Emigration climate in US
Despite putting more and more brakes to immigration
US stays an immigration land. Daily 2,200 immigrants
arrive legally in the US. Another 4,100 persons are
illegal immigrants of which some enter legally as
tourists and then stay, but most of which enter the
U.S. illegal. It is interesting to note that the US
is a nation of immigrants as most of the actual citizens
forebears left another country to begin anew in the
US.
The arrival each day of the equivalent of a small
city has become a headache to policy makers as many
Americans fear that the US has lost its absorptive
capacity. An immigrant who is entitled to live and
work in the U.S. can become after five years a naturalized
citizens
The flow of immigrants has grown over the years significantly.
While in the 60s 330000 per year came and stayed,
this figure increased in the 70s to 450000, in the
80s to 600000 and reached in the 90s 800000. In these
periods the countries of origin changed, from Europe
to Latin America and Asia.
Immigration can play a role in increasing social security
revenues by adding more taxpayers than beneficiaries,
but much higher levels of immigration are needed to
make a difference in the demography of the country.
Many of those concerned about immigration are more
concerned about the composition of the flow than the
number of immigrants.
There is one problem. Most immigrants are chosen on
the basis of family or other criteria that do not
consider labor skills. Thus the calls to shift admission
numbers from family categories to skill based ones
have become louder.Temporary work categories are increasingly
important as the vehicle for admission of foreign
workers, particularly professionals, executives and
managers. The US issues about 500,000 visas a year
to temporary workers and their family members, plus
500,000 or more visas to foreign students and exchange
visitors, many of whom work in the US. On the one
hand, more foreign professionals reflect global economic
trends that reward nimble industries that can draw
the best teams from the world’s labor market,
such as in information technology, as well as the
desire of many multinationals to transfer personnel
across borders for work and training.
The U.S. has tended to have explicit policies regarding
immigration but a laissez-faire attitude regarding
immigrants. Family, ethnic organisations, religious
institutions and other private sector groups have
the principal responsibility to help immigrants after
arrival. There are few federal programs that target
newly arrived immigrants for assistance, although
some programs aimed at particular groups have become,
in effect, federal immigrant assistance programs.
While U.S. immigration rules are still relatively
loose there is no doubt that the rules are tightening.
But at least some in the U.S govt. discover now that
the U.S. is loosing out in the global talent market
because of its tighter rules and they fear that this
will have a negative impact on the U.S economy.
U.S. has effortless dominated the market for international
students, who have brought boss direct and invalid
benefits. Not only other contributing some $13billion
a year to America GDP, they are also supplying brainpower
for its research machine and energy for its entrepreneurial
economy. But now the number of foreign students on
American campuses decline the first time in 30 years
and foreign applications to American graduate schools
fell by 28% year on year. After decades of steady
growth these figures sent shock waves through the
academic system. Many American universities initially
blamed the tightening of visa rules after 911 and
lobbied furiously for reform. Visa policy clearly
played a part but the U.S has been loosing market
share among international students since 97. The biggest
reason for that is competition. Still it is a factor
life that nowadays it has become easier again for
foreign students to study in America.
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