Looking North for a Solution

Immigration reform has been debated ad-nauseam, and there have been many theoretical solutions discussed that seem smart and plausible.

The problem is that no one knows for sure whether or not these reforms will actually work how they are intended to. What an incredible waste of time and effort it would be if an immigration reform bill made its way all the way through Congress and onto President Obama's desk, only for it to fail or create a new set of bigger problems down the line.

One solution to this would be to ignore our desire to blaze a new path and to instead imitate what other countries in the world are doing. What to do about a mass influx of immigrants is hardly a dilemma unique to the United States; all the top economies are destinations for people looking to emigrate.

In fact, the situation in Western Europe with immigrants from Africa shares many similarities with immigrants to the United States from Mexico and Central America. But, unfortunately, the countries of Western Europe have also had many of the same outbursts of xenophobia within their native populations that has also hindered smart immigration policy. They may not offer the best model for reform.

Australia and New Zealand have long been top destinations for immigrants, but for a compassionate and functional immigration system we need not look so far away. We just need to follow the lead of our neighbors to the north.

First, let's start with the numbers.  Canada has admitted more than 200,000 immigrants in each of the past 10 years, while the United States has admitted an average of about 1 million immigrants per year since 2000.

While the U.S. admits a greater total number of immigrants, because Canada's population is around 30 million compared the U.S.'s population of 300 million, Canada actually gives citizenship to twice as many immigrants per capita per year.  

According to many anti-immigrations proponents in the United States, this must mean disaster for Canada's economy since it is surely overburdened by so many immigrants. 

But reality doesn't bear that out. Canada has the world's 11th largest economy in terms of Gross Domestic Product at 1.5 trillion dollars in 2008.

Canada's immigration policy has three main categories: economic, family reunificiation, and refugees.  According to an article from the Council on Foreign Relations, from 1990 to 2002 49 percent of immigrants came from the economic category, 34 percent from family reunification, and 13 percent from the refugee category.  

Canada figured out a clever way to keep its economy strong by balancing economic immigrants with other types of immigrants. 

This should absolutely incorporated into the U.S. system.  In an earlier post I wrote about the U.S.'s systemic problems that have forced many professionally skilled immigrants to return to their home countries despite being in great demand and that they would benefit the U.S. economy greatly. 

Canada's policy, combined with the appeal of the U.S. and its colleges, could be used to boost the economy and innovation, while also allowing more refugees and family members to come to the U.S. without being an economic burden.

It really would be a win-win situation.  The economic benefits of granting citizenship to every doctor, engineer, and scientist that wants to come here to work would be enormous, while the social and moral benefits of allowing more people in who are looking for a better life or fleeing atrocity would help return America to its place at the top of compassionate nations.