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50.000 dollars (or any similar number) is an unimaginable amount of money outside US, EU and few other happy countries. No one can afford that, no matter how ha

by thingie 18y ago

50.000 dollars (or any similar number) is an unimaginable amount of money outside US, EU and few other happy countries. No one can afford that, no matter how hard he would try, even a plane ticket is worth savings of whole family for just one person. I guess only organized crime would profit -- provide the money and then blackmail everyone. The immigrant whose whole family is in giant debt, the family... For US it would mean communities of hopeless immigrants from poor countries, entrapped by a vision of better life, held as captives by a mafia. This already happens, and it could only worsen.

byrneseyeview 18y ago
Even in that case, we'd be more likely to get an electrical engineer with a PhD than an illiterate farmer. What would happen in a system like this is that the employers would pay for it. If GE, IBM, or Microsoft got the chance to bring in people like this, they would take it.
- scott_s 18y ago
  These people probably already get H1-B Visas - which is one of the few (only?) work visas that also implies intent to become a permanent resident, so they can file for a green card if their company sponsors them. H1-B Visas aren't exactly what's being proposed because there's still a limited number of them each year, but there is a cost to the company for sponsoring someone.
robotrout 18y ago
Actually, $50,000 seems like a good number. Remember that coyotes charge $5000 per head, just to cross the border from Mexico. If you're coming further, it can be $80,000 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16422719 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1642271... I think $50K to be legal, and not even needing to come up with the money up front, but instead being given a loan, would be considered a bargain.
patrickg-zill 18y ago
FWIW there are plenty of well-off people in any number of third-world countries. Consider the Philippines - current population is 90 million; thus top 10% of people (who will have money) is 9 million. Given the wide disparity in income, it is reasonable to believe that it would be trivial for any of those 9 million to raise $50K.
lacker 18y ago
That's why the article also proposes a loan system similar to college loans. Investing in immigration is very similar to investing in education for the individual - it's a large up-front cost that you expect to be well worth it over a lifetime.

by thingie 18y ago

byrneseyeview 18y ago

Even in that case, we'd be more likely to get an electrical engineer with a PhD than an illiterate farmer. What would happen in a system like this is that the employers would pay for it. If GE, IBM, or Microsoft got the chance to bring in people like this, they would take it.

scott_s 18y ago
These people probably already get H1-B Visas - which is one of the few (only?) work visas that also implies intent to become a permanent resident, so they can file for a green card if their company sponsors them. H1-B Visas aren't exactly what's being proposed because there's still a limited number of them each year, but there is a cost to the company for sponsoring someone.

robotrout 18y ago

Actually, $50,000 seems like a good number. Remember that coyotes charge $5000 per head, just to cross the border from Mexico. If you're coming further, it can be $80,000 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16422719 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1642271... I think $50K to be legal, and not even needing to come up with the money up front, but instead being given a loan, would be considered a bargain.

patrickg-zill 18y ago

FWIW there are plenty of well-off people in any number of third-world countries. Consider the Philippines - current population is 90 million; thus top 10% of people (who will have money) is 9 million. Given the wide disparity in income, it is reasonable to believe that it would be trivial for any of those 9 million to raise $50K.

lacker 18y ago

That's why the article also proposes a loan system similar to college loans. Investing in immigration is very similar to investing in education for the individual - it's a large up-front cost that you expect to be well worth it over a lifetime.