Detroit has long stood as a symbol of how important workers can be to the success of a town. Being described today as a ghost town with high crime rates and recently bankrupt, Michigan’s governor, Rick Snyder, believes he has the one and only solution to get the town back on its feet. Through funneling immigrants to work and rebuild the town, it may be Detroit’s only chance and option to help the state.
Snyder plans on building an immigrant community
Snyder’s unusual plan has a few people optimistic and on board with the idea of creating a new community. His idea is to repopulate and rebuild Detroit to help “stimulate education, the arts, technology and manufacturing...” Because of the desolution in the area, there is poverty within the community and a spiral that has left children going to poor schools and barely any jobs available. By allowing immigrants to settle in the community, this would serve as a method to slowly stray away from the vicious cycle of poverty.
Snyder’s idea has led many other cities that need help to think they may try the same thing. In fact, some officials want to make Detroit a test city to see if offering visas to the highly educated and bringing them to a city will help it economically and culturally. St. Louis is one of these cities that has taken initiative to attract immigrants to help improve it economically.
Some criticize the plan for only picking out educated immigrants
There are, however, some criticisms of this plan. First off, while it may be a good idea to bring the immigrants to a city like Detroit, there is nothing stopping immigrants from leaving these cities for bigger and more well-known areas. Immigrants cannot be required to stay in one city, but if they leave and invest in other towns, this defeats the purpose of having them come here.
Another issue is the requirements of visas for families with educated members. There is a problem with saying that the U.S. will only take world-class entrepreneurs. In fact, many of the founders of successful firms come from poorer or blue-collar families. Whether or not immigration reform will pass this year, cities want to have the ability to try to improve their communities with immigration, but they need Congress’s approval.
If you have questions regarding applying for a visa or immigration laws, contact us at 314-961-8200 or visit our contact page.
