What’s the migrant scenario in your US town/city?

[IUTSM]

Where I lived over the past 10 years was a smaller rural group of communities, which although concentrated in a few adjoining towns, had a population density of 30 people per square mile. Migrant workers from Mexico and Central America were always prevalent, but it wasn’t particularly notable, just more people doing labor and what not.

I had been hearing talk about a “migrant crisis” in cities across the country and dismissed it all as right wing hogwash.

Where I recently moved, to a small east coast city with a population density of 1700 people per square mile, and where i once lived, it appears to be a very different scene. State mandated policies have brought a 2% increase in population via sheltering and that’s just those the state has on file.

It has been interesting/hard to see as the community is ill prepared to provide care and services.

What’s happening where you live?
 

[manysnakes]

I know there are some supposedly “objective” stats on this to which the mainstream media agrees, but yeah in my major American city, it’s the same as ever: Mexican & other South American laborers of varying legal status and H1B tech immigrants.

[IUTSM]

I know there are some supposedly “objective” stats on this to which the mainstream media agrees, but yeah in my major American city, it’s the same as ever: Mexican & other South American laborers of varying legal status and H1B tech immigrants.

Where I am at now, im not seeing as many Central American laborers as I saw on the west coast and the south east, but rather a lot of Haitian folks.

[Coastal Fever]

I’m in Canada so it’s a little different here, but as of the last 3-5 years.. every retail/grocery/fast food/low wage service job is now mostly staffed by East Indian immigrants.  I’m not making this a political or racial thing, but it’s blatantly obvious that we have have a new underclass of citizens working service jobs and it honestly feels kind of gross.  Again, not in a “they’re taking our jobs!” way, but in a “damn, where are young and lesser-educated/trained Canadians going to work, where’s everyone gonna live, is this why wages are staying low?” kinda way.

I went to the US this summer and it honestly felt strange to see (presumably) born and raised Americans working those jobs, and seeing Help Wanted signs with decent wages advertised.  All that to say… I don’t blame anyone for leaving their less fortunate country in search of a better life, I’d do the same.  But our government knows exactly what it’s doing with it’s unprecedented immigration targets, and it’s certainly not with improving Canadians’ affordability or quality of life in mind.

[TheLurper]

I noticed something the other day while in the HQ of the American company I work for. Many of the employees are likely immigrants on an H1B visa or grew up speaking a language other than English (as informal discussions around me are often not in English and the speakers feel very comfortable in the language).

I think a lot of Americans need to realize they are competing on a global market for work. There are lots of talented, motivated, and educated individuals who are fighting to get into our job market. America has all sorts of education issues, but it is amazing how few Americans are there to fill the jobs needed. And, the Americans have a bit of an advantage as applying for an H1B visa is annoying and recruiters don't want to risk the paperwork not going through and them not hitting their hiring numbers for the month.

I saw the same thing when my ex studied at a Canadian university, which had much higher standards than my American state university. There were tons of kids there who would speak something other than English during the breaks, but were taking on real challenges in English. 

There are so many talented, ambitious, and rich people who want to come here and I don't think many Americans realize a (good) job isn't a birthright in our country (that would be communism, which we hate).

[IUTSM]

I noticed something the other day while in the HQ of the American company I work for. Many of the employees are likely immigrants on an H1B visa or grew up speaking a language other than English (as informal discussions around me are often not in English and the speakers feel very comfortable in the language).

I think a lot of Americans need to realize they are competing on a global market for work. There are lots of talented, motivated, and educated individuals who are fighting to get into our job market. America has all sorts of education issues, but it is amazing how few Americans are there to fill the jobs needed. And, the Americans have a bit of an advantage as applying for an H1B visa is annoying and recruiters don't want to risk the paperwork not going through and them not hitting their hiring numbers for the month.

I saw the same thing when my ex studied at a Canadian university, which had much higher standards than my American state university. There were tons of kids there who would speak something other than English during the breaks, but were taking on real challenges in English. 

There are so many talented, ambitious, and rich people who want to come here and I don't think many Americans realize a (good) job isn't a birthright in our country (that would be communism, which we hate).

Im not sure what well paid, sponsored tech workers have to do with what’s been called the migrant crisis.

[TheLurper]

Expand Quote

I noticed something the other day while in the HQ of the American company I work for. Many of the employees are likely immigrants on an H1B visa or grew up speaking a language other than English (as informal discussions around me are often not in English and the speakers feel very comfortable in the language).

I think a lot of Americans need to realize they are competing on a global market for work. There are lots of talented, motivated, and educated individuals who are fighting to get into our job market. America has all sorts of education issues, but it is amazing how few Americans are there to fill the jobs needed. And, the Americans have a bit of an advantage as applying for an H1B visa is annoying and recruiters don't want to risk the paperwork not going through and them not hitting their hiring numbers for the month.

I saw the same thing when my ex studied at a Canadian university, which had much higher standards than my American state university. There were tons of kids there who would speak something other than English during the breaks, but were taking on real challenges in English. 

There are so many talented, ambitious, and rich people who want to come here and I don't think many Americans realize a (good) job isn't a birthright in our country (that would be communism, which we hate).

[close]

Im not sure what well paid, sponsored tech workers have to do with what’s been called the migrant crisis.

What? Coast Fever mentioned issues related to work and immigrants from East India in Canada. He mentioned the low level service jobs and building on his point, there is the flip side of immigrants from the same region who are coming with tons of money and education who Americans aren't competing with very well.

There is a crisis around housing in Seattle, SF, and Vancouver and other places that has a lot of new residents with lots of education and money who are out competing those already in the US/Canada. This might not be a crisis for you, but it certainly adds pressure for those who are living in these cities. Someone needs to have an income of 250,000$ to purchase a home in Vancouver and there a few jobs that offer this kind of income.
https://news.stanford.edu/2019/08/28/immigration-seattle-driving-urban-change/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/realestate/car-homeless-rent-debt-mortgage.html
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/minimum-income-needed-to-buy-a-home-in-vancouver-rises-due-to-interest-rates-1.6566365

And for all the immigrants that are stuck on H1Bs forever, despite their wealth, are in a precarious place as the wait list to get citizenship depends on someone's nation of origin and those from India need to wait longer than a lifetime to get citizenship. https://www.cato.org/blog/150-year-wait-indian-immigrants-advanced-degrees

You want to know about a migration crisis in my area and this is what it looks like as those from the south are not arriving here in huge numbers. The "crisis" I see is Americans/Canadians not realizing that there is a global market of labor that they need to compete with, housing prices are ever increasing and many people are being pushed out of the market as cities/businesses fight for the wealthest and most educated workers, and then even those immigrants who get great jobs are stuck in precarity because they'll never get citizenship and if they lose their job they have to leave the country in 90 days.   

[Uncle Flea]

Lots of Ukrainian refugees here. They all got bread except a few.
I've only heard the preexisting Russian community complaining.

There's lots of people around here. Mostly people who watch Fox talking about NYC etc.

They hate Mexico and basically everyone who looks browner than Italian.

Used to be racist working class democrats but woke got them scared of being punched by the militant wing of sanity.

In Massachusetts usually if you're white and poor you're a right republican. It's because the more aggressive/louder junk box methadonians tell them what to think.

This is a very segregated place.


When I see these people I tell them about things they don't wanna hear.

Like Lauren Hill is one of the 5 most beautiful people in history

I feel like it will resonate someday maybe?

[S.]

From what you guys have written it seems to be more of an inequality and wealth issue than purely an issue of migration.

I am more scared of the reaction against immigration than of immigration itself.

I am German and we have had our „migration crisis“ in 2015 and honestly it didn’t really affect my life back then, apart from a few buildings being filled with migrants around town. And it doesn’t affect my life much now either. I live in a large city, which has always been ethnically diverse. In 2015 there was talk about Germany changing forever, about Islamic terror and increased crimes and rape. None of it happened. What did happen, was right wing terror attacks and a the rise of right wing populism.

I can understand the fear of people who worry about their income. In Germany incomes for the lower half have been stagnant for decades, while prices have increased. Now Germany faces a serious shortage of qualified workers in many fields, because of its aging population. Wages SHOULD be going up now. It is supposed to be a market and if demand is higher than supply we should see an increase of prices. But they barely go up. Instead there is a call for immigration, which I personally don’t mind under the right circumstances. But there should also be an increase of wages and the minimum wage.

If you look at the statistics the German economy has grown vastly over the last 20 years, but workers have gotten nothing or barely anything out of this growth. People should be mad about this. Instead they are mad at immigrants.

[IUTSM]

Really was hoping to hear about regular people and their stories not about rich, privileged people and their crisis.

Locking this so the tech capitalists can’t spout shit