More Misinformation from the Media
About two-thirds of the 1 million people granted permanent residence in the US each year come from all over the world based on family connections. But there might be a negative impact of halting family-based migration.
“If you get rid of chain migration or limit it severely, you’re not just impacting the lives of immigrants, you’re actually impacting the US economy at large,” says Pawan Dhingra, sociology professor at Tufts University.
The motel industry is one example. Indian immigrants own half of the motels across America, despite making up just a small percentage of the population.
Dhingra says that immigrants can bring their extended family to the U.S. to help get small businesses off the ground, providing them with jobs while saving on labor expenses. – Putting an End to ‘Chain Migration’ Could Have a Negative Economic Impact, PRI, The World Staff, 12/12/17 [Link]
Fact Check: Think about what this piece is saying. Should we really be happy that immigrants have taken over half of the motels in America? Immigration advocates often tell us that Americans aren’t willing to pick strawberries in the hot sun for minimum wage. That may be true, but are we to believe that owning and running motels is also something too difficult and unpleasant for Americans to do?
Immigration advocates no doubt will claim that the success of Indian immigrants is due to their ability to compete and win in business. But is this competition fair, and does it really benefit native-born Americans? Chain migration is a policy which gives preference to family ties and connections for admission to the U.S.—rather than for skills and talents for our country.
Family ties in many foreign countries often mean intense family networking and nepotism. And when people from those countries settle here they compete as a group against Americans who tend to be more individualistic. Giving these immigrants further advantage is that they often come from cultures where cutting corners and shady dealings are accepted ways of doing business. Many charge that questionable practices are not uncommon among the Indian motel owners.
Even more unfair is that Indian and other Asian businessmen get preferential benefits from the Small Business Administration on the basis of affirmative action. Supposedly they are disadvantaged when in fact they have and their ancestors have faced no history of discrimination in the United States. Indian-American households earn almost twice the national average income.
Once again, do we really need immigrants to manage our motels? It’s a job a lot of native-born Americans probably would like to do. Cutting chain migration might give them the opportunity.