Quote:
Originally Posted by Streck-Fu
While true that we are a nation of immigrants, during the immigration boom years, people coming here came to work for better lives. Most were willing to work, start businesses, and become Americans.
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During the immigration boom years (before the floodgates were opened in the 1980s) only 70% of the immigrants 'made it' as Streck-Fu describes. Those that couldn't make a go of it went back home where they still had families. Average immigration rates were around 250K per year.
In the 1980s, those that couldn't make it had a broad and growing safety net to rely on. They also tended to bring the whole family group - lock, stock, and barrel. Average immigration rates started averaging 1mil per year.
Immigrants have always had a refugee component however you define that word. But since the 1990s an increasing number of "immigrants" were those who couldn't make it 'there' and don't really have to make it here.
Today current immigration rates average 1.9 mil per year.
Everything I have described is the 'legal' immigration rates.
IMO YMMV