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'The most popular destination for asylum seekers of all nationalities in 2007 was the US, with an estimated 49,200 new asylum claims' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/h

'The most popular destination for asylum seekers of all nationalities in 2007 was the US, with an estimated 49,200 new asylum claims' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7301985.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7301985.stm

hugh 18y ago
Hmm, that would seem to make them involuntary emigrants rather than involuntary immigrants, but I see what you mean.
byrneseyeview 18y ago
Jewish immigrants from the former USSR are extremely successful in the US, even though they weren't quite voluntary immigrants.
- dangoldin 18y ago
  My family came over from the USSR in the late 80s and although I was too young to remember the details, my parents told me that the USSR did not make it easy to leave: they had to go through a whole slew of questions that tried to show that they were perfectly well off in the USSR and there was no persecution. Their story makes it seem to me that it would have taken a more than voluntary effort to leave the USSR, whether you were a Jew or not. As an aside, before the mass immigration of the Soviet Jewry there was a whole group of people called the Refuseniks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusenik http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusenik) which were denied the right to immigrate but were not allowed to go back to their jobs. There was a very good documentary made about them recently (http://www.refusenikmovie.com/ http://www.refusenikmovie.com/) that I recommend watching if you are interested in this topic.
riahi 18y ago
That also brings up another question though, why are they being forced to emigrate? Could they be intelligent? Because of that aspect, could their views clash with the society they currently reside in? In many fascist nations, the intelligentsia are the first to be marginalized. Perhaps you could separate this out by motives for immigration to the US, but I think the point still stands that people who hold education dear to them will instill that value into their children.

hugh 18y ago

Hmm, that would seem to make them involuntary emigrants rather than involuntary immigrants, but I see what you mean.

byrneseyeview 18y ago

Jewish immigrants from the former USSR are extremely successful in the US, even though they weren't quite voluntary immigrants.

dangoldin 18y ago
My family came over from the USSR in the late 80s and although I was too young to remember the details, my parents told me that the USSR did not make it easy to leave: they had to go through a whole slew of questions that tried to show that they were perfectly well off in the USSR and there was no persecution. Their story makes it seem to me that it would have taken a more than voluntary effort to leave the USSR, whether you were a Jew or not. As an aside, before the mass immigration of the Soviet Jewry there was a whole group of people called the Refuseniks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusenik http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refusenik) which were denied the right to immigrate but were not allowed to go back to their jobs. There was a very good documentary made about them recently (http://www.refusenikmovie.com/ http://www.refusenikmovie.com/) that I recommend watching if you are interested in this topic.

riahi 18y ago

That also brings up another question though, why are they being forced to emigrate? Could they be intelligent? Because of that aspect, could their views clash with the society they currently reside in? In many fascist nations, the intelligentsia are the first to be marginalized. Perhaps you could separate this out by motives for immigration to the US, but I think the point still stands that people who hold education dear to them will instill that value into their children.