"reverse immigration"

[solarbird]

Andrew Sullivan talks about the new American diaspora, pointing out this post by a gay American living in the UK and not planning on coming back, due in large part to his partner being a legal stranger and it taking year after year to get said partner anything like PR:

I was forced to leave the US because there are people in the US who believe that the country would be better off without me, and those people have legislative power. I accept that, and it's why I'm not planning on moving back.

Similarly, elfs rages about the accelerating decline in high-talent immigration to the US, as outlined here in "America's First Brain Drain," with this article in USA Today reporting work from Duke University showing that next year the US will see "reverse immigration" of around 200,000 to China and India. Sullivan posts reader comments here, a highlight being:

I see so many brilliant scientists from abroad that simply can't stay in the US because of absurd rules. These are exactly the kind of people that every country should want to have. There is no logical explanation for having such strong barriers to attracting such educated and capable people.

And yet, it does. I personally know multiple people who have faced the bizarre and inexplicable wall that is the US legal immigration and been turned away for random and pointless reasons. I have friends who will not come to this country at all, even as tourists, because of it.

With the US's educational system being so defective on so many levels, it cannot afford this. However, there is absolutely no political will - or even interest - in addressing the problem, and there is far more impetus in the other direction, of closing the borders further.

eta: More from an immigration attorney here. If you aren't willing to take the attorney's statements about the reasoning, you can verify it at this primary source, which includes this statement: "The company chose Vancouver for several reasons, Khan said, including its location and Canada's immigration policies... the Canadian location allows the company to recruit skilled programmers affected by U.S. immigration policies."

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

“The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
    -- Princess Leia, 1977.

Basic counterrevolutionary organic fertilizer. FedGov (and FedGov is still FedGov, damn-all has changed, ne-c'est-pas?) keeps squeezing harder and harder, thinking it can get control... and more of us just feckin' pack up and scram.

Ah, well. It's easier for the next generation to Take Over The World in a proper parliamentary system anyway. Standing for MP takes six weeks' effort and a few thousand quid/loonies. Pocket change compared to an American congressional campaign...

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

Emigration?

I know lots of people (myself included) who won't travel to the US out of fear of abuse by border security.

[ankh-f-n-khonsu.livejournal.com]

Add another to your list. I'm an American ex-pat, infantry veteran, with multiple degrees and professional credentials. My wife's Canadian, and we have no intentions of immigrating to the States.