Living With and Without Borders

IMMIGRATION IS THE ANSWER

Politico recently reported that London has seen a “Surge of Americans seeking British citizenship since Trump returned to power” and that “London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the capital city’s ‘liberal values’ made the U.K. appealing to Americans.”

Well, I’m certainly not surprised. There’s a mass exodus out of the U.S. of citizens seeking a better life with better values, France being one of those places. What does strike me funny about this report is that London may be liberal, but the rest of England is questionable. Why do you think they primarily voted to exit the E.U.?

Immigration is the answer.

Freedom of movement within the EU allowed citizens of other member states to live and work in the U.K. Large inflows, especially from Eastern Europe after 2004, led to concerns about job competition, pressure on housing, schools, and healthcare. Immigration became one of the strongest emotional drivers of the “Leave” vote. And here they are with a 50 percent increase in citizenship applications from the U.S. Ha, ha, ha.

But Americans aren’t the kind of immigrants they would reject, even the conservatives. We come with money, education, skills, etc. We don’t come wanting to take advantage and usurp a country’s resources…at the least the Americans I know.

Many people don’t realize the true benefits of immigration to a country which include economic, cultural, and demographic. They’re so busy being nationalist or racist that they don’t realize that immigrants fill labor shortages, boost productivity and innovation, support entrepreneurship, contribute to tax revenue, balance aging populations, sustain population growth, enrich society, foster tolerance and global awareness, create global connections, provide economic resilience and innovation hubs…in spite of the challenges of integration, housing, and social cohesion…but when managed well, the benefits tend to outweigh the costs.

The British behaved very much in the style of MAGA followers wanting to protect their own territory, when in fact, it’s done them little good. The negative effects of Brexit are wide-ranging and have touched almost every part of life in the U.K. (and to some extent, the EU). The country has had slower growth, created trade barriers, have experienced a drop in investments and experienced inflation. There have been worker shortages and recruitment of health and social care workers staffing has been much tougher. There is certainly a loss of free movement and created border friction. In everyday life, prices are higher and choices are reduced. Businesses are experiencing more red tape. On a global perspective, the U.K. has weaker global influence, straining relations between England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Many of the promises of Brexit—more money for the National Health Service, easier trade deals, “taking back control” in a way that improves daily life—haven’t materialized in the way voters expected. The costs have been more immediate and visible than the claimed benefits. We watched from the sidelines and thought the British were idiots at the time, and now we’re watching it happen in the U.S., how what they think will make them stronger, more powerful, will just end up weakening the country on every level.

The latest announcements from the White House made my head spin. Trump has introduced a proclamation that imposes a $100,000 annual fee for each H-1B non-immigrant visa. This is intended to curb what the administration calls “abuse” of the program—i.e., cases where foreign workers are used to replace cheaper labor instead of filling true shortages. (Oy vey.) Then, there is the new visa program called the “Gold Card” that allows aliens who make a significant unrestricted gift to the U.S. Department of Commerce ($1 million for individuals, or $2 million if done via a corporation or similar entity) to qualify for an immigrant visa via an expedited process. (Can’t wait to have more oligarchs in our midst!) And racist measures like the Termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for more than 6,000 Syrians.

What he’s going to get from these measures is push back from the employers who rely on skilled foreign workers, groups and advocates who warn that ending TPS for vulnerable populations could force people back into unsafe conditions, raises in employer costs, potential shortages in specialized labor, possible decisions by foreign talent to go elsewhere, and disruptions in sectors dependent on foreign labor (including research, health, tech). These are potential downstream effects.

Can’t wait. (I hope you can hear the sarcasm in my tone.)

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A la prochaine…