current restrictions on employment-related immigration are economically dysfunctional – the plan re-orients immigration policy towards high skilled workers
Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf Reorient Admissions from Family to Employment
Along with an increase in the number of immigrants per year, any serious reform of the US immigration system must shift the composition of the incoming immigrant population toward employment, especially of the high-skilled variety.
AND
The problem with the current US immigration system is not that it allows too many immigrants to enter the country each year, but that it is too restrictive of employment-related immigration, especially among higher-skilled foreign-born workers.

Increasing high skilled green card visas by 30 percent solves work force shortages in key areas without negative demographic effects
Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf
The first aim of immigration reform should be to allow an increase in the number of green card visas per year to sufficiently accommodate workforce needs in the face of the changing demography of the United States.
AND
An annual growth rate of 0.8 percent compared to 0.7 percent would slow America's demographic decline, as described previously, while still leaving the United States with its slowest population growth rate since the Great Depression.40 

Framing
Extinction comes first and outweighs—-it's the upmost moral evil and disavowal of the risk makes it more likely.
Burns 2017 (Elizabeth Finneron-Burns is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick and an Affiliated Researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm, What's wrong with human extinction?, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00455091.2016.1278150?needAccess=true**, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2017)
Many, though certainly not all, people might believe that it would be wrong to bring about the end of the human species, and the reasons given for this belief are various.
AND
. So too are infringements of rights and entitlements that we accept as important for people's lives. These psychological reasons, then, are also valid reasons to reject principles that permitted or required human extinction.

Tournament: Berkeley | Round: 4 | Opponent: CKM RP | Judge: Chris Sardo
AC High Skilled Workers- HN
Cyber
A perfect storm of geopolitical and technological factors have created a grave threat of cyber attack
Kilovaty 17 – Cyber Fellow at the Center for Global Legal Challenges, and Resident Fellow at the Information Society Project, both at Yale Law School. (Ido, 1-7-2017, "The world is on the verge of a cyber war," The Jerusalem Post,  http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-world-is-on-the-verge-of-a-cyber-war-477732)
A combination of geopolitical and strategic circumstances is leading to an inevitable war. It's
AND
carefully. Otherwise, 2017 just might be the year of cyber war.

High skilled immigration is key to resolving cyber work shortages and spurring innovation in the cyber security field
NAE 17
The New American Economy is a think tank founded by Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch. It is a coalition of over 500 bipartisan congressman and governors, 3/29/17 ("Sizing Up the Gap in our Supply of STEM Workers", https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/sizing-up-the-gap-in-our-supply-of-stem-workers/, NEA, Accessed 7/14/18)DG
In recent years, however, some policymakers have raised questions about whether the shortage
AND
share of such workers who are unemployed at the time of the survey.

Cyber-attacks threaten vital infrastructure – escalate to nuclear conflict
Tilford 12 (Robert, Graduate US Army Airborne School, July 27, "Cyber attackers could shut down the electric grid for the entire east coast", http://www.examiner.com/article/cyber-attackers-could-easily-shut-down-the-electric-grid-for-the-entire-east-coa, brackets edit out ableist language)
To make matters worse a cyber attack that can take out a civilian power grid
AND
include the use of "nuclear weapons", if authorized by the President.

Blackouts cause nuclear reactor meltdowns—guarantees extinction
Hodges 14 Dave, an established award winning psychology, statistics and research professor as he teaches college and university classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level, an established author as his articles are published on many major websites, citing Judy Haar, a recognized expert in nuclear plant failure analyses, "Nuclear Power Plants Will Become America's Extinction Level Event", April 18 2014, www.thelibertybeacon.com/2014/04/18/nuclear-power-plants-will-become-americas-extinction-level-event/
Fukushima is often spoken of by many, as a possible extinction level event because
AND
the Chinese to park right next door to so many nuclear power plants?

Strong cybersecurity is key to prevent collapse of democracy and rigged elections
Gumbel 18
Andrew Gumbel, 8-1-2018, "Why US elections remain 'dangerously vulnerable' to cyber-attacks," Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/13/us-election-cybersecurity-hacking-voting
Cybersecurity experts have warned for years that malfeasance, technical breakdown or administrative incompetence could
AND
do is attack our systems and get us to delegitimize our own democracy." 

US democracy is key to check global backsliding which unravels international problem-solving on multiple existential threats and causes wars
Kendall-Taylor 16 7/15/2016 (Andrea, deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council and a nonresident senior associate in the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "How Democracy's Decline Would Undermine the International Order," Center for Strategic and International Studies, https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-democracyE28099s-decline-would-undermine-international-order)
It is rare that policymakers, analysts, and academics agree. But there is
AND
distracting their publics from regime shortcomings and fostering public support for strongman tactics.

Innovation
Current restrictions on high skilled immigration undermine US innovation across the board – the best evidence supports the conclusion that foreign born workers are the vital causal link for patents, business startups, and strong entrepreneurial activity.
Griswold 17
Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC.
Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth
https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf
The US immigration system is poorly designed to meet the needs of America's 21st century economy.
AND
The weight of the evidence points to high-skilled immigrants boosting innovation and productivity—mainly through increased quantity of skilled individuals pursuing innovative work."30

There is no alternative for US led innovation – no one else can fill
Gentile 12 (James M., PhD., Emeritus Herrick Professor and Dean for the Natural and Applied Sciences at Hope College in Holland, MI., Past President of Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), Huffpost, "Accepting the Challenge of Continued U.S. Science Leadership," 9/12/12, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-m-gentile/accepting-the-challenge-o_b_1870744.html, accessed online on 6/22/18, AAB)
Globally, there is urgency to the situation, as the world depends increasingly on the scientific breakthroughs for which the United States is legendary. The population of the underdeveloped world is projected to increase by 2.9 billion by 2050, and that growth is likely to add exponentially to problems of health maintenance and disease control.
AND
Given the recent revival among some politicians of the practice of ridiculing ("Proxmiring") National Science Foundation-funded, peer-reviewed, scientific research, as well as congressional gridlock and continuing budget battles, it is unlikely that there is a taxpayer-funded rescue armada steaming this way. We in the academic-based science community must rise to the challenge ourselves.

Expanding the supply of highly skilled immigrants is necessary to develop and commercialize innovative alternative energies
Richard T. Herman 10, immigration lawyer and founder of the Herman Legal Group, "Why Immigrants Can Drive the Green Economy: The Need for New Policy, Vision, and Story Telling," June 2010, https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/Richard_Hermans_Green_Economy_062310.pdf
It should come as no surprise that immigrants will help drive the green revolution. America's young scientists and engineers, especially the ones drawn to emerging industries like alternative energy, tend to speak with an accent.
AND
 The challenge is getting the American people to understand that high‐skill immigration creates jobs, that the current system is broken, and that action is required now.

Infrastructure modernization and innovation is crucial to fight climate change
Wilkins 17
Wilikins Head of Environmental and Climate Risk Research at SandP Global, 2017 (Michael, "Fighting climate change with green infrastructure" The World Bank Group's Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships Blog, November 23, http://blogs.worldbank.org/ppps/fighting-climate-change-green-infrastructure, accessed 7-10-18, HSS RH)
According to NASA, 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001
AND
Ultimately, the advantages of green infrastructure projects are two-fold: they can mitigate the production of GHG emissions and also provide extra resilience against the effects of global warming. And, in doing so, they can bring communities and economies together to find common strategies to tackle climate change.

Climate change outweighs all other impacts – it's a threat multiplier and higher probability
Torres 16 (Phil, affiliate scholar @ Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 7-22-PhD candidate @ Rice University in tropical conservation biology, Op-ed: Climate Change Is the Most Urgent Existential Risk, http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Torres20160807)
Humanity faces a number of formidable challenges this century. Threats to our collective survival stem from asteroids and comets, supervolcanoes, global pandemics, climate change, biodiversity loss, nuclear weapons, biotechnology, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and artificial superintelligence.
AND
Given the potential for environmental degradation to elevate the likelihood of nuclear wars, nuclear terrorism, engineered pandemics, a superintelligence takeover, and perhaps even an impact winter, it ought to take precedence over all other risk concerns — at least in the near-term. Let's make sure we get our priorities straight.

Independently, restrictions on high skilled immigration hamper medical innovation
Rapaport 17(Lisa, Freelance Journalist, Writer and Editor, "US immigration restrictions may slow medical research," 9/25/17, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-immigration-physicians/us-immigration-restrictions-may-slow-medical-research-idUSKCN1C02XE, accessed online on 6/25/18, AAB)
(Reuters Health) - Recently proposed changes to U.S. immigration policy may slow the progress of medical research, some doctors argue. Nationwide, roughly 18 percent of medical professors in the U.S. are graduates of foreign medical schools, according to an analysis published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
AND
. "Diversity is the key to success, and science has no boundaries," Masri said. "You remain the best by attracting the brightest minds."

Innovation key to the entire foundation of the health care system
Bhardwaj 18 (Gunjan, Dr., Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Innoplexus AG, Forbes, "Why The World Needs Health Care Innovation Now," 3/19/18, https://www.forbes.com/sites/unicefusa/2018/06/22/bringing-hope-to-children-in-kenyas-kalobeyei-refugee-settlement/~~#7e3d06804326, accessed online on 6/24/18, AAB)
While some of these issues are difficult to resolve quickly, innovators in all corners of the health care industry are working to try and make improvements for patients, practitioners and companies alike. And since health care spending increased by $3.3 trillion in 2016, the opportunities for growth are replete. The following are some of the top reasons that we need health care innovation now.
AND
This isn't just a challenge in the U.S., either — even in countries with universal insurance, access to care can be limited by geography. Smaller communities may not be able to find the services they need locally. 

Health care collapse risks disease spread, ABR and extinction
Dhillon et al 17
(Ranu, faculty in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Senior Health Advisor with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Harvard Business Review, "The World Is Completely Unprepared for a Global Pandemic" 3/15/17, https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-world-is-completely-unprepared-for-a-global-pandemic, accessed online on 6/23/18, AAB)
In 2003 a doctor with SARS unknowingly infected several guests while staying at a Hong Kong hotel, and overnight the virus reached across the globe. China is currently battling a bird flu that kills nearly half of the people infected. If Ebola, which transmits through fluids, were spread by air, or if Zika, which has reached over 50 countries, were as deadly as Ebola, we would be facing an unprecedented catastrophe.
AND
We also face the specter of novel and mutated pathogens that could spread and kill faster than diseases we have seen before. With the advent of genome-editing technologies, bioterrorists could artificially engineer new plagues, a threat that Ashton Carter, the former U.S. secretary of defense, thinks could rival nuclear weapons in deadliness.

Plan
The United States federal government should repeal the per-country quota cap in INA Section 202 and substantially increase green cards for high skilled workers to be employed in the United States.
Solvency
Current restrictions on employment-related immigration are economically dysfunctional – the plan re-orients immigration policy towards high skilled workers
Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf Reorient Admissions from Family to Employment
Along with an increase in the number of immigrants per year, any serious reform of the US immigration system must shift the composition of the incoming immigrant population toward employment, especially of the high-skilled variety.
AND
The problem with the current US immigration system is not that it allows too many immigrants to enter the country each year, but that it is too restrictive of employment-related immigration, especially among higher-skilled foreign-born workers.

Increasing high skilled green card visas by 30 percent solves work force shortages in key areas without negative demographic effects
Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf
The first aim of immigration reform should be to allow an increase in the number of green card visas per year to sufficiently accommodate workforce needs in the face of the changing demography of the United States.
AND
An annual growth rate of 0.8 percent compared to 0.7 percent would slow America's demographic decline, as described previously, while still leaving the United States with its slowest population growth rate since the Great Depression.40 

Framing
Extinction comes first and outweighs—-it's the upmost moral evil and disavowal of the risk makes it more likely.
Burns 2017 (Elizabeth Finneron-Burns is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick and an Affiliated Researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm, What's wrong with human extinction?, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00455091.2016.1278150?needAccess=true**, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2017)
Many, though certainly not all, people might believe that it would be wrong to bring about the end of the human species, and the reasons given for this belief are various.
AND
. So too are infringements of rights and entitlements that we accept as important for people's lives. These psychological reasons, then, are also valid reasons to reject principles that permitted or required human extinction.

Tournament: Berkeley | Round: 5 | Opponent: Lowell BR | Judge: David Doktorman
Same as Berkeley rd 3

Tournament: Damus | Round: 2 | Opponent: CKM GM | Judge: Devon Reese
Same as St Francis RD 1

Tournament: Damus | Round: 3 | Opponent: Polytechnic ND | Judge: Sarah Roberts
Same as Damus RD 1

Tournament: Damus | Round: 6 | Opponent: SVDP BP | Judge: Theo Noparstak

Heg decline now—-troop readiness is at an all time low which incentivizes opportunistic challengers to attack the US.

Grady 17 (John Grady, a former managing editor of Navy Times, retired as director of communications for the Association of the United States Army. His reporting on national defense and national security has appeared on Breaking Defense, GovExec.com, NextGov.com, DefenseOne.com, Government Executive and USNI News. "Rep. Thornberry Warns Lack of U.S. Military Readiness is Costing Lives" Oct 6 2017 https://news.usni.org/2017/10/06/rep-thornberry-warns-lack-u-s-military-readiness-costing-lives)
 He added the decline is not new. Defense spending has been falling since the end of the Cold War with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Specifically—-a confluence of factors are driving recruitment down—-immigrants are key to fill in.

Woody 18 (Christopher, reporter at Business Insider, citing top military intelligence. "The US military is facing a 'real war for talent'—but some valuable recruits could be scared away" March 14 2018 Business Insider https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-war-for-talent-struggle-to-attract-immigrants-2018-3)
The Army, Navy, and Air Force are all facing increased difficulties attracting servicemembers, but shifting US immigration policies may make the military a less appealing option for some of the most sought-after recruits.  " The Army recently took steps to expand its ranks of Arabic speakers by reclassifying them and altering promotions and pay based on dialect — with Iraqi, Levantine, and Egyptian Arabic speakers the most desired. 

Ground force readiness is key to prevent global nuclear war.

Bonds 17 (Timothy M. Bonds is vice president, Army Research Division, and director, RAND Arroyo Center. Bonds has served as a RAND vice president since 2011. Previously, he was deputy director of the Arroyo Center from 2003 to 2011, acting director from March 2009 to May 2010, and, from 1999 to 2003, director of the Aerospace Force Development Program within RAND Project AIR FORCE. Prior to joining RAND, Bonds spent nine years in the aerospace industry, where he led projects to develop high-speed vehicle and weapons concepts. He holds an M.S. in aero/astro engineering from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from Washington University, St. Louis. Limiting Regret: Building the Army We Will Need—An Update. Testimony presented before the House Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces on March 1, 2017. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/testimonies/CT400/CT466/RAND_CT466.pdf)
As the Trump Administration develops its defense policy and strategy, it needs to assess whether further growth in the nation's ground force size, capabilities, and posture may be needed.  
 For these reasons, countering an artillery barrage or North Korean WMDs would require significant U.S. ground forces. 

Forward deployment is key to deter aggressive Chinese revisionism that goes nuclear.

Michael Auslin 15, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, 9/23/15, "Time For Realism In U.S.-China Relations," http://nationalinterest.org/feature/time-realism-us-china-relations-13915?page=show
"The United States welcomes a rising China that is peaceful, stable, prosperous, and a responsible player in global affairs." So asserted Susan Rice, National Security Advisor to President Obama, during a speech yesterday at George Washington University on the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Washington. In an address designed to tout the "arc of progress" in Sino-U.S. relations, Rice chastised the "lazy rhetoric that says conflict between the U.S. and China is inevitable."
Rice may have set up her straw person, but no serious Asia watcher either predicts or desires a clash with China. However, even by the measuring stick of her own aspirations noted above,
By acting in our best interests, we will also help deflect China from a path that increasingly looks like one that will result in far greater risks to stability, prosperity, and peace.

Weakness undermines alliances that solve multiple flashpoints.

Kaplan, 13 (Robert D., Chief Geopolitical Analyst at Stratfor, "The Virtues of Hard Power," May 22, Forbes, http://www.forbes.com/sites/stratfor/2013/05/22/the-virtues-of-hard-power/)
Hard power has not been in vogue since the Iraq War turned badly in about 2004. In foreign policy journals and at elite conferences, the talk for years has been about "soft power," "the power of persuasion"
U.S. allies, world trade and a liberal maritime order. American hard power, thus, must never go out of fashion.

Primacy solves every threat – reject old defense that ignores the convergence of unstable alliances, rogue states, and the emergence of great power competition – maining tech dominance is key to military overmatch, and decline causes arms races and land grabs that escalate

Brands 18 ~Hal, Henry Kissinger Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies and a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments." American Grand Strategy in the Age of Trump." Page 129-133~
Since World War II, the United States has had a military second to none. Since the Cold War, America has committed to having overwhelming military primacy. The idea, as George W. Bush declared in 2002,
. Trends in the strategic landscape constituted a veritable "litany of doom."14 The United States thus faces not just more significant, but also more numerous, challenges to its military dominance than it has for at least a quarter century.

Political horse trading over immigrant recruitment signals lack of resolve and undermines hegemony.

Carleen 18 (Andrew, former public affairs office in the U.S. Navy. "Denying Immigrants A Path to U.S. Citizenship Through Military Service is Dangerous and Immoral" WBUR jul 9 2018 http://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2018/07/09/immigrant-recruits-discharged-army-andrew-carleen)
To this day, the armed forces remain a vehicle for individuals interested in becoming American citizens. During my own time in the military,
(To wit: Troops make handy props when inveighing against black athletes who express their First Amendment rights during the national anthem.)

That risks multiple nuke wars.

Chertoff 14 – Former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security ~Michael Chertoff, "The U.S. must stand behind its security obligations," Washington Post, April 16, 2014, pg. http://tinyurl.com/odtdxyq
Of course, diminished U.S. credibility is a result of more than administration policy.
the danger that they will provoke a war increases, as did Saddam Hussein's misreading of U.S. intentions in 1990, which led to the invasion of Kuwait. 

Sustained cred makes war impossible

Matthew Waxman 8/25/13, Professor of Law @ Columbia and Adjunct Senior Fellow for Law and Foreign Policy @ CFR, "The Constitutional Power to Threaten War," Forthcoming in Yale Law Journal, vol. 123, August 25, 2013, SSRN
There is a major disconnect here, though, between legal analysis and scholarship of constitutional war powers – specifically, its predominant focus on actual military engagements – and the way the United States wields its military might, especially since the onset of the Cold War and extending into the 21st century.

. Most notably, and putting in game-theoretic terms, the debate between presidentialist and congressionalist legal scholars about functional advantages takes place only at the final stage of the decision tree; but the President's ability to threaten force is critically important at earlier stages in determining whether that final stage will even occur at all.19

The United States federal government should restore naturalization services for servicemembers applying immediately after completing basic military training.

Immigrants are the largest pool of qualified applicants. The plan boosts recruitment and widens the skill pool.

NIF 17 (National Immigration Forum, a policy-oriented think tank dedicated to promoting responsible immigration policy. "FOR LOVE OF COUNTRY: NEW AMERICANS SERVING IN OUR ARMED FORCES" November 2017 https://immigrationforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/FOR-THE-LOVE-OF-COUNTRY-DIGITAL.pdf)
For generations, immigrants have served proudly in the U.S. armed forces. Understanding the history of military service by immigrants, as well as the legal barriers to the enlistment of skilled foreign-born residents, leads us to clear policy recommendations for President Trump and Congress to consider. \. We must. This is the right thing to do for our national security, the future of our military, our veterans and our nation.

Immigrants have lower attrition rates which magnifies their impact on recruitment.

Guerrero 17 (America E. Esteves Guerrero, MA. "IMMIGRANTS IN THE US NAVY, PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE" March 2017 Masters Thesis http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1054999.pdf)
A. SUMMARY This thesis presents a historical background of immigrants in the Armed Forces, empirical evidence of immigrant performance in the U.S. Navy, and individual interviews to identify the reasons why immigrants join and stay in the Navy. In this study, attrition is used as an indicator of recruits' performance, separated into intervals:
B. Lower attrition rates increase the return on training and recruiting investments.

Extinction comes first and outweighs—-life is intrinsically good and a prerequisite to other values.

Burns 2017 (Elizabeth Finneron-Burns is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick and an Affiliated Researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm, What's wrong with human extinction?, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00455091.2016.1278150?needAccess=true**, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2017)
Many, though certainly not all, people might believe that it would be wrong to bring about the end of the human species, and the reasons given for this belief are various
. So too are infringements of rights and entitlements that we accept as important for people's lives. These psychological reasons, then, are also valid reasons to reject principles that permitted or required human extinction.

Tournament: MLK | Round: 1 | Opponent: CPS MS | Judge: Bobby Ma
Same as St Francis RD 1

Tournament: MLK | Round: 3 | Opponent: Leland LP | Judge: Ethan Walsh
Same as St. Francis RD 1 minus the Pry card

Tournament: MLK | Round: 5 | Opponent: West Campus HM | Judge: Ryan Mills
same as St. Francis rd 1

Tournament: MLK | Round: Finals | Opponent: Davis WN | Judge: Bobby Ma, Ryan Mills, Chance Boreczky
Same as Damus RD 6

Tournament: St Francis | Round: 1 | Opponent: Kipp San Jose Collegiate NS | Judge: Kristi Morioka

1AC High Skilled Workers- HN

Cyber

A perfect storm of geopolitical and technological factors have created a grave threat of cyber attack

Kilovaty 17 – Cyber Fellow at the Center for Global Legal Challenges, and Resident Fellow at the Information Society Project, both at Yale Law School. (Ido, 1-7-2017, "The world is on the verge of a cyber war," The Jerusalem Post,  http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-world-is-on-the-verge-of-a-cyber-war-477732)
A combination of geopolitical and strategic circumstances is leading to an inevitable war. It's
AND
carefully. Otherwise, 2017 just might be the year of cyber war.

High skilled immigration is key to resolving cyber work shortages and spurring innovation in the cyber security field

NAE 17
The New American Economy is a think tank founded by Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch. It is a coalition of over 500 bipartisan congressman and governors, 3/29/17 ("Sizing Up the Gap in our Supply of STEM Workers", https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/sizing-up-the-gap-in-our-supply-of-stem-workers/, NEA, Accessed 7/14/18)DG
In recent years, however, some policymakers have raised questions about whether the shortage
AND
share of such workers who are unemployed at the time of the survey.

Cyber-attacks threaten vital infrastructure – escalate to nuclear conflict

Tilford 2012 (Robert, Graduate US Army Airborne School, July 27, "Cyber attackers could shut down the electric grid for the entire east coast", http://www.examiner.com/article/cyber-attackers-could-easily-shut-down-the-electric-grid-for-the-entire-east-coa, brackets edit out ableist language)
To make matters worse a cyber attack that can take out a civilian power grid
AND
include the use of "nuclear weapons", if authorized by the President.

Independently cyber attacks threaten the grid – risk catastrophic black outs

Pry 15 —  Peter Pry, Executive Director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security and Director of the U.S. Nuclear Strategy Forum, both Congressional Advisory Boards, and served on the Congressional EMP Commission, the Congressional Strategic Posture Commission, the House Armed Services Committee, and the CIA, author of the books "Blackout Wars", "Apocalypse Unknown", and "Electric Armageddon," 2015 ("Cyber Hype?" The Mackenzie Institute, October 28^th, Available Online at http://mackenzieinstitute.com/cyber-hype/, Accessed June 29, 2016AW)
Tomorrow's cyber super-threat, that with computer viruses and hacking alone can blackout
AND
in history that a nationwide blackout is confirmed as resulting from cyber warfare.

Blackouts cause nuclear reactor meltdowns—guarantees extinction

Hodges 14 Dave, an established award winning psychology, statistics and research professor as he teaches college and university classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level, an established author as his articles are published on many major websites, citing Judy Haar, a recognized expert in nuclear plant failure analyses, "Nuclear Power Plants Will Become America's Extinction Level Event", April 18 2014, www.thelibertybeacon.com/2014/04/18/nuclear-power-plants-will-become-americas-extinction-level-event/
Fukushima is often spoken of by many, as a possible extinction level event because
AND
the Chinese to park right next door to so many nuclear power plants?

Innovation

Current restrictions on high skilled immigration undermine US innovation across the board – the best evidence supports the conclusion that foreign born workers are the vital causal link for patents, business startups, and strong entrepreneurial activity.

Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC.
Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth
https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf
The US immigration system is poorly designed to meet the needs of America's 21st century economy.
AND
"The weight of the evidence points to high-skilled immigrants boosting innovation and productivity—mainly through increased quantity of skilled individuals pursuing innovative work."30

There is no alternative for US led innovation – no one else can fill

Gentile 12 (James M., PhD., Emeritus Herrick Professor and Dean for the Natural and Applied Sciences at Hope College in Holland, MI., Past President of Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), Huffpost, "Accepting the Challenge of Continued U.S. Science Leadership," 9/12/12, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-m-gentile/accepting-the-challenge-o_b_1870744.html, accessed online on 6/22/18, AAB)

Globally, there is urgency to the situation, as the world depends increasingly on the scientific breakthroughs for which the United States is legendary. 

AND

 We in the academic-based science community must rise to the challenge ourselves.

Infrastructure modernization is crucial to fight climate change

Wilkins, Head of Environmental and Climate Risk Research at SandP Global, 2017 (Michael, "Fighting climate change with green infrastructure" The World Bank Group's Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships Blog, November 23, http://blogs.worldbank.org/ppps/fighting-climate-change-green-infrastructure, accessed 7-10-18, HSS RH)
According to NASA, 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001.
AND
And, in doing so, they can bring communities and economies together to find common strategies to tackle climate change.

Climate change outweighs all other impacts – it's a threat multiplier and higher probability

Torres 16 (Phil, affiliate scholar @ Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 7-22-PhD candidate @ Rice University in tropical conservation biology, Op-ed: Climate Change Is the Most Urgent Existential Risk, http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Torres20160807)
Humanity faces a number of formidable challenges this century.
AND
" Given the potential for environmental degradation to elevate the likelihood of nuclear wars, nuclear terrorism, engineered pandemics, a superintelligence takeover, and perhaps even an impact winter, it ought to take precedence over all other risk concerns — at least in the near-term. Let's make sure we get our priorities straight.

Independently, restrictions on high skilled immigration hamper medical innovation

Rapaport 17(Lisa, Freelance Journalist, Writer and Editor, "US immigration restrictions may slow medical research," 9/25/17, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-immigration-physicians/us-immigration-restrictions-may-slow-medical-research-idUSKCN1C02XE, accessed online on 6/25/18, AAB)
(Reuters Health) - Recently proposed changes to U.S. immigration policy may slow the progress of medical research, some doctors argue. Nationwide, roughly 18 percent of medical professors in the U.S. are graduates of foreign medical schools, according to an analysis published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. F
AMD
"Diversity is the key to success, and science has no boundaries," Masri said. "You remain the best by attracting the brightest minds."

Innovation key to the entire foundation of the health care system

Bhardwaj 18 (Gunjan, Dr., Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Innoplexus AG, Forbes, "Why The World Needs Health Care Innovation Now," 3/19/18, https://www.forbes.com/sites/unicefusa/2018/06/22/bringing-hope-to-children-in-kenyas-kalobeyei-refugee-settlement/~~#7e3d06804326, accessed online on 6/24/18, AAB)
While some of these issues are difficult to resolve quickly, innovators in all corners of the health care industry are working to try and make improvements for patients, practitioners and companies alike.
AND
This isn't just a challenge in the U.S., either — even in countries with universal insurance, access to care can be limited by geography. Smaller communities may not be able to find the services they need locally. 

Health care collapse risks disease spread and extinction

Dhillon et al 17
(Ranu, faculty in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Senior Health Advisor with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Harvard Business Review, "The World Is Completely Unprepared for a Global Pandemic" 3/15/17, https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-world-is-completely-unprepared-for-a-global-pandemic, accessed online on 6/23/18, AAB)
In 2003 a doctor with SARS unknowingly infected several guests while staying at a Hong Kong hotel, and overnight the virus reached across the globe.
AND
With the advent of genome-editing technologies, bioterrorists could artificially engineer new plagues, a threat that Ashton Carter, the former U.S. secretary of defense, thinks could rival nuclear weapons in deadliness.

Plan

The United States federal government should repeal the per-country quota cap and substantially increase green card visas for high skilled workers in the United States.

Solvency

Current restrictions on employment-related immigration are economically dysfunctional – the plan re-orients immigration policy towards high skilled workers

Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf Reorient Admissions from Family to Employment
Along with an increase in the number of immigrants per year, any serious reform of the US immigration system must shift the composition of the incoming immigrant population toward employment, especially of the high-skilled variety.
AND
The problem with the current US immigration system is not that it allows too many immigrants to enter the country each year, but that it is too restrictive of employment-related immigration, especially among higher-skilled foreign-born workers.

Increasing high skilled green card visas by 30 percent solves work force shortages in key areas without negative demographic effects

Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf
The first aim of immigration reform should be to allow an increase in the number of green card visas per year to sufficiently accommodate workforce needs in the face of the changing demography of the United States. An i
AND
An annual growth rate of 0.8 percent compared to 0.7 percent would slow America's demographic decline, as described previously, while still leaving the United States with its slowest population growth rate since the Great Depression.40

Tournament: St Francis | Round: 3 | Opponent: Bellarmine College Prep FU | Judge: Allen Kim
Same as RD 1

Tournament: St Francis | Round: Finals | Opponent: Dougherty Valley MD | Judge: Sam Haley Hill, Dacobi Anderson, Aaron Langerman
same as St. Francis quarters

Tournament: St Francis | Round: Quarters | Opponent: Dougherty Valley PK | Judge: Aaron Langerman, Sarah Roberts, Dacobi Anderson
Same as round 3

Tournament: Stanford | Round: 4 | Opponent: Bellarmine HM | Judge: Valerie McIntosh

1AC High Skilled Workers- HN

Cyber

A perfect storm of geopolitical and technological factors have created a grave threat of cyber attack

Kilovaty 17 – Cyber Fellow at the Center for Global Legal Challenges, and Resident Fellow at the Information Society Project, both at Yale Law School. (Ido, 1-7-2017, "The world is on the verge of a cyber war," The Jerusalem Post,  http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/The-world-is-on-the-verge-of-a-cyber-war-477732)
A combination of geopolitical and strategic circumstances is leading to an inevitable war. It's
AND
carefully. Otherwise, 2017 just might be the year of cyber war.

High skilled immigration is key to resolving cyber work shortages and spurring innovation in the cyber security field

NAE 17
The New American Economy is a think tank founded by Michael Bloomberg and Rupert Murdoch. It is a coalition of over 500 bipartisan congressman and governors, 3/29/17 ("Sizing Up the Gap in our Supply of STEM Workers", https://research.newamericaneconomy.org/report/sizing-up-the-gap-in-our-supply-of-stem-workers/, NEA, Accessed 7/14/18)DG
In recent years, however, some policymakers have raised questions about whether the shortage
AND
share of such workers who are unemployed at the time of the survey.

Cyber-attacks threaten vital infrastructure – escalate to nuclear conflict

Tilford 12 (Robert, Graduate US Army Airborne School, July 27, "Cyber attackers could shut down the electric grid for the entire east coast", http://www.examiner.com/article/cyber-attackers-could-easily-shut-down-the-electric-grid-for-the-entire-east-coa, brackets edit out ableist language)
To make matters worse a cyber attack that can take out a civilian power grid
AND
include the use of "nuclear weapons", if authorized by the President.

Blackouts cause nuclear reactor meltdowns—guarantees extinction

Hodges 14 Dave, an established award winning psychology, statistics and research professor as he teaches college and university classes at both the undergraduate and graduate level, an established author as his articles are published on many major websites, citing Judy Haar, a recognized expert in nuclear plant failure analyses, "Nuclear Power Plants Will Become America's Extinction Level Event", April 18 2014, www.thelibertybeacon.com/2014/04/18/nuclear-power-plants-will-become-americas-extinction-level-event/
Fukushima is often spoken of by many, as a possible extinction level event because
AND
the Chinese to park right next door to so many nuclear power plants?

Strong cybersecurity is key to prevent collapse of democracy and rigged elections

Gumbel 18
Andrew Gumbel, 8-1-2018, "Why US elections remain 'dangerously vulnerable' to cyber-attacks," Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/13/us-election-cybersecurity-hacking-voting
Cybersecurity experts have warned for years that malfeasance, technical breakdown or administrative incompetence could
AND
do is attack our systems and get us to delegitimize our own democracy." 

US democracy is key to check global backsliding which unravels international problem-solving on multiple existential threats and causes wars

Kendall-Taylor 16 7/15/2016 (Andrea, deputy national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council and a nonresident senior associate in the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. "How Democracy's Decline Would Undermine the International Order," Center for Strategic and International Studies, https://www.csis.org/analysis/how-democracyE28099s-decline-would-undermine-international-order)
It is rare that policymakers, analysts, and academics agree. But there is
AND
distracting their publics from regime shortcomings and fostering public support for strongman tactics.

Innovation

Current restrictions on high skilled immigration undermine US innovation across the board – the best evidence supports the conclusion that foreign born workers are the vital causal link for patents, business startups, and strong entrepreneurial activity.

Griswold 17
Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC.
Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth
https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf
The US immigration system is poorly designed to meet the needs of America's 21st century economy.
AND
The weight of the evidence points to high-skilled immigrants boosting innovation and productivity—mainly through increased quantity of skilled individuals pursuing innovative work."30

There is no alternative for US led innovation – no one else can fill

Gentile 12 (James M., PhD., Emeritus Herrick Professor and Dean for the Natural and Applied Sciences at Hope College in Holland, MI., Past President of Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA), Huffpost, "Accepting the Challenge of Continued U.S. Science Leadership," 9/12/12, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-m-gentile/accepting-the-challenge-o_b_1870744.html, accessed online on 6/22/18, AAB)
Globally, there is urgency to the situation, as the world depends increasingly on the scientific breakthroughs for which the United States is legendary. The population of the underdeveloped world is projected to increase by 2.9 billion by 2050, and that growth is likely to add exponentially to problems of health maintenance and disease control.
AND
Given the recent revival among some politicians of the practice of ridiculing ("Proxmiring") National Science Foundation-funded, peer-reviewed, scientific research, as well as congressional gridlock and continuing budget battles, it is unlikely that there is a taxpayer-funded rescue armada steaming this way. We in the academic-based science community must rise to the challenge ourselves.

Expanding the supply of highly skilled immigrants is necessary to develop and commercialize innovative alternative energies

Richard T. Herman 10, immigration lawyer and founder of the Herman Legal Group, "Why Immigrants Can Drive the Green Economy: The Need for New Policy, Vision, and Story Telling," June 2010, https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/sites/default/files/research/Richard_Hermans_Green_Economy_062310.pdf
It should come as no surprise that immigrants will help drive the green revolution. America's young scientists and engineers, especially the ones drawn to emerging industries like alternative energy, tend to speak with an accent.
AND
 The challenge is getting the American people to understand that high‐skill immigration creates jobs, that the current system is broken, and that action is required now.

Infrastructure modernization and innovation is crucial to fight climate change

Wilkins 17
Wilikins Head of Environmental and Climate Risk Research at SandP Global, 2017 (Michael, "Fighting climate change with green infrastructure" The World Bank Group's Infrastructure and Public-Private Partnerships Blog, November 23, http://blogs.worldbank.org/ppps/fighting-climate-change-green-infrastructure, accessed 7-10-18, HSS RH)
According to NASA, 16 of the 17 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001
AND
Ultimately, the advantages of green infrastructure projects are two-fold: they can mitigate the production of GHG emissions and also provide extra resilience against the effects of global warming. And, in doing so, they can bring communities and economies together to find common strategies to tackle climate change.

Climate change outweighs all other impacts – it's a threat multiplier and higher probability

Torres 16 (Phil, affiliate scholar @ Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, 7-22-PhD candidate @ Rice University in tropical conservation biology, Op-ed: Climate Change Is the Most Urgent Existential Risk, http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Torres20160807)
Humanity faces a number of formidable challenges this century. Threats to our collective survival stem from asteroids and comets, supervolcanoes, global pandemics, climate change, biodiversity loss, nuclear weapons, biotechnology, synthetic biology, nanotechnology, and artificial superintelligence.
AND
Given the potential for environmental degradation to elevate the likelihood of nuclear wars, nuclear terrorism, engineered pandemics, a superintelligence takeover, and perhaps even an impact winter, it ought to take precedence over all other risk concerns — at least in the near-term. Let's make sure we get our priorities straight.

Independently, restrictions on high skilled immigration hamper medical innovation

Rapaport 17(Lisa, Freelance Journalist, Writer and Editor, "US immigration restrictions may slow medical research," 9/25/17, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-immigration-physicians/us-immigration-restrictions-may-slow-medical-research-idUSKCN1C02XE, accessed online on 6/25/18, AAB)
(Reuters Health) - Recently proposed changes to U.S. immigration policy may slow the progress of medical research, some doctors argue. Nationwide, roughly 18 percent of medical professors in the U.S. are graduates of foreign medical schools, according to an analysis published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
AND
. "Diversity is the key to success, and science has no boundaries," Masri said. "You remain the best by attracting the brightest minds."

Innovation key to the entire foundation of the health care system

Bhardwaj 18 (Gunjan, Dr., Co-Founder and Chief Executive of Innoplexus AG, Forbes, "Why The World Needs Health Care Innovation Now," 3/19/18, https://www.forbes.com/sites/unicefusa/2018/06/22/bringing-hope-to-children-in-kenyas-kalobeyei-refugee-settlement/~~#7e3d06804326, accessed online on 6/24/18, AAB)
While some of these issues are difficult to resolve quickly, innovators in all corners of the health care industry are working to try and make improvements for patients, practitioners and companies alike. And since health care spending increased by $3.3 trillion in 2016, the opportunities for growth are replete. The following are some of the top reasons that we need health care innovation now.
AND
This isn't just a challenge in the U.S., either — even in countries with universal insurance, access to care can be limited by geography. Smaller communities may not be able to find the services they need locally. 

Health care collapse risks disease spread, ABR and extinction

Dhillon et al 17
(Ranu, faculty in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and Senior Health Advisor with the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Harvard Business Review, "The World Is Completely Unprepared for a Global Pandemic" 3/15/17, https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-world-is-completely-unprepared-for-a-global-pandemic, accessed online on 6/23/18, AAB)
In 2003 a doctor with SARS unknowingly infected several guests while staying at a Hong Kong hotel, and overnight the virus reached across the globe. China is currently battling a bird flu that kills nearly half of the people infected. If Ebola, which transmits through fluids, were spread by air, or if Zika, which has reached over 50 countries, were as deadly as Ebola, we would be facing an unprecedented catastrophe.
AND
We also face the specter of novel and mutated pathogens that could spread and kill faster than diseases we have seen before. With the advent of genome-editing technologies, bioterrorists could artificially engineer new plagues, a threat that Ashton Carter, the former U.S. secretary of defense, thinks could rival nuclear weapons in deadliness.

ABR decks pandemic prevention and is used by bioterrorists – their defense doesn't apply.

Khan et al 17 (Inam Danish Khan,1,* Rajiv Mohan Gupta,2 Sourav Sen,3 KS Rajmohan,4 Ashok Kumar Jindal,5 Anuradha Makkar,6 Fashiur Rahman Razi,7 Priyanka Banerjee,8 Pragyan Panda,8 G. Lakshmi Nair,9 Kanchan Kulhari,10 and Shilpi Singh11 1 Asst Professor Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Army College of Medical Sciences and Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt 110010 India 2 Consultant and Professor Microbiology, Army Hospital (R and R), New Delhi 110001, India 3 Professor and Head Microbiology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune 411040 India 4 Senior Advisor and Head Pathology, Base Hospital and Army College of Medical Sciences, Delhi Cantt 110010 India 5 Professor Community Medicine, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune 411040 India 6 Professor and Head Microbiology, Army College of Medical Sciences and Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt 110010 India 7 Pharmacist, Allana College of Pharmacy, Pune, India 8 Asst Professor Microbiology, Army College of Medical Sciences and Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt 110010 India 9 Asst Professor Pathology, Army College of Medical Sciences and Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt 110010 India 10Asst Professor Biochemistry, Army College of Medical Sciences and Base Hospital, Delhi Cantt 110010 India 11Asst Professor Microbiology, Army Hospital (R and R), New Delhi 110001, India. "Emerging Antimicrobial Resistance and Evolving Healthcare: Dangerous Crossroads for the Community and the Military" Journal Archive of Military Medicine Sept 26 2017)
2. Evolution of Antimicrobial Resistance The rise of AMR to high proportions is a multifactorial phenomenon under a vicious cycle. Firstly, there is an increase in susceptible hosts living in conditions such as immunodeficiency disorders, organ transplantations, neoplasms, and metabolic disorders, as well as patients under intensive care.
AND
MDR/PDR superbugs can be exploited as agents of bioterrorism. Given the ease of maintenance, dispersion, and person-to-person transmission, they may be clandestinely deployed by state or non-state agencies against humans, fauna, and flora. Inadvertent or intended release of modified organisms is a possible after-effect of bioterrorism (

Causes food and economic crises

Daschle and Myers 16. (Tom Daschle is a former U.S. Senate majority leader and a member of the bipartisan Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense. Richard B. Myers, a retired U.S. Air Force general, was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and currently serves as interim president of Kansas State University. A Threat to the Food System. October 17, 2016. https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-10-17/americas-food-supply-and-national-security-are-at-risk-to-bioterrorism)
The 15th anniversary of September 11 honored the far-too-many who lost their lives that horrific day. Almost unnoticed was the 15th anniversary of the U.S. anthrax attacks that occurred soon thereafter and left 5 dead, 17 infected and more than 10,000 at risk of exposure. The magnitude of those attacks clarified the need to address bioterrorism more comprehensively in the United States.
AND
The minimalistic approach to bio/agrodefense in the United States must end.

Plan

The United States federal government should repeal the per-country quota cap in INA Section 202 and substantially increase green cards for high skilled workers to be employed in the United States.

Solvency

Current restrictions on employment-related immigration are economically dysfunctional – the plan re-orients immigration policy towards high skilled workers

Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf Reorient Admissions from Family to Employment
Along with an increase in the number of immigrants per year, any serious reform of the US immigration system must shift the composition of the incoming immigrant population toward employment, especially of the high-skilled variety.
AND
The problem with the current US immigration system is not that it allows too many immigrants to enter the country each year, but that it is too restrictive of employment-related immigration, especially among higher-skilled foreign-born workers.

Increasing high skilled green card visas by 30 percent solves work force shortages in key areas without negative demographic effects

Daniel Griswold 17   Mercatus Center senior research fellow and codirector of the Program on the American Economy and Globalization. Griswold is a nationally recognized expert on trade and immigration policy. He previously served as president of the National Association of Foreign-Trade Zones (NAFTZ), representing its members in Washington before Congress and regulatory agencies. Before NAFTZ, Griswold was the director of trade and immigration studies for the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. Reforming the US Immigration System to Promote Growth https://www.mercatus.org/system/files/griswold-immigration-reform-mercatus-research-v1.pdf
The first aim of immigration reform should be to allow an increase in the number of green card visas per year to sufficiently accommodate workforce needs in the face of the changing demography of the United States.
AND
An annual growth rate of 0.8 percent compared to 0.7 percent would slow America's demographic decline, as described previously, while still leaving the United States with its slowest population growth rate since the Great Depression.40 

Framing

Extinction comes first and outweighs—-it's the upmost moral evil and disavowal of the risk makes it more likely.

Burns 2017 (Elizabeth Finneron-Burns is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Warwick and an Affiliated Researcher at the Institute for Futures Studies in Stockholm, What's wrong with human extinction?, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00455091.2016.1278150?needAccess=true**, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 2017)
Many, though certainly not all, people might believe that it would be wrong to bring about the end of the human species, and the reasons given for this belief are various.
AND
. So too are infringements of rights and entitlements that we accept as important for people's lives. These psychological reasons, then, are also valid reasons to reject principles that permitted or required human extinction.

Tournament: Stanford | Round: 6 | Opponent: DMV Independent AK | Judge: Tom Woodhead
Same as Stanford RD 4