2021.05.03 18:49
187 Million Immigrants Have Moved to Freer Countries
https://www.cato.org/blog/187-million-immigrants-have-moved-freer-countries
MAY 3, 2021 11:52AM
A great benefit of immigration is that it allows people to escape all kinds of tyranny. As George Mason University’s Ilya Somin has written in his excellent Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom, “Empowering more people to vote with their feet can save millions from lives of poverty and oppression, and expand opportunities for meaningful political freedom for many more.” Indeed, immigration has already freed millions of people.
Using the Cato Institute‐Fraser Institute Human Freedom Index and the United Nations Population Division’s international migrant stock data, it is possible to estimate that about 187 million people have moved to freer countries than the ones in which they were born. The average immigrant moving to a freer country moved 70 spots up the Human Freedom Index ranking. This is roughly like moving from Libya to Mexico or from Mexico to the United States.
Cuban immigrants have benefited the most from immigration, moving up, on average, 172 spots relative to their birth country, which is about the difference between the United States and Cuba (which isn’t actually ranked on the HFI due to a lack of data but for the purpose of this post, was—along with 11 other unfree, authoritarian countries where data was absent to make a specific score—assigned the lowest score in the Human Freedom Index). A total of 204 countries and territories were used for this article. The other top freedom‐enhancing immigrant nationalities are Iranians (153 spots up), Saudis (140), Ethiopians (135), Chinese (134), Omanis (128), Algerians (123), Iraqis (123), Turks (122), and Vietnamese (121).
Figure 1 shows the breakdown by origin region for the immigrants who have moved to freer countries as of 2019. Nearly 43 million were born in South or East Asia, with the leading countries being China, Bangladesh, and India (10.5, 6.5, and 6.5 million, respectively). About 39 million more born in Europe with Russia, Poland, and Romania leading (9.3, 4.4, and 3.1 million, respectively). The Mideast and Central Asia saw 36.2 million freedom movers with Syria, Afghanistan, and Pakistan leading (8.3, 5.1, and 4.9 million, respectively). Another 34.1 million were from South or Central America and the Caribbean with Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia leading (11.8, 2.5, and 1.9 million, respectively). Africa added another 32.8 million with the most from Egypt, Morocco, and South Sudan (3.5, 3.1, and 2.6 million, respectively).
2021.05.03 19:01
2021.05.04 06:52
RESEARCH FELLOW
David J. Bier is a research fellow with a focus on immigration at the Cato Institute. He is an expert on legal immigration, border security, and interior enforcement.
Bier’s work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, and many other prints and online publications. The U.S. Supreme Court and multiple federal appeals courts have cited his research and writing.
From 2013 to 2015, Bier drafted immigration legislation as a senior policy adviser for Congressman Raúl Labrador, then a member and later the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
2021.05.05 08:00
My father worshiped America. He always told me you would go to America.
The purpose of going to SNUMC is to go to America. America became my dream.
Dr. Lee, I was starting my premed course when you left Korea. The situation
of Korea when I was in Med school gave me ample reason to leave the country
as well. Injustice, dictatorship, and poverty in Korea made America look a lot
better. My dream came true. God bless America.
2021.05.05 09:02
Congratulations! Dr. Ohn, and all of us, Koreans, who shared the same dream.
Ever since the day we landed in this land of our dream,
we've never stopped living our dreams building our own kingdoms around our families!
God bless America!
God bless all Korean Americans!
This is an eye-opening study dealing with man's fundamental desire to seek freedom.
Any country, any institution, any organization, or any family not guaranteeing this
inherent human desire will not succeed in fulfilling their highest goal, i.e. pursuit of happiness
for their constituents.
All of us left Korea and settled in the USA because we were seeking freedom just like these
187 million people.
I was relieved to learn that South Korea is not one of the countries where people leave to seek freedom.
However, in 1965 SK was under dictatorship when I left.
By the time I was permitted to leave in 1965
the number of documents I had to fulfill thru the government was 36 as I recall.
I still remember counting them and was amazed by the overwhelming bureaucracy
that was trying to chain me.
When I left Kimpo Airport, I felt like I was breaking out of jail.