[Parallax]

Some are, but not as much as the Brits.

Poll Shows Britons' Hostility to Immigration

It also showed that almost half of British people thought there were too many foreign-born people in the country. This compared with an average of three out of 10 people in the other European countries and just a quarter in the US, despite recent controversies about immigration policy there. Britons were also more likely to think foreign arrivals damaged “national culture”.

[gnaztee]

Strange, the British friends I have sometimes speak in fiercely nationalistic terms ("I'm not British, I'm English")...

(DISCLAIMER: I don't claim they are representative of the majority of British population, I have no idea if they are...nor do I say this with any judgment)

...but still have open attitudes toward immigrants (I've visited a sandwich shop with them several times that is owned by an Iranian immigrant they are friends with).

Edit: Overall survey numbers might have something to do with how tightly the population is packed into a small country...they may not want anyone adding to the crowd, ha!

[Black_ronin]

Quote from article:

Far more British people than their western counterparts also thought migrants were a burden on public services, even though most research suggests they are in fact a net contributor.

I wonder what are factual results in US?

[shooz]

Hard to find?

[Black_ronin]

Hard to find?

I am not looking for survey results or opinionated articles. I want actual facts if immigrants are burden in US economy or not. What is their actual net contribution/burden on economy. If you provide link to reputable source that would be really helpful.

[Nesster]

We went through this a while back, there's a lot of evidence posted here somewhere...

One place to start: the CBO's projections depend on a decent rate of immigration; without this the projections get far worse.

[ihasa]

Strange, the British friends I have sometimes speak in fiercely nationalistic terms ("I'm not British, I'm English")...

(DISCLAIMER: I don't claim they are representative of the majority of British population, I have no idea if they are...nor do I say this with any judgment)

...but still have open attitudes toward immigrants (I've visited a sandwich shop with them several times that is owned by an Iranian immigrant they are friends with).

Edit: Overall survey numbers might have something to do with how tightly the population is packed into a small country...they may not want anyone adding to the crowd, ha!

Most Brits do get on very well with our immigrant friends, but there is a sense, false or otherwise, that the UK is a very constricted and finite country and that we are being 'over-run' - particularly since our borders with Europe opened. Even many 'second-generation immigrants' feel this way too! There is also a sense, blown up by the popular newspapers, that immigrants (legal or otherwise) get preferential treatment. There may be more truth to this than in some other European countries, where it is actually more difficult for a non-citizen to get things like healthcare services than in the UK.

There is probably also just something in our 'island nation' psyche about incomers being a 'threat' - we've a history of being taken over by Celts, Romans, Saxons, the Danes, the French Normans, and (very nearly!) the Nazis... so perhaps we have a bit of a fortress mentality.

[Ash]

In 2007, net immigration to the UK was 237,000 - pretty large number for such a small area geographically. A lot of these immigrants are from Asian and African countries, which vastly different cultures and languages to that of Britian. Naturally there will be a level of discord amongst many Brits.

After 2000, immigration to the United States numbered approximately 1,000,000 per year. Almost half entered illegally. In 2006, 1.27 million immigrants were granted legal residence. Different dynamic though: Mexico has been the leading source of new U.S. residents for over two decades; and since 1998, China, India and the Philippines have been in the top four sending countries every year. The Mexican culture and the Spanish language have been a big and reasonably well integrated aspects of American lifestyle. Nevertheless, foreign nationals from other countries are becoming more prevalent in even the smaller and isolated areas of the country - this may gradually change the attitude of locals...

[GeneV]

In 2007, net immigration to the UK was 237,000 - pretty large number for such a small area geographically. A lot of these immigrants are from Asian and African countries, which vastly different cultures and languages to that of Britian. Naturally there will be a level of discord amongst many Brits.

After 2000, immigration to the United States numbered approximately 1,000,000 per year. Almost half entered illegally. In 2006, 1.27 million immigrants were granted legal residence. Different dynamic though: Mexico has been the leading source of new U.S. residents for over two decades; and since 1998, China, India and the Philippines have been in the top four sending countries every year. The Mexican culture and the Spanish language have been a big and reasonably well integrated aspects of American lifestyle. Nevertheless, foreign nationals from other countries are becoming more prevalent in even the smaller and isolated areas of the country - this may gradually change the attitude of locals...

I wonder how much the attitude of Britons is affected by whether an immigrant is from a former colony.

[ihasa]

I wonder how much the attitude of Britons is affected by whether an immigrant is from a former colony.

Virtually all non-white immigrants are from former colonies....so no, it's not something the average Brit gives much thought to.... Sadly there's no sense of 'duty' to be welcoming to incomers based on our history of colonialism. I feel there should be...

Countries like the USA which are mainly populated by descendents of the colonists are treated a bit differently, becuase of racial / cultural similarities and the fact that not too many people try to immigrate from these countries... and if they do, they tend to be fairly wealthy.

[jeztastic]

I wonder how much the attitude of Britons is affected by whether an immigrant is from a former colony.

This is a point I made repeatedly to friends/acquaintances when I worked for an immigration charity. There is a direct correlation between how rich we in the west are, and how poor those in the former colonies are. This correlation is not merely historic either - we are rich because they are poor, and vice versa.

I would like to see the poll and find out how the questions are framed. As Ash and ihasa point out, people's concerns are different, and European culture and history are different from the US and Canada. Immigration has rocketed in the last few years - at a time when things which have been taken for granted here (schools, social housing and free healthcare) have been suffering from decades of under-investment and attack. For example, in the eighties and nineties the conservative government started selling off social housing stock. In the late nineties immigration started to go up, and the Labour government started shipping them into deprived inner city areas with cheap housing and no history of multiculturalism. People who had been on waiting lists for housing for years started to see immigrants (as they thought) jumping the queue.

I think you'll find a lot of Brits would like to like immigrants but are pi$$ed off by where they find themselves, and are angry enough to blame them rather than someone who deserves it more. Then there's the concept of the 'other' which IMHO everyone who discusses this topic needs to know about... Other - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ihasa]

I don't think the labour government 'shipped' immigrants anywhere! I don't think there was any new immigration policy under labour, and there was no control of where immigrants went. So Muslim communities in the traditional places like Birmingham and South Yorkshire just continued to grow, but the big difference was the border with the EU opening up... unlike the Muslim immigrants, Eastern European migrants simply went wherever the work was - not just cities, but rural places like Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire suddenly saw a lot of new immigrants.

I guess a good number of these immigrants saw the UK as a temporary home, so they were just here opportunistically, without a sense of wanting or needing to 'integrate' - they know they can go back home any time they want! And a lot of them have done, since the financial crisis!

[jeztastic]

The Labour government certainly did have a policy of shipping asylum seekers out of the Southeast into accommodation in places like Glasgow, Liverpool, and Birmingham. This was not compulsory, in that they could choose not to go - however the asylum seekers would then receive no rights to housing elsewhere. And since they were not allowed to work, the alternative was either find someone to put them up, or go underground and work illegally. What this meant was that single men would go off to pre-existing communities and disappear. However families with children would have no option but to go where sent. Coachloads of families turning up to condemned council flats in inner city Birmingham, Glasgow etc. Quite noticeable if you live next door! I know this happened because I witnessed it for four years. Dispersal Policy

I don't really know what is happening since the EU accession, that was after my time working with migrants. However my limited observation is that EU migrants come to the country, work incredibly hard for a short time, then either integrate successfully and stay, or go home. I don't really see this as a problem - it's what has always happened.

There is a danger of conflating asylum seekers and economic migrants. They are completely different. I would also be wary of talking about 'Muslim immigration'. You may as well describe Eastern European economic migration as 'Christian immigration'. It would be just as inaccurate.

[ihasa]

The Labour government certainly did have a policy of shipping asylum seekers out of the Southeast into accommodation in places like Glasgow, Liverpool, and Birmingham. This was not compulsory, in that they could choose not to go - however the asylum seekers would then receive no rights to housing elsewhere. And since they were not allowed to work, the alternative was either find someone to put them up, or go underground and work illegally. What this meant was that single men would go off to pre-existing communities and disappear. However families with children would have no option but to go where sent. Coachloads of families turning up to condemned council flats in inner city Birmingham, Glasgow etc. Quite noticeable if you live next door! I know this happened because I witnessed it for four years. Dispersal Policy

I don't really know what is happening since the EU accession, that was after my time working with migrants. However my limited observation is that EU migrants come to the country, work incredibly hard for a short time, then either integrate successfully and stay, or go home. I don't really see this as a problem - it's what has always happened.

There is a danger of conflating asylum seekers and economic migrants. They are completely different. I would also be wary of talking about 'Muslim immigration'. You may as well describe Eastern European economic migration as 'Christian immigration'. It would be just as inaccurate.

I agree, I hadn't really considered asylum seekers in my comments. I assume the vast majority of immigrants are economic migrants or moving here to be with family members? That's why I queried your comment re labour's policy towards immigrants. (You didn't mention asylum seekers )

Yes it was lazy of me to say 'Muslim Immigrants'.... Pakistani and Bangladeshi etc.

[jeztastic]

I agree, I hadn't really considered asylum seekers in my comments. I assume the vast majority of immigrants are economic migrants or moving here to be with family members? That's why I queried your comment re labour's policy towards immigrants. (You didn't mention asylum seekers )

Whoops, guilty of the same thing myself there then.

Yes it was lazy of me to say 'Muslim Immigrants'.... Pakistani and Bangladeshi etc.