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> I get that we can't open the flood gates There is no flood of immigrants waiting for the gates to open. American net migration is trending down. Soon there w

by Swizec 4y ago

> I get that we can't open the flood gates There is no flood of immigrants waiting for the gates to open. American net migration is trending down. Soon there will be more people leaving than coming. Besides, leaving your country is hard and a large majority of people aren’t actually that interested. Especially not for a place like USA when other, nicer, places have strong economies too. https://econofact.org/the-decline-in-u-s-net-migration https://econofact.org/the-decline-in-u-s-net-migration Personally I moved here for the tech industry. But there’s really not much else the US has going for it.

usrn 4y ago
People leaving would ease asset price inflation relative to wages, especially housing which has been a crisis here for a while.
sbelskie 4y ago
The decrease in net migration has everything to do with COVID + and embarrassing inability to process green card and other immigration related backlogs and almost nothing to do with there not being enough people willing to migrate here. At worst there are tens of millions of people who would migrate here; upper estimates are around 750 million, though that is only based on stated intention AFAIK and the real number would likely be lower.
- Swizec 4y ago
  The decline started in 2016 so it can’t be covid. But it makes sense that it’s due to whatever policies and hurdles Trump’s government put in place.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
1270018080 4y ago
There IS a flood of immigrants waiting for the gates to open. That bar chart in the article is the floodgates being closed. That being said, there is no point in moving to this country unless you're an SWE, or smart enough to get into med school etc., so you can make your money and get out ASAP. I would leave if the salaries weren't so good.
adventured 4y ago
> There is no flood of immigrants waiting for the gates to open. False. There were 1.65 million border patrol apprehensions in 2021, triple the typical annual numbers during the prior decade. They were in fact waiting for the gates to open (waiting for a more pro immigration administration). That figure from 2021 roughly matches the all-time high figure from 1986. The US would receive ten plus million additional immigrants per year, from all around the world, were it to throw the gates open to any and all. Asia, Africa and Latin America would each send several million people per year.
- runarberg 4y ago
  There is a flaw in your logic. A rise in border apprehensions can be for multiple mutually inclusive reasons, only one of them is an influx in total migrants. Other possibilities include more border agents, better patrol equipment and intelligence, stricter border laws, fewer avenues for legal migrations (hence OP). This could even be because of some mundane changes in how these numbers are tallied, categorized, or published between years.
mardifoufs 4y ago
This is such a privileged take. Outside of internet debates, the vast vast majority of people still see the US as the best place to immigrate to. I'm originally from north Africa, and America is still seen as a better place to be than Europe, by far. Going to Europe can mean years long unemployment, racism, low wages and is only considered because it's more accessible than the US. In terms of opportunities for an immigrant, America is just in another league. Maybe tech workers don't see the difference, especially if they are from another western country, but that's not representative. Also, I completely disagree that there wouldn't be a huge wave of immigration if ther borders open. Yes, moving is hard. But it's a complete no brainer when you have almost 0 prospects and opportunities in the place you currently live. They wouldn't be moving to just get a higher salary or a better career, they'd do it because they could barely even earn a living. It's hard to imagine for westerners, and I think it's coming from a position of privilege where you can't really imagine things being so bad that you'd just move without hesitation at any opportunity. But that's the current situation for hundreds of millions of people. Wouldn't you jump on the opportunity to move if you lived somewhere where getting a McDonald's job isn't easy and youth unemployment can reach 50%?

by Swizec 4y ago

usrn 4y ago

People leaving would ease asset price inflation relative to wages, especially housing which has been a crisis here for a while.

sbelskie 4y ago

The decrease in net migration has everything to do with COVID + and embarrassing inability to process green card and other immigration related backlogs and almost nothing to do with there not being enough people willing to migrate here. At worst there are tens of millions of people who would migrate here; upper estimates are around 750 million, though that is only based on stated intention AFAIK and the real number would likely be lower.

Swizec 4y ago
The decline started in 2016 so it can’t be covid. But it makes sense that it’s due to whatever policies and hurdles Trump’s government put in place.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

1270018080 4y ago

There IS a flood of immigrants waiting for the gates to open. That bar chart in the article is the floodgates being closed. That being said, there is no point in moving to this country unless you're an SWE, or smart enough to get into med school etc., so you can make your money and get out ASAP. I would leave if the salaries weren't so good.

adventured 4y ago

> There is no flood of immigrants waiting for the gates to open. False. There were 1.65 million border patrol apprehensions in 2021, triple the typical annual numbers during the prior decade. They were in fact waiting for the gates to open (waiting for a more pro immigration administration). That figure from 2021 roughly matches the all-time high figure from 1986. The US would receive ten plus million additional immigrants per year, from all around the world, were it to throw the gates open to any and all. Asia, Africa and Latin America would each send several million people per year.

runarberg 4y ago
There is a flaw in your logic. A rise in border apprehensions can be for multiple mutually inclusive reasons, only one of them is an influx in total migrants. Other possibilities include more border agents, better patrol equipment and intelligence, stricter border laws, fewer avenues for legal migrations (hence OP). This could even be because of some mundane changes in how these numbers are tallied, categorized, or published between years.

mardifoufs 4y ago

This is such a privileged take. Outside of internet debates, the vast vast majority of people still see the US as the best place to immigrate to. I'm originally from north Africa, and America is still seen as a better place to be than Europe, by far. Going to Europe can mean years long unemployment, racism, low wages and is only considered because it's more accessible than the US. In terms of opportunities for an immigrant, America is just in another league. Maybe tech workers don't see the difference, especially if they are from another western country, but that's not representative. Also, I completely disagree that there wouldn't be a huge wave of immigration if ther borders open. Yes, moving is hard. But it's a complete no brainer when you have almost 0 prospects and opportunities in the place you currently live. They wouldn't be moving to just get a higher salary or a better career, they'd do it because they could barely even earn a living. It's hard to imagine for westerners, and I think it's coming from a position of privilege where you can't really imagine things being so bad that you'd just move without hesitation at any opportunity. But that's the current situation for hundreds of millions of people. Wouldn't you jump on the opportunity to move if you lived somewhere where getting a McDonald's job isn't easy and youth unemployment can reach 50%?