In The News

Visa for Cream

Sanjay Suri April 12, 2006
Historically, Britain relied on immigrants from India for factory help and other jobs that the British didn’t want to do. Immigration resulted in a British community of 2 million Indians, many who met with great success. But now the UK has tinkered with its immigration rules to reject poor workers from former colonies Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and elsewhere and target workers with information-...

A Nation of Immigrants Clashes Over the Future

Georg Mascolo April 12, 2006
In 2005, the US arrested 1.2 million people attempting to cross the US-Mexico border in Arizona’s Arivaca Valley. About half that number were successful journeying through the treacherous desert, encouraged by words on the Statue of Liberty that welcome immigrants from the world over – “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.” The US estimates that 11 million...

Europe’s Next Immigration Crisis

Alkman Granitsas April 11, 2006
From the Mediterranean to Eastern Europe to the Balkans, the periphery of Europe is booming as countries liberalize their markets and shake off the effects of 50 years of communism. The economic activity has attracted immigrants from impoverished lands – along with the first stirrings of racial intolerance. The immigrant experience of “Old Europe” suggests that three factors lead to society’s...

Businesses Make a Push for High-Skilled Foreign Workers

June Kronholz April 7, 2006
In the immigration bill currently taking up the US Senate's attention, the fate of millions of low-skilled illegal immigrant workers dominates the discourse. The proposal would allow immigrants who arrived in the US before April 2001 to pursue a bureaucratic, but specific 11-year road to citizenship. Immigrants who arrived after the date would have limited options. The US Congress remains...

Making American Money at Home in Mexico

Manuel Roig-Franzia April 4, 2006
In the classic story, Mexican migrants surreptitiously cross the US border in search of jobs. The treacherous journey requires long separations from family and friends, and proposed US legislation would increase restrictions for such hires. But tourism is increasing employment opportunities in Mexico. In the late 1960s, the Mexican government focused on turning the fishing village into a tourist...

Managing Globalization: Costs of Exporting Labor

Daniel Altman April 3, 2006
Filipino workers can be found all over the globe. By some estimates, about 25 percent of the Philippines’ workforce can be found overseas, and wages returned home accounted for 12 percent of the GNP in 2005. Those wages are spent on new homes, education, and consumer goods. Yet some analysts warn that the country’s social system revolves around overseas work, requiring long family separations and...

In Khartoum, the Refrain of Arab Failure

Rami G. Khouri March 31, 2006
The Arab League summit in Khartoum, poorly attended by Arab leaders, coincided with the revolt of several hundred workers in Dubai – and the two events expose problems in the Arab world. The workers, primarily from South Asia for construction projects, protested poor working and living conditions, low and delayed pay, as well as a general lack of basic rights. The leaders in Khartoum and...