Feb. 3

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,”    Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty

Welcome the Stranger.    The three Abrahamic religions

“America is for Americans”.   Stephen Miller

“We will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history”.  DJ Trump

Putting aside the trumpist blather about Muslims, Hispanics and “shithole countries,” there are reasons to encourage immigration beyond the value of being welcoming. We should anticipate competition in attracting foreign workers to keep our countries growing. Many countries need to weigh economic needs against cultural, racial and sexual prejudices.

Nicholas Kristof  had a recent piece related to Africa. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/28/opinion/africa-population-youth.html. Some facts:

   -In the early 70’s, fewer than 10% of the world’s babies were born in Africa. By 2100, 54% of the world’s babies will be born in Sub-Saharan Africa (Lancet demographic forecast). If that forecast proves accurate, then:

   -In the 22nd century, a majority of the world’s population will be African

   -In 2100, 80% of the world’s population will be African or Asian.

   -Climate change and drought are leading to starvation in countries which have weak governance following colonial control.

Increasingly, developed countries will need workers to support growth in their economies. In the short term, we will be able to see the impacts of immigration policy on workers in farming, construction, meat packing, landscaping and other areas. In the US, our retirement system was created in the 1930’s. At that time, there were 6 workers to 1 retiree. Now, there are close to 2 workers for each retiree. Recently, China had 7 workers per retiree. In 2050, they are estimated to have a 2:1 ratio.

Hungary has a conservative government with an anti-immigrant bias. Fifty-seven percent of young people plan to leave the country. Eighty per cent of them are under 40. One third have college degrees.

Angela Merkel supported the need for more immigrants. She was moved out as Germany’s leader. A reaction against immigrants was an important reason for England leaving the EU. Trump has repeatedly supported building a wall to keep immigrants out of the US. Interestingly; it is a wall defending against brown Mexicans, not White Canadians.

There was an anti-immigrant sympathy at a number of times in the US. Catholics and Jews had barriers to overcome. The 1924 Immigration Act sought to discourage East Europeans and Asians from coming to the US. The Chinese played an important part in railway development in the US, but there were efforts to exclude them prior to World War 11. However, after the Second World War, the Marshall Plan was developed and efforts ensued to rebuild countries damaged by the war. The sense that we needed to protect the most vulnerable represented a new direction.

Since the trump inauguration and his rash of Executive Orders, we now have The Defense Intelligence Agency, for example, discontinuing, celebration of MLK day, Black History Month, Juneteenth, LGBTQ Pride month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, and other special observances. No resources are to be spent on affinity groups or employee networking groups. And, accessibility programs are off limits.

It is nice to be spending time in New Zealand and Australia where there has been more attention on honoring the Maoris and Aboriginees and to support multicultural populations. Most countries are going to have an economic need for more immigrants. The most successful ones will be those that overcome prejudices and short term political gain in favor of economic prosperity.