America no longer a beacon for immigrants

(11 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

On the pedestal that supports the Statue of Liberty, is the poem, “The New Colossus”, by Emma Lazarus. The poem concludes with these lines:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

No more. The United States of America is no longer quite the beacon it once was to the immigrants of the world.

The Washington Post reports that Census data show big dip in migration To the U.S.

The number of immigrants coming to the United States slowed substantially in 2007, with the nation’s foreign-born population growing by only 511,000, compared with about a million a year since 2000, according to Census figures released today.

Still, “the number of foreign-born people in the United States reached a high of 38.1 million in 2007, accounting for 12.6 percent of the population.” A significant percentage of Americans were born elsewhere. Immigrants are part of who we are.

According to demographers this slowdown in newcomers is due, in part, to the U.S. economic downturn.

“I think this shows that immigrants are keeping an eye on the economy when they make their decision on whether to come or where to live in the United States,” said William H. Frey, a researcher with the Brookings Institution who analyzed the numbers.

In addition to the shoddy economy, The Wall Street Journal adds that Crackdown on illegal workers further dims opportunity and suggests “some illegal immigrants who are already here may be returning home because of decreased opportunity.” But in the WaPo article, “Frey cautioned against drawing too close a connection” to the anti-migrant raids by the government to the decline in foreign-born population in the U.S.

The weak U.S. economy, he emphasises to the WSJ is more likely the reason for the change. “Immigrants are much more attuned to the economy’s ups and down in the U.S. than we thought before,” Frey said.

Immigrants from Asia and Africa have slowed by over 60 percent, while immigrants from Latin America has declined only by 36 percent. What may be happening is people who can get out the U.S. are leaving.

According to preliminary analysis of the data, the Pew Hispanic Center estimates that annual arrivals from Mexico and Central America are down as much as 50% this year relative to 2007, to fewer than 150,000 and 75,000 a year, respectively. Undocumented immigrants represent about 80% of all Latin Americans who have arrived in the U.S. in the past decade.

“It could be the case that there are more people leaving than coming,” says Jeff Passel, a demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center, an independent think tank in Washington.

The economic downturn has hurt construction, retail, and service jobs that some lower-skilled immigrants work at in America.

For immigrants already here, the picture is bleak: The Census Bureau reported last month that the income of households headed by a foreigner who is also not a U.S. citizen dropped 7.3% compared with a 4.1% rise between 2005 and 2006. Preliminary analysis by Pew Hispanic Center researchers indicates that Hispanic households have suffered an even greater decrease in income between 2006 and 2007.

But the declining number of immigrants coming to the United States isn’t just a result of the bad economy not supporting as many low skill jobs, but also fewer highly-skilled immigrants are seeing America as the place to be. Last week, I wrote about this phenomena in Thus begins America’s “Brain Drain”.

Scientists, researchers, and scholars are being drawn to intellectual centers in Europe and Asia. For example according to MSNBC, the Large Hadron Collider is drawing physicists to CERN in Europe. “Let’s be blunt about this: There could be a brain drain of some of our finest minds to Europe, because that’s where the action is,” said Michio Kaku, author and theoretical physicist. Europe is also a magnet for genetic research with stem cells, reported The Guardian back in 2006.

In Asia, China is now more often the destination of choice for students. Indian students flock to China for higher studies because the fees are more affordable and the facilities have higher standards, Indian Edunews reported in January.

In August, Newsweek reported A booming China is luring home its best and its brightest-along with some westerners as well.

China has fought a battle against brain drain since Deng Xiaoping opened the nation’s doors 30 years ago. Many of the country’s brightest have streamed out and few have returned: of the estimated 815,000 who left to study abroad from 1978 to 2004, only about a quarter came back, according to official data. Yet now, with the country’s economy booming and its prestige growing, more and more Chinese expats, or hai gui (sea turtles), are starting to swim home. Lured by patriotism, family, market forces and generous government schemes, they and even some Western-born academics are moving to China in growing numbers…

Funding schemes set up to entice scientists home offer returnees full professorships as well as research grants of 2 million yuan ($292,000) and the chance to lead a research team. But there’s a catch-they have to give up their foreign citizenship to make sure China gets full credit for their research. Nonetheless, the main scheme has attracted nearly 1,000 returnees since 1994.

So as the America economy collapses, fewer immigrants of all skill levels are seeing the United States as the destination of choice. Some people already in the U.S. are seeing good reason to leave. Maybe it’s time we take a good look at our country and ask why?