Quick Detroit post for the day: the magical Syrians?

Last updated on: May 15, 2015 at 10:07 pm by Jane the Actuary

Quick Detroit post for the day: the magical Syrians? 2015-05-15T22:07:52-06:00 Jane the Actuary

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Remember when Jeb Bush suggested that the cure for what ails Detroit is to import a whole slew of immigrants? This was back in February, at least, that was his most recent mention of this idea, and I bristled at the idea that immigrants were somehow a superior people, more hardworking, educated, and/or entrepreneurial than actual Detroiters themselves, especially since his proposal is not to send in particularly skilled immigrants, but seems to be borne of an idea that any immigrant at all will be good enough. I was cranky enough to suggest racism, since Detroit is 83% black, and only 8% white, which he curiously ignored by claiming that a massive immigration wave would change the city’s Polishness.

Now two academics writing in the New York Times make the specific policy proposal to add 50,000 visas to import Syrian refugees to resettle in Detroit, again with notions that immigrants, especially Arab immigrants, and especially those who have experienced traumatic events, are particularly entrepreneurial. The authors further propose, to make this venture work, sufficient funds to help them resettle and buy and rehab homes.

Now, the “Syrian refugee” bit is a new twist, but apparently the “50,000 immigrants” idea comes from Michgan’s Governor Rick Snyder himeslf, who proposed these visas for immigrants who would commit to living and working in Detroit, though in his case, he wants these visas specifically for skilled, STEM immigrants.

In any case, it really rankles me to say that there’s something magical about immigrants, as entrepreneurs, as hard workers, and the like. Why are they disproportionately likely to start small businesses? Because, to the extent that these businesses don’t require great amounts of capital, it’s a more viable option when you can’t find an ordinary wage-earning job as easily as your native-born neighbors — and, in the end, many of these small businesses are exceedingly small, and function as much as anything as a way of supporting your family by working very long hours; and these businesses are typically stores, like the traditionally-Chaldean party store, or restaurants, aren’t they?

Anyway, I know I’ve griped about this before, but I couldn’t help but re-gripe after this NYT piece.

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