People move for all kinds of reasons. Wars. Conflicts. In the Middle East, a growing number of refugees from the civil war in Syria have sought shelter in Lebanon. With American forces all set to withdraw from Afghanistan, nervous Afghanis are trying to emigrate from their country.
The economic crisis in Europe is also leading to significant migrations. A grinding recession in Ireland has led many of its citizens, especially its youth, to move to other English-speaking countries. Portugese citizens are looking for work in Angola, a former colony.
Recent efforts in Congress to overhaul the immigration system offer a sliver of hope for the 11 million illegal immigrants who live under a blanket of insecurity. These may enhance the attractiveness of the U.S. as a destination for potential migrants. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.
America is the land of immigrants and would-be immigrants. According to an April 2012 Gallup survey, 150 million adults, cited the U.S. as their preferred destination. Other desirable places were the U.K., Canada, France and Saudi Arabia.
In most rankings of things that are considered desirable — income per capita, happiness, women’s status, life expectancy — the Nordic countries typically come out on top. Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden are very attractive countries, but in the matter of immigration, only Sweden made the Gallup list, with one percent of potential migrants interested in making the move.
The Gallup survey showed that Russia would also attract one percent. Presumably that includes people like Gerard Depardieu, the French actor who left his native country to become a Russian citizen. The actor was unhappy with French president François Hollande’s plan to impose an additional tax of 75 percent on earnings over 1 million euros. (The plan has since been struck down by the courts, although Hollande appears determined to continue fighting for it.) In any event, Depardieu arrived in Russia to be warmly greeted by Putin, who used the occasion to crow about the appeal of his country’s 13 percent flat tax.
Some people in Texas wish to secede from the Union, because of the outcome of the November election. They worry that America is descending into socialist hell (or worse), and they want no part of it.
Yet another group wants to evict Piers Morgan from the U.S. Turns out the CNN anchor, who moved here from the U.K., said something about gun control after the Sandy Hook shooting. That was enough. For expressing such rabidly unpatriotic views, Mr. Morgan became the target of a group seeking to deport him. A petition was sent to the White House, which, somewhat inexplicably, noted the importance of upholding the First Amendment before rejecting the deportation request.But at least for now, Mr. Morgan does not have to worry about packing his bags to return to the U.K. Although, given CNN’s dismal ratings, he may wish to keep his options open.
