The number of foreign-born residents of the U.S. declined for the first time since at least 1970, according to the Census Bureau's annual American Community Survey.
For Mexican immigrants, a decline in construction jobs resulted in their reluctance to immigrate to the U.S. Yet for foreigners from other countries there’s a greater fear that the idea of a more leisurely life in America is a lot harder to come by.
As reported in the Wall Street Journal:
“In multiple ways -- falling homeownership, families moving in with others, couples putting off marriage -- the report illustrated that the recession has upended Americans' lives.”
If Americans are suffering, what sense of urgency do others have to come here?
Of course, there are other factors involved in these figures. For one the Bush administration tightened immigration laws – making it far more difficult for immigrants to come and go as they please (in theory, at least). And it’s still a task to properly tally just how many illegal immigrates are present.
Still, the American dream has lost some of its luster globally and as a result, some are thinking, “Why not just stay where I am?” It’s either that or, “Gee, I wonder how hard it would be to learn Mandarin?”
No comments:
Post a Comment