Yes, immigrants drive down wages is the biggest issue. The second is if you bring in a large enough glut of 1 type of immigrant all at once (like refugees for a real world example) they can establish an insulated community and not actually join “the mixing pot.”
There are obviously a lot of positives and neutral points as well, but everything has a give and take. The biggest positive is that children are a pure drain on society but an immigrant doesn’t need schooling or rearing. They can simply begin working (for that lowered wage).
This is less of an issue in America than it is in Europe, and I think it comes down to religion. The immigrants to the United States are generally more likely to adjust and conform since American culture is highly syncretic, and refugees are more likely to be Christian and meld into the predominantly Christian Unites States.
European immigrants are more likely to be Muslim, which clashes with European customs, cultures, and ideals. This is why they form such tight, insular communities where they can control the communities customs and ideals. You see this in Muslim and Jewish communities in the United States as well but it is less pronounced.
it’s also true in both cases that after the third generation the insularity disappears, outside of extremist groups, like hasidics, etc. most children of who came to Germany in the 1970s are now more or less integrated and fully german because they have been there for generations. Just like Italians and Irish in America. I’m a third generation immigrant and i’m fully integrated, whereas my grandparents very much were not as integrated and saw themselves as irish/italian more than american.
Yes, immigrants drive down wages is the biggest issue. The second is if you bring in a large enough glut of 1 type of immigrant all at once (like refugees for a real world example) they can establish an insulated community and not actually join “the mixing pot.”
There are obviously a lot of positives and neutral points as well, but everything has a give and take. The biggest positive is that children are a pure drain on society but an immigrant doesn’t need schooling or rearing. They can simply begin working (for that lowered wage).
This is less of an issue in America than it is in Europe, and I think it comes down to religion. The immigrants to the United States are generally more likely to adjust and conform since American culture is highly syncretic, and refugees are more likely to be Christian and meld into the predominantly Christian Unites States.
European immigrants are more likely to be Muslim, which clashes with European customs, cultures, and ideals. This is why they form such tight, insular communities where they can control the communities customs and ideals. You see this in Muslim and Jewish communities in the United States as well but it is less pronounced.
it’s also true in both cases that after the third generation the insularity disappears, outside of extremist groups, like hasidics, etc. most children of who came to Germany in the 1970s are now more or less integrated and fully german because they have been there for generations. Just like Italians and Irish in America. I’m a third generation immigrant and i’m fully integrated, whereas my grandparents very much were not as integrated and saw themselves as irish/italian more than american.
but that takes 50+ years.
There is plenty of evidence that driving down wages is not true.
https://www.congress.gov/118/meeting/house/116727/documents/HHRG-118-JU01-20240111-SD013.pdf