lower-skilled | Multicultural Meanderings

Canada Admits 3 Times More Non-College Immigrants per Capita than the U.S.

2022/02/25 Leave a comment

Useful comparative data:

Many Americans want a more “merit‐based” legal immigration system, and the country most commonly associated with this framework is Canada. Former‐Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for example, characterized U.S. immigrants as largely “illiterate”, with “no skills”, and argued that America “should be like Canada” on immigration, evaluating them on their skills. But while Canada does favor economic‐based paths to residence, it still admits far more non‐college educated immigrant workers than the United States does as a proportion of its population—and it is planning to let in even more in the coming years.

According to Canada’s statistics, 244,800 non‐college‐educated immigrants over the age of 25 in the labor force entered Canada from 2015 to 2019, 0.65 percent of the Canadian population. During the same period, 729,797 immigrants with the same characteristics entered the United States, 0.22 percent of the U.S. population (Figure 1). In other words, Canada saw nearly three times more entries into its labor force from lower‐skilled workers than the United States did in recent years on a per capita basis. This disparity would be greater if illegal immigrants were excluded from the calculation.

Despite admitting far more non‐college‐educated immigrant workers, Canada also admitted nearly 5 times as many immigrant workers with bachelor’s degrees and 4 times as many immigrant workers with advanced degrees as the United States did from 2015 to 2019 on a per capita basis. This means that overall, Canada admitted nearly 4 times more immigrant workers into its labor force than the United States did from 2015 to 2019. Note that the Canadian share of lesser‐educated workers would be even higher if they were not also admitting so many higher skilled immigrants.

While it is true that Canada admits a much larger share of immigrants through economic channels than the United States does, it also makes it easier for them to qualify based on jobs where a college education is not required. It also admits as a share of its population more immigrants based on family ties and humanitarian grounds than the United States. Canada has just announced its largest ever legal immigration targets for the next several years, which will increase the rate of admission for both skilled and lesser‐skilled workers.

While college‐educated immigrants offer the United States the greatest productivity boost, the fact that a majority of job growth will come from jobs not requiring a bachelor’s degree provides a strong basis for the United States to increase both skilled and lesser‐skilled immigration in tandem.

Source: Canada Admits 3 Times More Non-College Immigrants per Capita than the U.S.

Filed under Immigration Tagged with Cato Institute, lower-skilled, skilled workers, USA

UK: While ‘low-skilled’ migrants are saving us, the government is cracking down on them

2020/04/14 Leave a comment

Expect all governments will need to reflect upon the importance of lower-skilled immigrants following the pandemic:

This crisis has revealed how arbitrary the phrase “low skilled” is: how we value people, their rights, what they’re paid and the conditions they work in is all wrong. For all its warm words about key workers, the government should be reminded of this.

The day Dominic Raab encouraged us all to clap for the workers who are risking their lives to keep society going, the government restated that some of those same people won’t be allowed in the country come January 2021. While Priti Patel is conspicuously absent – notably on immigration issues – the department she oversees decided now was the time to reiterate that as part of its new immigration rules, “low-skilled” people would not be able to apply for a UK work visa.

Millions of key workers in the UK are migrants – approximately 23% of all hospital staff, including 29% of doctors and 18% of nurses, 20% of agricultural workers, more than 40% of food production workers and 18% of care workers, rising to 59% in London. These are the human beings who, for decades, politicians have blamed for holding down wages, ruining “British culture” and overburdening public services.

If the government forges ahead with its plans, recognising them as key workers will be just a momentary suspension of the norm. Many of them were dismissed as low skilled before the crisis, and it seems they will be once again when it’s over.

The government’s post-Brexit immigration plans are a mix of salary thresholds and a clear determination to stop people it deems to be low skilled coming to the UK. It seems that it plans to change the system in some ways, while expanding an already unfair, discriminatory system for non-EU migrants to include their EU counterparts. Swept up into this category will likely be some of the people it is praising now: the migrant care workers, hospital porters, bus drivers and cleaners who are keeping us safe and keeping society functioning.

Your value, the rights you can access, whether you can settle in this country: none of that should be decided by your job or how much money you have in your bank account. But neither should it take a crisis to make this clear; you shouldn’t have to risk your life or die trying to help others to be seen as a human being.

The sacrifices people are making should be recognised and remembered. But their humanity should not depend on how they help “us”. For decades this has been exactly the kind of immigration system politicians have argued for: one where migrants who benefit “us” and “our economy” are “allowed” to come here, and everyone else is a problem. People moving to the UK have for too long been treated as disposable commodities, their rights determined by how useful they are seen to be. This is the very essence of the points-based system.

That’s why the government sometimes chooses to apply the rules differently to particular groups of people. It can, for instance, give out automatic one-year visa extensions to some health workers, at the same time as doubling down on the immigration system that dismisses other key workers.

So, if a shift is happening in society, it can’t just be piecemeal. We cannot repeat the same dehumanising ideas, where people are either framed as “cockroaches” and “illegals”, or as “productive” and “useful” workers; bad migrants v good migrants. Recognising low-skilled workers as key workers should be a starting point, not an end point, to change the immigration debate.

The government’s treatment of all migrants matters. As it has reissued statements on low-skilled workers, it has been remarkably quiet on certain key migrants’ rights issues during this crisis. Over the past few weeks I’ve spoken to people who are terrified about becoming destitute because the conditions attached to their visa bar them from accessing financial support. There are those who are scared to access healthcare because of the hostile environment. And the charity Detention Action has found that not only are people still being put in immigration detention, some are being detainedwhen presenting with coronavirus symptoms. These people are consistently overlooked because they aren’t seen to matter.

But if recognising our common humanity is something we can do when Boris Johnson is admitted to intensive care, the same should be possible for all people, regardless of their immigration status. All migrants’ rights should matter. Not just in a crisis, but all the time.

Source: While ‘low-skilled’ migrants are saving us, the government is cracking down on them

And the following related critiques:

The government has sparked fury by quietly publishing guidelines for a crackdown on ‘low skilled’ immigration at the height of the coronavirus crisis.

Businesses had called for a delay to the new “points based” immigration rules, amid warnings they could throw care homes and healthcare providers into crisis.

And just days ago Boris Johnson’s stand-in Dominic Raab heaped praise on checkout workers and cleaners, saying: “I think you’ve certainly made us all think long and hard about who the ‘key workers’ are in our lives.”

But Home Secretary Priti Patel last night pressed ahead anyway, publishing guidance for employers outlining the new system.

The radical shake-up will block millions of ‘low-skilled’ – by which it means low-paid – workers from coming to the UK.

After Brexit people will have to earn over £25,600, have a job offer and speak English to a certain level in order to get a work visa.

There will be some exceptions for people who earn £20,480 to £25,600 in shortage areas like the NHS.

But the plans have prompted an outpouring of fury from businesses and council who warn sectors like social care face “disaster”.

In response the Home Office told businesses they should simply end their “reliance on cheap, low-skilled labour”.

Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said the guidance was a “slap in the face”.

He said: “These last few weeks have been a stark reminder, not that one should be needed, of the incredibly important contribution frontline workers make in our communities.

“Workers like nurses, carers, supermarket staff and refuse collectors are playing a vital role in saving lives and keeping our country running, often at risk to themselves. It will be a slap in the face to many of these workers to see themselves classed as low skilled and unwelcome in Britain.”

Tom Hadley, director of policy and campaigns at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC), called for a “temporary immigration route” in light of the Covid-19 crisis.

“Now is not the right time to plough on with immigration reforms. The national effort needs to be focused on eliminating coronavirus, protecting jobs and getting the economy back on track.

“The country will recover from this pandemic – and ensuring businesses have the skills they need in future will be essential to the recovery. From carers and cleaners to retail workers and drivers, the current crisis is showing us how much we depend on people at all skill levels.

“We need a temporary immigration route meet the needs businesses in every sector of the economy. Post-Brexit and post-virus, this will help businesses succeed and support job and growth here in the UK.”A government spokesperson said: “Now that we have left the EU, free movement is coming to an end and we will be introducing a new points-based immigration system from January 2021.

“We want to give employers as much time as possible to prepare for the new system that will bring in the best and brightest to the UK, which is why we have published this guidance today.

“The Government is committed to helping businesses through this difficult time. We have announced unprecedented support for businesses including £330 billion in business loans and guarantees, cash grants for small businesses, paying 80% of furloughed workers’ wages, business rates holidays and tax deferrals.”

Source: Fury as Priti Patel pushes immigration crackdown guide during coronavirus crisis

Filed under Immigration Tagged with lower-skilled, Maya Goodfellow, Priti Patel, UK

Multicultural Meanderings

Canada Admits 3 Times More Non-College Immigrants per Capita than the U.S.

UK: While ‘low-skilled’ migrants are saving us, the government is cracking down on them

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