UK Immigration - Are Sports Stars More Important than Other Immigrants?

Earlier today dreamacttexas received a comment that this article is not about Texas legislation, since it is from a London paper.

It is true that this blog is not just about Texas immigration issues. It is about global immigration policy, among other things. While we started with a focus on the DREAM Act, we soon realized that there are many other issues that need to be addressed, like public health, migration issues from other parts of the world, the dilemma of the Palestinians, among other things. The internet provides us with a fantastic opportunity to disseminate (send out) information that isn't always in our view (or on our TVs).

The problem DREAMers have in Texas and the rest of the U.S. is tragic. However, all the people that have drowned in the over crowded boats traveling from North Africa to Spain and Italy are just as important.

The purpose in mentioning the immigration issue regarding soccer players is to show that some people are seen as "necessary", and their governments don't care about quotas. This certainly isn't fair, but we have helped create this dilemma with how we idealize sports figures. Just think of how many American baseball players are immigrants who were brought over with visas by their sports teams.

As for the article being about someplace other than Texas; the UK is in a difficult place regarding immigration. Many people are saying that there are too many people of color in Britain. The country is changing, and its really hurting some of them especially because the UK has always been so rigid about it class lines.

It is important for Americans to know what is going on in other places. One aim of this blog is to remind the U.S. that we are not the center of the universe.

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Tory plan to cap immigration 'could prevent clubs signing top footballers
'Annual immigration limit 'unworkable' and could keep out likes of Didier Drogba, argues left-of-centre think tank

guardian.co.uk

Anushka Asthana, policy editor
The Observer, Sunday 28 March 2010


A flat immigration limit could keep out football stars such as Didier Drogba if they were signed at the wrong time of year. Photograph: Simon Dawson/AP

The Conservative party's plans to cut net immigration to the level of the early 1990s by imposing an annual cap are "unworkable", according to research published today.

The Limit to Limits, from the left-of-centre Institute of Public Policy Research, says that the move would require drastic changes to policy, including putting severe limits on the number of highly skilled immigrants from outside the EU and on overseas students. Any such moves could put the party on a collision course with big business and higher education. "Would the government be happy to tell KPMG that it could not bring over an analyst from its New York office? Or to tell Arsenal that it could not sign a promising young player from Côte d'Ivoire?" the paper asks.

David Cameron, the party's leader, has said he would like to see immigration capped at the "tens of thousands". Although he has not given an exact number, he has said he would like to see the level back to what it was in the early 1990s. Then, net annual immigration was around 50,000, compared to closer to 200,000 in recent years.

But the IPPR paper points out that the government has little control over large parts of net immigration, including workers coming from the EU, asylum seekers and Britons returning home. The government has already stopped all unskilled workers coming in from outside the EU, apart from those in industries suffering shortages. "There has been a lot of talk about capping immigration from various groups, and close to an election those calls are becoming stronger," said Sarah Mulley, author of the report. "But people are often vague about outlining how it would work in practice."

The report says: "Some visa categories in the United States do have fixed numerical limits, and they result in fairly arbitrary lines being drawn as visa categories 'sell out'." Mulley argued that such a system would have to say no to Premier League footballers, such as Chelsea's Ivorian striker Didier Drogba or Arsenal's Russian forward Andrey Arshavin, if it was the wrong time in the year.

Last week, Gordon Brown addressed the issue of immigration during his weekly podcast. The prime minister said: "I recognise that among the concerns you must address when you talk of fairness is immigration...link to complete article