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>American exceptionalism Almost the entire North and South America has it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli

by tormeh 7y ago

rayiner 7y ago
The US is historically unique in its ability to Americanize immigrants and lift them into prosperity. Birthright citizenship isn’t unique to the US, but the is a pillar of what makes the US unique.
- mchaver 7y ago
  Hmm, I think the other countries in the Americas have been pretty successful at integrating immigrants as well. The prosperous ones also offer opportunities for those immigrants. I think being the largest economy and being so influential is more unique among other nations.
- pcwalton 7y ago
  Honestly, Canada is actually doing better than the US in assimilating and lifting immigrants into prosperity these days, because it has a more modern immigration system (having avoided legislative gridlock and populist backlashes, for the most part) coupled with birthright citizenship. Consequently, Canada has a larger proportion of immigrants than the US. It also slightly beats the US on most measures of human development.
  - Aloha 7y ago
    I'm skeptical that Canada does better at assimilating, just based on first hand empirical evidence I've seen in Vancouver and Toronto. I would agree that Canada is doing better at lifting people out of poverty currently.
    - toasterlovin 7y ago
      Canada doesn’t do better at lifting people out of poverty. They’re just more selective in who they let in and don’t have a huge second world country at their southern border.
      - pcwalton 7y ago
        Canada's immigration rate is 5.3 per year per 1000 residents (200K per year, population 37.59M). The US immigration rate is 3.6 per year per 1000 residents (1.18M per year, population 327.2M). And in absolute (not per capita!) terms, Canada resettles more refugees than the US [1]. The US is in fact more selective (probably owing to decades of legislative gridlock leaving us with an outdated bureaucratic nightmare of an immigration system nobody on either the left or the right likes). [1]: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/19/canada-now-leads-the-world-in-refugee-resettlement-surpassing-the-u-s/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/19/canada-now-...
        Mikeb85 7y ago
        200k per year isn't that much. And yes Canada is more selective. Per capita numbers (especially when absolute numbers are that low) say nothing about how selective we are.
        TheCuckedKing 7y ago
        U.S. is more selective..? Blatant lie.
        LOLNOPENOPE 7y ago
        From the same source you just shared there's a graph of refugee resettlements. Canada only is ahead of the US as of 2018. Historically Canada hasn't even been close.
        JamesBarney 7y ago
        Imagine two countries of 100,000 people. The first lets in 1,000 people per year, all of postgrad degrees. The second lets in 500 per year selected from a lottery. Which is more selective?
  - Mikeb85 7y ago
    Canada is terrible at assimilating immigrants, the only reason we have less poverty is because our immigration laws are much tougher than the US' and we take in mostly richer immigrants.
    - pcwalton 7y ago
      As I mentioned below, Canada admits more immigrants per capita than the US does, and far more refugees (it surpasses the US in absolute numbers, not even per capita).
      - Mikeb85 7y ago
        That doesn't mean we're not more selective. Numbers per capita say nothing about the selection process, especially when it's far lower in terms of sheer numbers. The refugees we do take in (28k per year is nothing) get a decent amount of support mainly because most of our immigrants are relatively rich Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, etc...
        pcwalton 7y ago
        New U.S. immigrants are about as educated as new Canadian immigrants: https://www.cato.org/blog/new-us-immigrants-are-educated-new-canadian-immigrants https://www.cato.org/blog/new-us-immigrants-are-educated-new... In fact, new U.S. immigrants are a bit more likely to have advanced degrees.
        Mikeb85 7y ago
        More likely to have advanced degrees but less educated overall. The US takes in more outliers due to high-paying jobs in SV and on Wall Street, Canada takes in richer immigrants on average. Your own charts reflect that. Edit - look at Figure 3. 40% of immigrants to Canada have a bachelors or advanced degree. Versus only 29% of US immigrants. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that many immigrants to Canada come here to go to university (paying more than double what local students pay).
      - 7y ago
- namirez 7y ago
  > the is a pillar of what makes the US unique. Or perhaps you've not lived in other countries. Don't get me wrong; the US is doing fine, but honestly it's no so unique or even the best place for an average immigrant. For some highly-skilled immigrants, however, the US is unique in terms of opportunities.
  - rayiner 7y ago
    I’m an immigrant to the US from an Asian country.

>American exceptionalism Almost the entire North and South America has it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli

by tormeh 7y ago

>American exceptionalism Almost the entire North and South America has it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli

rayiner 7y ago

The US is historically unique in its ability to Americanize immigrants and lift them into prosperity. Birthright citizenship isn’t unique to the US, but the is a pillar of what makes the US unique.

mchaver 7y ago
Hmm, I think the other countries in the Americas have been pretty successful at integrating immigrants as well. The prosperous ones also offer opportunities for those immigrants. I think being the largest economy and being so influential is more unique among other nations.
pcwalton 7y ago
Honestly, Canada is actually doing better than the US in assimilating and lifting immigrants into prosperity these days, because it has a more modern immigration system (having avoided legislative gridlock and populist backlashes, for the most part) coupled with birthright citizenship. Consequently, Canada has a larger proportion of immigrants than the US. It also slightly beats the US on most measures of human development.
- Aloha 7y ago
  I'm skeptical that Canada does better at assimilating, just based on first hand empirical evidence I've seen in Vancouver and Toronto. I would agree that Canada is doing better at lifting people out of poverty currently.
  - toasterlovin 7y ago
    Canada doesn’t do better at lifting people out of poverty. They’re just more selective in who they let in and don’t have a huge second world country at their southern border.
    - pcwalton 7y ago
      Canada's immigration rate is 5.3 per year per 1000 residents (200K per year, population 37.59M). The US immigration rate is 3.6 per year per 1000 residents (1.18M per year, population 327.2M). And in absolute (not per capita!) terms, Canada resettles more refugees than the US [1]. The US is in fact more selective (probably owing to decades of legislative gridlock leaving us with an outdated bureaucratic nightmare of an immigration system nobody on either the left or the right likes). [1]: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/19/canada-now-leads-the-world-in-refugee-resettlement-surpassing-the-u-s/ https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/19/canada-now-...
      - Mikeb85 7y ago
        200k per year isn't that much. And yes Canada is more selective. Per capita numbers (especially when absolute numbers are that low) say nothing about how selective we are.
      - TheCuckedKing 7y ago
        U.S. is more selective..? Blatant lie.
      - LOLNOPENOPE 7y ago
        From the same source you just shared there's a graph of refugee resettlements. Canada only is ahead of the US as of 2018. Historically Canada hasn't even been close.
      - JamesBarney 7y ago
        Imagine two countries of 100,000 people. The first lets in 1,000 people per year, all of postgrad degrees. The second lets in 500 per year selected from a lottery. Which is more selective?
- Mikeb85 7y ago
  Canada is terrible at assimilating immigrants, the only reason we have less poverty is because our immigration laws are much tougher than the US' and we take in mostly richer immigrants.
  - pcwalton 7y ago
    As I mentioned below, Canada admits more immigrants per capita than the US does, and far more refugees (it surpasses the US in absolute numbers, not even per capita).
    - Mikeb85 7y ago
      That doesn't mean we're not more selective. Numbers per capita say nothing about the selection process, especially when it's far lower in terms of sheer numbers. The refugees we do take in (28k per year is nothing) get a decent amount of support mainly because most of our immigrants are relatively rich Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, etc...
      - pcwalton 7y ago
        New U.S. immigrants are about as educated as new Canadian immigrants: https://www.cato.org/blog/new-us-immigrants-are-educated-new-canadian-immigrants https://www.cato.org/blog/new-us-immigrants-are-educated-new... In fact, new U.S. immigrants are a bit more likely to have advanced degrees.
        Mikeb85 7y ago
        More likely to have advanced degrees but less educated overall. The US takes in more outliers due to high-paying jobs in SV and on Wall Street, Canada takes in richer immigrants on average. Your own charts reflect that. Edit - look at Figure 3. 40% of immigrants to Canada have a bachelors or advanced degree. Versus only 29% of US immigrants. And that doesn't even take into account the fact that many immigrants to Canada come here to go to university (paying more than double what local students pay).
    - 7y ago
namirez 7y ago
> the is a pillar of what makes the US unique. Or perhaps you've not lived in other countries. Don't get me wrong; the US is doing fine, but honestly it's no so unique or even the best place for an average immigrant. For some highly-skilled immigrants, however, the US is unique in terms of opportunities.
- rayiner 7y ago
  I’m an immigrant to the US from an Asian country.