Different Perspectives on Immigration

Rick Van Schoik, Director

Erik Lee, Director of Policy and Programs

AGENDA

• Erik, Rick, and NACTS• Big Picture and Connectedness• North American and other perspectives• Environmental issues• Solutions sets

WHO WE ARE

WHAT NACTS IS

• Seven university collaboration• Four foci: Borders and Transborder;

Awareness of North America; Trade, Transportation, and Tourism, Sustainability

• Actionable policy analysis and options

INTRODUCTION

Arizona State University, the New American University is taking on the challenge of reinventing how universities do their three jobs. The pre-eminent directive is transdisciplinary work.

What does this mean for how universities understand immigration?

“The central challenge of the twenty- first century is how to integrate the developing nations.”

Robert PastorAmerican UniversityNACTS Board of Advisors member

NACTS CHALLENGE

CENTRAL FRAME

“It is unrealistic to hold that the large income difference between the Northern and Southern shores of the Mediterranean or between United

States and Mexico…can continue without adding further pressure to migrate.”

Branko Milanovic, World Bank

ISSUE CONNECTEDNESS

• The All-American Canal is a water, and a diplomacy, and an immigration issue

• NAFTA maize tariff reduction on Jan 1 is a trade, and an energy, and an immigration issue.

• Name an issue that is NOT immigration related!

FALSE CONFLUENCE

• Immigration conflated with terrorism and weapons of mass destruction is unsubstantiated, misguided, and unfortunate.

• The 1% solution fostered such mis- and disinformation and misperceptions.

WE STARTED IT

“I’ve seen many migrants crop-picking about the country. It seems to me that, just as the Carthaginians hired mercenaries to do their fighting for them, we Americans bring in mercenaries to do our hard and humble work.”

WHAT DO WE DO NOW?

“I hope we may not be overwhelmed one day by people not too proud or too lazy or too soft to bend to the earth and pick up the things we eat.”

IT’LL BE EXPENSIVE

• “Getting rid of these workers means we are deciding as a matter of policy to shrink our economy.”

– Judith Gans, Udall Center, WSJ Dec 14

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE

• US and MX trade $1.5 million each hour• US and MX trade 30 people in same hour• Labor mobility does not equate to skill

exchange

WORLD PERSPECTIVE

• Feminization

• Very poor to poor nations

• Remittances run some countries

DEMOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE

• As we age fewer workers, fewer productive supporters of social security and fewer able and willing to labor

• As we move to cities, fewer available in rural and remote locations

• As more women migrate they stay longer

MEXICAN PERSPECTIVE

• Drug crack-down• Evolution of “Coyotes”:

– Very lucrative (now) – Drug-link: Absolutely.– Conflation with terrorism? Doubtful.

REMITTANCES

• Mexico’s economy is oil, tourism, remittance driven

• Worldwide remittances are worth $318B (double 2001), twice the value of all foreign aid. Economist

• Remittances to Mexico are US economy dependent

CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE

• Canada is much more welcoming but U.S inability to reform policy has a stalling and confounding effect on Canada

• Migrants to Canada through U.S have been mistreated.

ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

• After economic refugees, environmental and now climate refugees are maintaining the flow

• Migrants who adopt a U.S lifestyle add to the footprint/load ie energy and greenhouse gas emissions

• Construction of the fence without a TEIA• Crossers destroy habitat, leave litter,

ignite fires, and can host pathogens

EUROPEAN OR EXTERNAL PERSPECTIVE

• Schengen union• Value of an external defense

perimeter• EU border-free travel zone now

includes ex-Soviet bloc nations

ULTIMATE SOLUTION

• Development in Mexico to stem the push. GAO recommended a rural compensation fund fro Mexico

• Stop the perverse subsidies ($220K per farmer in US versus $770 in Mexico)

• MX imported $2.5B of corn in 2006 driven by price rise due to our ethanol thirst

• Legitimize the flow

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS• North American Investment Fund• North American Advisory Council• Early and sustained help for new arrivals

pays off• High fences and wider gates and in both

directions!• Local integration and assimilation• Joint (multi-agency) risk assessment• Legal activity by the irregulars enhances

the system as well as the migrants

RICHARDSON• Double border agents• Crack down on document fraud and

create an ID system• Fine and punish employers• Establish a pathway• Allow guest workers commensurate with

our need• Help Mexico create jobs

Immigration Stories we would like to read

• More comparative stories (particularly stories on Canadian, Mexican, and European perspectives)

• Stories that explore the linkages between climate change and immigration

• Interviews with state- or municipal level government officials in Mexico and Central America

• Articles exploring North American demographics

LAST THOUGHTS

• We are big and long thinkers• We can help connect• We advocate North America• We know out-of-the-ordinary people • We are available for perspective

Contact Us

• Rick Van Schoik, nacts@asu.edu, 480-965-1846

• Erik Lee, erik.w.lee@asu.edu, 480-727-8926