Detroit Wants Its Own High-Tech Visa 398
dcblogs writes "Detroit, a city in bankruptcy and dealing with a shrinking population, hopes to turn itself around with the help of 50,000 employment-based green cards. In exchange for the visa, an immigrant would be required to 'live and work' in Detroit for an undetermined length of time. The visas would be made available under the EB-2 visa category, a visa for advanced degree professionals or those deemed with 'exceptional ability' in the sciences, arts and business. The proposal was made by Michigan's governor, Rick Snyder. Daniel Costa, an immigration policy analyst at Economic Policy Institute, said Snyder would have more credibility on the issue if he were doing more to help workers in Detroit. In 2011, the state cut jobless benefits by six weeks to 20. 'I also think the federal government should be offering people in the U.S. some money and land in Detroit if they'll move there,' said Costa, or 'just offer it to people across the country who have advanced degrees.'"
Unemployment rate 17,7% (Score:5, Interesting)
As we well know, 17.7% means that these are the number of people on the eligible list of unemployment benefits...which they just cut to 20 weeks. So, it doesn't include the number of people who never found a job while they were on unemployment and now have neither a job nor can collect unemployment.
Re:The real point of what Detroit has to offer... (Score:5, Interesting)
The city has been terribly managed for decades. I'm not sure what ground Costa has on criticizing Governor Snyder here though.. the city was given years to clean up its act and didn't really do anything of note, so he only recently stepped in to get the city managed by competent people using Michigan's "emergency manager" laws. They city needs a rapid rise in tax base or a bailout.. since Americans aren't exactly flocking to Detroit (even though property is cheap and employment is available if you have skill) and bail out money isn't to be had, pleading for immigrant help isn't exactly off base. It's not even Snyder's original idea, this has been floated for awhile now.
Wait. (Score:0, Interesting)
What about the 20+ million unemployed US citizens?
The people who are making this decision are part of the same group of people responsible for destroying Detroit.
Toledo, OH had high hopes following Detroit's economic/business model - they still do, even though they watched Detroit crash and burn.
We have become a country of sheep.
Re:The real point of what Detroit has to offer... (Score:5, Interesting)
Portland suffered through this fate many years ago. There is one thing that will put Detroit back on the map, something California and Texas do not have...
Fresh water. Chip plants need it, businesses require this to run. When the major aquifers dry up and make sunbelt areas extremely expensive to live in (barring an advance in desalination, and even then, trying to pump that water inland), Detroit, and Michigan in general, will be relevant again. No water worries, fairly stable terrain (no earthquakes), worst issue might be blizzards.
I'd give Detroit a couple years for it to reach its nadir, because the one-two punch of a continual drought combined with the extreme populations trying to live in desert will eventually cause an exodus back to the northern climates, as that will be where the companies relocate and where the jobs will be.
Re:Colonialism??? (Score:5, Interesting)
Doesn't using the phrase "an immigrant would be required to 'live and work' in Detroit for an undetermined length of time" sound a lot like an indentured labour program?
Yes. This whole idea is completely contrary to the American ideal of immigration. A permanent resident visa should is, should be, and always has been, for the entire country. You should no more be able to stop immigrants from moving anywhere in the country they want, than you should citizens. Something about the Constitution making this a united country, and the federal government controlling immigration.
Re:Why should Detroit get special treatment? (Score:5, Interesting)
You obviously don't know your own car makers do you? I grew up in North America, but live in Europe. Want to know a dirty little secret? I can get reliable low gas requirement AMERICAN cars in Europe. Around 1999 we bought a Jeep Wrangler and then took it to Canada. Since it was NORTH AMERICAN built we could import the car without problems. What was interesting was that the Jeep dealership who had to do some minor changes spent nearly 1.5 hours inspecting the car. We thought something was wrong and asked how come they took so long. Answer, "your Wrangler is Awesome it has so many efficiency features and electronics that I have never seen on sale here."
I recently had a discussion about this with an American and the problem is not the American car makers, but Americans. They want from their American car makers BIG FAT engines with BIG FAT chassis. Americans are not willing to go for the reliable low gas requirements cars because they are "wimpy" cars. The cars I drive here are American built and they are not wimpy. They might not have 600 HP, but who the frig cares since it is not that useful anyways. And even less useful in America...
Go figure, eh!
Re:The real point of what Detroit has to offer... (Score:4, Interesting)
You think the great lakes are inexhaustible fresh water?
Inexhaustible? Nope. But they are vast and very few other places on earth have anything like them. The Great Lakes have around 84% of the surface fresh water in the US. Like any resource it needs careful tending but folks who don't live around the Great Lakes don't really grasp how big they are. They properly should be termed inland Seas. With the possible exception of the Mississippi river watershed there is no more important source of water in the entire US. It's no exaggeration to say that the economy of the US and Canada would be greatly diminished without them.
Also, they are getting more and more polluted and more and more water is being removed each year
Actually the lakes have been getting significantly cleaner for the past few decades. Had you spent any effort looking you would find copious evidence proving that fact. I've lived around the great lakes for most of my life so I've seen it first hand. Lake Erie was a lot more polluted when I was a child than it is today.
Lake Michigan and Huron are historically low but it is still within the range of normal and has been more or less steady for the past several years. Water level in the lakes fluctuate by as much as several feet from year to year normally. People do divert water (particularly around Chicago) but the Great Lakes Compact [wikipedia.org] will largely prevent any mass removal of water from the watershed.