3 reasons why “immigration as gumballs” is wrong
Perhaps you’ve seen a video circulating from Numbers USA, the basic claim of the video is that policymakers in the US are too generous to undeserving migrants who are not the worst off. Increasingly this narrative of fortress Britain is becoming increasingly popular as the public question whether Britain has been too charitable to the global poor. westkinassociates – immigration lawyer London 5th Floor Maddox House, 1 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 2PZ
- “Those coming are not the worst off.”
The first claim which needs to be rebuked is that those coming are actually those rich and wealthy enough to afford the journey. We’re given a false image of a bourgeois class of migrants who are migrating due to a flight of fancy. The reality is starkly different. By HE Global property investment London
Human Rights Watch has reported that 138 El Salvadorians who were denied access to the US were killed and a further 70 report being raped and tortured.
Since the start of last year, the US has removed more than 60,000 people which include 16,000 children.
Similarly, in the UK, political pundits like Katie Hopkins attempt to paint the image that immigrants are living the luxury life, but this is far from the truth. Britain has deported over 40 Tamil asylum seekers which Freedom from Torture has reported went on to face threats of sexual violence and torture which are pervasive in Sri Lanka. Tamils are just one group of people who have been attacked by the Home Office; there are many more.
- We’re too generous!
The second contentious claim is that the sole purpose of the US immigration policy is pursuing the role of the “Good Samaritan”. There’s some humanitarian goal motivating US policy but as Bill Clinton’s key strategist, James Carville, always reminds us “It’s the economy, stupid!”
The US and the UK are both heavily reliant on foreign labour. If we focus on the UK, we can see that close to a third of EU migrants work in the domestic food and drink industries. Similarly, in the NHS, over 13% of workers are identified as not having British nationality.
The facts are that we aren’t accepting migrants because our hearts are too big, but rather, we can see the advantages of having a migrant labour force.
- “They should stay and make their own countries great.”
The third claim made is that by opening our borders to highly skilled migrants from foreign countries we’re harming developing nations. This argument is built on a false premise.
To say that simply having talented individuals remain in their native countries so that they can solve their issues fails to properly address what these issues are.
One of the major issues tackling these developing nations is Global Warming. The fact that huge numbers of regions will be ravaged by floods, infertile land and other natural disasters making their homes inhospitable, largely due to Western pollution, should be reason alone to accept migrants. However, the real issue is that it’s a fundamental denial of basic liberties as all people have a right to move to which every country best suit them in order to make a life for themselves and their families.