by Suketu Mehta
In 1970, only 1 percent of American babies were descended from parents of different races: Kim Parker, Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Rich Morin, and Mark Hugo Lopez, “Multiracial in America: Proud, Diverse and Growing in Numbers.” Pew Research Center (June 11, 2015). http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/.
The mayor of Schenectady, New York, realized this in 2002: Sarah Kershaw, “For Schenectady, a Guyanese Strategy; Mayor Goes All Out to Encourage a Wave of Hardworking Immigrants.” New York Times (July 26, 2002). https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/26/nyregion/for-schenectady-guyanese-strategy-mayor-goes-all-encourage-wave-hardworking.html.
Now there are 10,000 Guyanese living and working in downtown Schenectady: Kassie Parisi, “Guyanese Culture in Spotlight in Annual Schenectady Celebration.” Daily Gazette (September 2, 2018). https://dailygazette.com/article/2018/09/02/guyanese-culture-in-spotlight-in-annual-schenectady-celebration.
New York State took in 40,000 refugees over the past decade: Alex Leary, “In Struggling Upstate New York Cities, Refugees Vital to Rebirth.” Tampa Bay Times (November 17, 2017). http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/In-struggling-upstate-New-York-cities-refugees-vital-to-rebirth_162688301.
An old Methodist church downtown would have cost the city: Peter Applebome, “In This Town, Open Arms for a Mosque.” New York Times (August 18, 2010). https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/nyregion/19towns.html.
In 2015, Hamtramck became the first American city to elect: Ryan Felton, “Michigan Town Said to Have First Majority Muslim City Council in US.” Guardian (November 15, 2015). https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/15/michigan-muslim-majority-city-council-hamtramck-detroit.
“Back in 2000, you used to see one car in two minutes”: Susan Shand, “Study: US Immigration Policies Will Hurt Michigan’s Economy.” Voice of America News (October 10, 2017). http://m.51voa.com/study-shows-immigration-policies-will-hurt-michigan-economy-76872.
13 percent of the American population, account for 40 percent of the home-buying market: Deborah Huso, “Why Immigrants Are Crucial to the Housing Market.” Housing Wire (April 1, 2016). https://www.housingwire.com/articles/36630-why-immigrants-are-crucial-to-the-housing-market.
“America is vast, largely empty and often lonely”: Bret Stephens, “Our Real Immigration Problem.” New York Times (June 21, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/opinion/trump-immigration-reform.html.
17. WE DO NOT COME EMPTY-HANDED
Immigrants are 13 percent of the U.S. population, but they started a quarter of all new businesses: Figures in this section drawn from Stuart Anderson, “55% of America’s Billion-Dollar Startups Have an Immigrant Founder.” Forbes (October 25, 2018). https://www.forbes.com/sites/stuartanderson/2018/10/25/55-of-americas-billion-dollar-startups-have-immigrant-founder/#4b1bd8de48ee. Rachel Konrad, “Immigrants Behind 25 Percent of Startups.” Associated Press (January 3, 2007). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/03/AR2007010301402.html. Ian Hathaway, “Almost Half of Fortune 500 Companies Were Founded by American Immigrants or Their Children.” Brookings Institution (December 4, 2017). https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2017/12/04/almost-half-of-fortune-500-companies-were-founded-by-american-immigrants-or-their-children/. Stuart Anderson, “The Contributions of the Children of Immigrants to Science in America.” National Foundation for American Policy (March 2017). http://nfap.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Children-of-Immigrants-in-Science.NFAP-Policy-Brief.March-2017.pdf.
In 2000, Germany realized that it had a shortage of programmers: “Germans Debate Technology v Immigration.” BBC News (April 6, 2000). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/704539.stm.
“If you guys cannot figure out your immigration system”: Ruchir Sharma, The Rise and Fall of Nations: Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World (New York: W. W. Norton, 2016), pp. 49–50.
In 2017, Canada started the Global Talent Stream initiative: Tracey Lindeman, “Canada Launches Visa Program for Hiring Specialized Foreign Talent.” Globe and Mail (June 11, 2017). https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/talent/canada-launches-visa-program-for-specialized-foreign-talent/article35280516/.
by 2020, the booming Canadian economy will have a shortage of 220,000 tech workers: Jessica Murphy, “For Hire: American Tech Brains Choosing Canada.” BBC News (May 3, 2018). https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-43930491.
Canada’s per capita immigration rate is three times that of the United States: Jonathan Tepperman, “Canada’s Ruthlessly Smart Immigration Policy.” New York Times (June 28, 2017). https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/28/opinion/canada-immigration-policy-trump.html.
“What the findings do tell us—through empirically grounded facts”: Keith Neuman and Michael Adams, “Keeping Faith on Immigration.” Globe and Mail (July 7, 2015). https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/keeping-faith-on-immigration/article25328301/.
As the populations of the developed countries get older: Ben Casselman, “Immigrants Are Keeping America Young—and the Economy Growing.” FiveThirtyEight (October 31, 2016). https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/immigrants-are-keeping-america-young-and-the-economy-growing/. See also Alexia Fernández Campbell, “Why Baby Boomers Need Immigrants to Fund Their Retirement, in 2 Charts.” Vox (August 1, 2018). https://www.vox.com/2018/8/1/17561014/immigration-social-security.
In 1960, there were about five workers paying social security taxes: “Ratio of Social Security Covered Workers to Beneficiaries Calendar Years 1940–2013.” Social Security Administration (last accessed December 5, 2018). https://www.ssa.gov/history/ratios.html.
In 2016, the U.S. fertility rate fell to an all-time low: “Fertility Rate, Total (Births per Woman).” National Center for Health Statistics (2016). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.TFRT.IN?locations=US.
gave out more money in social security than it received in payroll taxes: “Summary: Actuarial Status of the Social Security Trust Funds (June 2018).” Office of Retirement and Disability Policy (2018). https://www.ssa.gov/policy/trust-funds-summary.html.
“The numbers get much larger for longer periods”: “A $4.6 Trillion Opportunity.” Wall Street Journal (June 2, 2013). https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324659404578503172929165846.
undocumented immigrants paid $13 billion in payroll taxes in 2010: Stephen Goss, Alice Wade, J. Patrick Skirvin, Michael Morris, K. Mark Bye, and Danielle Huston, “Effects of Unauthorized Immigration on the Actuarial Status of the Social Security Trust Funds.” Social Security Administration Office of the Chief Actuary (April 2013). https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/pdf_notes/note151.pdf.
By the middle of the century, a quarter of the worldwide population: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, “World Population Ageing 2017—Highlights” (2017), p. 1. http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/ageing/WPA2017_Highlights.pdf.
By then, there will be fewer than two workers for every retiree: Joseph Chamie, “Number of Workers per Retiree Declines Worldwide.” Yale Global Online (December 22, 2015). https://yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/number-workers-retiree-declines-worldwide.
By 2050, the population of Europe and Russia will shrink: Yomi Kazeem, “More Than Half of the World’s Population Growth Will Be in Africa by 2050.” Quartz (June 29, 2017). https://qz.com/africa/1016790/more-than-half-of-the-worlds-population-growth-will-be-in-africa-by-2050/.
“It is like watching a nation busily engaged in heaping up”: Sean O’Grady, “Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ Speech Marked Him Out as the Prototype Trump.” Independent (April 18, 2018). https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/enoch-powell-rivers-of-blood-speech-50-years-trump-immigration-right-wing-a8299211.html.
The East African Asian refugee community: Paul Harris, “They Fled with Nothing but Built a New Empire.” Observer (August 11, 2002). https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/aug/11/race.world.
“The United States now relies more than ever on demographics”: Ruchir Sharma, “To Be G
reat Again, America Needs Immigrants.” New York Times (May 6, 2017). https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/06/opinion/sunday/to-be-great-again-america-needs-immigrants.html.
“Sweden needs immigration to compensate for the decline”: Swedish Migration Agency, “Facts About Migration and Crime in Sweden.” Swedish Migration Agency (February 28, 2017). http://down.mofa.go.kr/se-ko/brd/m_7987/down.do?brd_id=2550&seq=1285796&data_tp=A&file_seq=1.
Under 2 percent of Japan’s population is foreign-born: OECD/European Union, “Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Immigrant Populations.” Indicators of Immigrant Integration 2015: Settling In (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2015), pp. 37–51.
By 2050, 40 percent of Japan will be over the age of sixty-five: Adam Taylor, “It’s Official: Japan’s Population Is Dramatically Shrinking.” Washington Post (February 26, 2016). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/02/26/its-official-japans-population-is-drastically-shrinking/.
“The lack of manpower here is a real problem”: Anna Fifield, “Japanese Towns Struggle to Deal with an Influx of New Arrivals: Wild Boars.” Washington Post (March 9, 2018). https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/japanese-towns-struggle-to-deal-with-an-influx-of-new-arrivals-wild-boars/2018/03/05/59af237e-1722-11e8-930c-45838ad0d77a_story.html.
That year, a quarter of new businesses were started by Syrians: Omer M. Karasapan, “The Impact of Syrian Businesses in Turkey.” Brookings Institution (March 16, 2016). https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2016/03/16/the-impact-of-syrian-businesses-in-turkey/.
We are the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans: Jie Zong and Jeanne Batalova, “Indian Immigrants in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute (August 31, 2017). https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/indian-immigrants-united-states. See also Gustavo López, Kristen Bialik, and Jynnah Radford, “Key Findings About U.S. Immigrants.” Pew Research Center (September 14, 2018). http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/14/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/.
We are 8 percent of America’s doctors: Jason Richwine, “Indian Americans: The New Model Minority.” Forbes (February 24, 2009). https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/24/bobby-jindal-indian-americans-opinions-contributors_immigrants_minority.html#2ba5d6fd583b.
Around a fifth of all start-ups in Silicon Valley were founded by Indians: Paresh Dave, “Indian Immigrants Are Tech’s New Titans.” Los Angeles Times (August 11, 2015). https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-indians-in-tech-20150812-story.html.
18. IMMIGRATION AS REPARATIONS
“Now we have half-stepped away from our long centuries of despoilment”: Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations.” Atlantic (June 2014). https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/.
“America Is the Worst Polluter in the History of the World”: Michael B. Gerrard, “America Is the Worst Polluter in the History of the World. We Should Let Climate Change Refugees Resettle Here.” Washington Post (June 25, 2015). https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/america-is-the-worst-polluter-in-the-history-of-the-world-we-should-let-climate-change-refugees-resettle-here/2015/06/25/28a55238-1a9c-11e5-ab92-c75ae6ab94b5_story.html.
“Some say that France was a colonial power”: Alain Finkielkraut, interviewed by Mathieu von Rohr and Romain Leick, “French Philosopher Finkielkraut: ‘There Is a Clash of Civilizations.’” Der Spiegel (December 6, 2013). http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-french-philosopher-finkielkraut-on-muslims-and-integration-a-937404.html.
“The gains from reducing emigration restrictions”: Shaun Raviv, “If People Could Immigrate Anywhere, Would Poverty Be Eliminated?” Atlantic (April 26, 2013). https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/04/if-people-could-immigrate-anywhere-would-poverty-be-eliminated/275332/.
A provocative 2014 article in The New Republic: Eric A. Posner and Glen Weyl, “A Radical Solution to Global Income Inequality: Make the U.S. More Like Qatar.” New Republic (November 6, 2014). https://newrepublic.com/article/120179/how-reduce-global-income-inequality-open-immigration-policies.
They send back some $600 billion in remittances every year: Dilip Ratha, Supriyo De, Eung Ju Kim, Sonia Plaza, Kirsten Schuettler, Ganesh Seshan, and Nadege Desiree Yameogo, “Migration and Remittances: Recent Developments and Outlook in 2017.” World Bank Group (April 2018), p. v. https://www.knomad.org/sites/default/files/2018-04/Migration%20and%20Development%20Brief%2029.pdf.
Migrants from poor countries alone sent $481 billion in remittances to the global south: “Migrants Send Home 51 Per Cent More Money Than a Decade Ago Lifting Millions out of Poverty, Says New Report.” International Fund for Agricultural Development (2017). https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2017/06/migrants-send-home-51-per-cent-more-money-than-a-decade-ago-lifting-millions-out-of-poverty-says-new-report/.
In the Philippines, its 10 million overseas workers are celebrated: “OFWs Honored for Their Sacrifices, Awarded with Free Trip Back Home.” Philippine Star (September 6, 2018). https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/on-the-radar/2018/08/02/1832899/12-ofw-heroes-honored-second-edition-moneygram-idol-awards.
reduce the fees on money transfers, which exceed $30 billion: Stephen Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz, “The Stubbornly High Cost of Remittances.” VOX CEPR Policy Portal (March 27, 2018). https://voxeu.org/article/stubbornly-high-cost-remittances.
“The state’s right to control immigration”: Michael Walzer, Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality (Basic Books, 1984), pp. 61–63.
Miller has a theory of “weak cosmopolitanism”: James Ryerson, “Deep Thinking About Immigration.” New York Times (July 26, 2016). https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/books/review/immigration-strangers-in-our-midst-david-miller.html.
Migrants are 3 percent of the world’s population but contribute 9 percent of its GDP: Global Migration Data Analysis Centre, International Organization for Migration, Global Migration Indicators, 2018 (Germany: October 12, 2018), p. 19. https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/global_migration_indicators_2018.pdf.
Today, there are 9 million Americans living abroad: Philip Bump, “Millions of Americans Have Moved Overseas—and It’s Not Because the U.S. Is a ‘Shithole.’” Washington Post (January 12, 2018). https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/01/12/millions-of-americans-have-moved-overseas-and-its-not-because-the-u-s-is-a-shithole/.
In 1990, fewer than 7 million Indians lived overseas: United Nations, “Origins and Destinations of the World’s Migrants, 1990–2017.” Pew Research Center visualization using data from the United Nations Population Division (February 28, 2018). http://www.pewglobal.org/2018/02/28/global-migrant-stocks/?country=IN&date=2017.
A little over a third of Americans own a passport: Niall McCarthy, “The Share of Americans Holding a Passport Has Increased Dramatically in Recent Years.” Forbes (January 11, 2018). https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2018/01/11/the-share-of-americans-holding-a-passport-has-increased-dramatically-in-recent-years-infographic/#7b8cdeba3c16.
American pilots working in Chinese airlines: Jethro Mullen, “Want to Earn $300,000 Tax Free? Try Flying a Plane in China.” CNN (November 15, 2016). https://money.cnn.com/2016/11/15/news/economy/china-airlines-foreign-pilots-pay/index.html.
immigrants are more willing to move to fast-growing, high-income, dense cities: Giovanni Peri, “The Economic Benefits of Immigration.” Berkeley Review of Latin American Studies (fall 2013). https://clas.berkeley.edu/research/immigration-economic-benefits-immigration.
You will, literally, live longer if you do: Meillan Solly, “United States Drops 21 Spots in Global Life Expectancy Rankings.” Smithsonian Magazine (October 19, 2018). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/united-states-drops-21-places-global-life-expectancy-rankings-180970585/.
You will also be happier in seventeen other countries: Maggie Astor, “Want to Be Happy? Try Moving to Finland.” New York Times (March 14, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/world/europe/worlds-happiest-countries.html.
EPILOGUE: F
AMILY, REUNIFIED—AND EXPANDED
“Lo, soul, seest thou not God’s purpose”: Walt Whitman, “Passage to India” (1868). From Walt Whitman: Selected Poems (Dover, 1991), p. 104.
New York City today has 270 magazines and newspapers in 36 languages: Devjyot Ghoshal, “Newspapers That Aren’t Dying.” Atlantic (June 26, 2014). https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/06/newspapers-that-arent-dying/373492/.
The first foreign group that came in large numbers to Silicon Valley: Vivek Wadwha, “The Face of Success, Part I: How the Indians Conquered Silicon Valley.” Inc. (January 13, 2012). https://www.inc.com/vivek-wadhwa/how-the-indians-succeeded-in-silicon-valley.html.
A 1911 committee set up by Congress studied 246,000 immigrants: Jennifer Mendelsohn, “Missing from the Immigration Debate: Receipts.” Los Angeles Times (February 9, 2018). https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mendelsohn-resistance-genealogy-20180209-story.html.
Latinos are 18 percent of the population—57 million Americans: Antonio Flores, “How the U.S. Hispanic Population Is Changing.” Pew Research Center (September 18, 2017). http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/09/18/how-the-u-s-hispanic-population-is-changing/.
In 2017, two-thirds of the 1.1 million green cards: Jie Zong, Jeanne Batalova, and Jeffrey Hallock, “Frequently Requested Statistics on Immigrants and Immigration in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute (February 8, 2018). https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/frequently-requested-statistics-immigrants-and-immigration-united-states. See also Miriam Jordan and Sabrina Tavernise, “One Face of Immigration in America Is a Family Tree Rooted in Asia.” New York Times (September 16, 2018). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/16/us/immigration-family-chain-migration-foreign-born.html.
His mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, moved from a village in Scotland: Jason Horowitz, “For Donald Trump’s Family, an Immigrant’s Tale with 2 Beginnings.” New York Times (August 21, 2016). https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/22/us/politics/for-donald-trumps-family-an-immigrants-tale-with-2-beginnings.html.