581. What Both Parties Get Wrong About Immigration | Freakonomics Radio

[@canadianroots7681]

It was so good finally hearing employer based immigration mentioned. I wish y'all had covered the very real downside to employer visas. In the 1980's, our family went through an ordeal where we were 2,000 miles from Canada, the employer terminated my dad's employment, and they refused to honour his contract to cover relocation costs back to Canada. That ordeal very much shapes my view on immigration.

[@jdrissel]

You talk about the effects on the states, but you should have looked at the costs to small cities in the border. Many small border cities in Texas are basically bankrupt because of the costs of illegal immigration, the crime, property destruction, business disruption, etc. What happens is that the city gets all its funds for public health and law enforcement used up, then the immigrants are just turned loose. Because they lack access to money, food, medicine, water, clothing and transportation (other than their feet) they linger, taking what they need to stay alive wherever they can until they find a way farther north. Until they find a way to get to San Antonio, they are really in danger of dying from lack of food, water or shelter from the weather. Much of this crime is committed by or at the direction of the "coyotes" (guides who mostly work for Mexican cartels). In many areas, anything not chained up and guarded will be gone in the morning. It will be taken to see if it can be sold or traded to get something they need, and they need almost everything. With the costs of dealing with this environment, families and business are just leaving, further eroding the tax base and the local economy. Many of these towns are down to one place to buy food and gas...

[@GK-op4oc]

A GreenCard backlog for India is simply a measure of an excess of Indian guest workers applying for the Green Card. Indians import themselves, a spouse, children and two extended families around one worker, then complain there is backlog

[@gmo2932]

Big miss for an economic podcast: globalization. The difference with Regan era immigration and now is the amount of blue collar jobs that went to China causing more wealth inequality. Globalization has lead to winners like top wealth Americans and Chinese factory workers while losers are a lot of middle class Americans who then had to compete with more and more jobs that immigrants do. Which is why trump is so popular amongst red and blue state blue collar workers. Both with tariffs to bring jobs back (even though not happening), and getting less immigrants. Even though it’ll not going to work and trump knows little, that’s the sentiment their followers have, even if misplaced. Also the way the USA has consolidated most markets into just a few companies and have taken a lot of middle class jobs. There used to be middle class farmers but now big corporations just try to employ illegal migrants for slave wages (read: Barons: food corruption book). . And also companies abuse the immigration system to employ Indian coders at much lower wages instead of paying Americans normal wages. So not talking about how a few companies and just a few families in the USA are ones of the main culprits of immigration issues is a big miss from both of the interviewees.

[@berts4318]

The key point is legal vs. illegal immgration. Illegal immigration is fundamentally unfair, cutting in line etc. Very un-American. Legal immigration is a very good thing. Most Americans would agree.

[@GK-op4oc]

Immigration into the West, both legal and illegal, is excessive

[@Maybemaybexyz]

We need tougher border control