Any new immigrants coming to Detroit?

[woodwardboy]

With the ultra low real estate prices for both residential and commercial properties, one would believe the city of Detroit would be a magnet for all types of arriving immigrants.

Does anyone know of any new Korean, Arab, Chaldean, Mexican, African, or European immigrant neighborhoods sprouting up or expanding in the city of Detroit?

[milesdriven]

Sorry, immigrants tend to settle where jobs are plentiful.

[Detroitej72]

With the ultra low real estate prices for both residential and commercial properties, one would believe the city of Detroit would be a magnet for all types of arriving immigrants.

Does anyone know of any new immigrant neighborhoods sprouting up or expanding in the city of Detroit?

Yes, check out Hamtramck.

[woodwardboy]

Why wont immigrants settle in the city of Detroit proper and start their own businesses? A city with at least 700,000 residents cant attract immigrants willing to rough it out a few years? Is Detroit so worse off it cannot attract immigrants even from war torn countries like Iraq?
Given a choice of a green card to live in Detroit proper or staying in Iraq, which would Iraqi Christians chose?

[Gannon]

Apparently there is some nocturnal brownskin invasion to the lily-white eastside which has garnered many millions of dollars of Homeland Security investment to wash away.


I suspect the Canadians are complicit.

[woodwardboy]

Where are the entrepreneurial immigrants of Detroit?
Why do the immigrants avoid Detroit like the plague and settle outside the city?
Detroit was once a magnet for immigrants... what happened? Is Detroit so bad that even immigrants fleeing war are too afraid to settle in the city?

[Newdetroit]

If the US would grant asylum, I am sure there would be a huge number of Iraq's Christians coming to Detroit..every 500,000 remaining adherants of this ancient sect...On one side, it would be too bad to see the destruction of a culture in the "craddle of civilization" but then again, it may be worse being killed by Muslim extremists because they are "infidels." I know many in Detroit who have acculterated quickly..For that matter, Detroit needs immigrants..Maybe it should open its doors to all Chrisitans living in Muslim countries...Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iraq etc....I am sure they will stay far from Dearborn!

[iheartthed]

Why go to Detroit when there are other cities in the U.S. that are much more accommodating to outsiders?

[woodwardboy]

If the US would grant asylum, I am sure there would be a huge number of Iraq's Christians coming to Detroit..every 500,000 remaining adherants of this ancient sect...On one side, it would be too bad to see the destruction of a culture in the "craddle of civilization" but then again, it may be worse being killed by Muslim extremists because they are "infidels." I know many in Detroit who have acculterated quickly..For that matter, Detroit needs immigrants..Maybe it should open its doors to all Chrisitans living in Muslim countries...Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iraq etc....I am sure they will stay far from Dearborn!

Yes. exactly. Think of it, an infusion of 100,000+ immigrants who left persecution willing to start fresh. This may actually help Detroit recover. Detroit might even help the immigrants start by offering a homestead program.

[renf]

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey reported a population of 778,000 in the city of Detroit in 2008. The numbers of foreign born individuals arriving in the USA since 2000 and
living in Detroit in 2008 were as follows: 4200 from Mexico; 1700 from Yeman; 1300 from
Bangladesh, 900 from Honduras and 800 from India. Those numbers are at the center of rather large confidence intervals. Michigan is not attracting many international immigrants are present. There is some evidence from the Census Bureau survey that moderate numbers of Asians are coming to Michigan to study and then work in the medical or high tech sector.

[woodwardboy]

The city of Detroit historically had been a destination for immigrants. I realize Detroit currently has economic challenges, but for immigrants fleeing worse why has not Detroit been more attractive to immigrants? Anyone wish to take a stab at this?

[DetroitPlanner]

The Census Bureau's American Community Survey reported a population of 778,000 in the city of Detroit in 2008. The numbers of foreign born individuals arriving in the USA since 2000 and
living in Detroit in 2008 were as follows: 4200 from Mexico; 1700 from Yeman; 1300 from
Bangladesh, 900 from Honduras and 800 from India. Those numbers are at the center of rather large confidence intervals. Michigan is not attracting many international immigrants are present. There is some evidence from the Census Bureau survey that moderate numbers of Asians are coming to Michigan to study and then work in the medical or high tech sector.

The Census is a terrible resouce for immigrant populations. This is one of the most undercounted groups.

[DetroitPole]

I think the answer to that is the same for people who are native-born Americans.

The region continues to attract, or at least retain immigrant populations. However, they set up in the usual suspects: Dearborn, Hamtramck, Warren, Sterling Heights, etc. Not tony communities, but they offer decent schools[[or at least better than DPS), cheap housing, and they aren't crime-ridden messes like Detroit. I say this as a Detroiter.

We have a few relatively heavy immigrant population centers in the city. North and east of Hamtramck and then Warrendale are largely a result of the spillover from Dearborn and Hamtramck. Then there is southwest of course, but many Latinos are moving downriver. Then there is the factor that immigration is tightening, and the immigrants that are here are afraid of being deported. People can always immigrate to places besides the US, after all.

The city must provide incentives for immigrants to move here to offset the negatives of living in the city compared to the suburbs. Of course one could argue that they should incentivize everyone, but immigrants are unique in that they are usually willing to live in rather modest environments [[as opposed to trying to get Grosse Pointers to move to Detroit), attract more immigrants once they set up a neighborhood, and create neighborhood businesses to provide for their particular tastes that are tied to their country of origin. So they provide a different dynamic than, say, hipsters or empty-nesters moving to the city.

Hamtramck would probably look like Highland Park if it weren't for the continued flow of immigrants, so they are worth attracting in my opinion.

Of course the city has expressed no interest in attracting immigrants to Detroit. Some variation of a Homestead Act would be within the power of the city to do. Admittingly the city has a lot of problems on its hands, but for too long the rhetoric has been "our city" and black power...not exactly welcoming. How about brown power?

[Danny]

Sorry, immigrants tend to settle where jobs are plentiful.

Yes there are immigrants coming to Detroit only to live with their families, but to start a business. There are more Chaldeans, Arab muslims and East Indians making the small settlements on various Detroit ghettohoods. They won't mind the constant violent crime. Their focus is on survival and achieving the American Dream and make themselves famous in the capital market.

[iheartthed]

The city of Detroit historically had been a destination for immigrants. I realize Detroit currently has economic challenges, but for immigrants fleeing worse why has not Detroit been more attractive to immigrants? Anyone wish to take a stab at this?

By historical, you mean more than 50 years ago... Plus a short burst of activity in the late 1980s/early 1990s due to the U.S.'s political engagements in other parts of the world. But that pales in comparison to the immigration rates of other major cities during the same time period.

The bottom line is that Detroit just isn't a welcoming place for a mass influx of immigrants. It was in the past, but nowadays a person can't even get from the airport or a train station without knowing someone who could offer a ride. Forget about trying to make yourself from scratch.

If cheap housing were the only part of the equation then places like Youngstown, Ohio or Flint would have been the number one destination of immigrants for decades already.

[woodwardboy]

Thanks peeps for the input. I guess other cities in America have cheap housing too, with Detroit, it comes down to the attitude that keeps people away

[Hypestyles]

I have written a letter to city leaders.. among other things, I brought up that Detroit should be viewed as an international city; actively recruit companies from various parts of the world [[countries/regions mentioned above) to set up operations in the city, and bring their people as well; revise local tax codes and business start-up protocols to make it easier for entrepreneurs..
As D-Pole pointed out, the narrative for many in city 'activism' constantly warn against all other ethnics "taking over"; but even Detroit's black-Caribbean/African population [[while much smaller compared to a NYC) is 'tolerated' more than 'celebrated'... That myopic worldview has to change..

[iheartthed]

Speaking of...

Bobby Ghosh, Time’s deputy international editor, said the year-long effort convinced him that Detroit was nowhere near the “Third World city” that many outsiders — and some Detroiters — portray.

A former Baghdad bureau chief, Ghosh told the audience, “I know Third World cities. Detroit isn’t one.”

Ghosh and Gray suggested that Detroit needs to embrace immigration as a source of new residents and new civic and economic energy. Ghosh called immigration the tipping point for Detroit’s recovery, and Gray added, “Detroit desperately needs to attract people from other parts of the world.”

Read more: Time's Assignment Detroit runs out of time | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/2010111...#ixzz1513f3m00

So... Can Time come back to Detroit and run the city? Because foreign immigration is sorely needed in Detroit. But, as I said before, current regional policies make a mass influx of immigrants unlikely.

[Paddington]

In New York, they don't roll out the welcome mat for new arrivals. It's an immigration destination because of the harbor, Ellis Island, historically, and nowadays, because of extended family networks, name recognition, JFK airport, amongst other factors. I know because I came to the U.S. via New York. We went there because my Dad got a job there.

Ultimately, immigrants go where the jobs are.

People who are clamoring for new "homestead acts" are morons who have probably never met a non-white [[or non-black) person. Modern immigrants aren't medieval serfs fleeing the Tsar's armies or the potato famine or some such shit. These people are mostly middle class back in their own countries. They at least have the few hundred dollars to pay for visa paperwork and $1-$2K to fly over here. They don't want a burnt out house in the Detroit cocaine ghetto, with no prospects for a job.

[DetroitPole]

In New York, they don't roll out the welcome mat for new arrivals. It's an immigration destination because of the harbor, Ellis Island, historically, and nowadays, because of extended family networks, name recognition, JFK airport, amongst other factors. I know because I came to the U.S. via New York. We went there because my Dad got a job there.

Ultimately, immigrants go where the jobs are.

People who are clamoring for new "homestead acts" are morons who have probably never met a non-white [[or non-black) person. Modern immigrants aren't medieval serfs fleeing the Tsar's armies or the potato famine or some such shit. These people are mostly middle class back in their own countries. They at least have the few hundred dollars to pay for visa paperwork and $1-$2K to fly over here. They don't want a burnt out house in the Detroit cocaine ghetto, with no prospects for a job.

Thanks for calling me a moron. If name calling weren't allowed on this forum, I'd really let you have it for that. In fact I'd like you to come over here and say it to my face. I'll give you my address.

You have directly stated that ALL modern immigrants do not face oppression or extreme hardship in their homelands. Well pick up a fucking newspaper, because many do. I don't care if you think you are hot shit or some kind of new age sophisticated immigrant that somehow stands in contrast to the other huddled masses that made there way here, or whatever the hell you see yourself as.

[Paddington]

Let's say someone is off real bad. Let's consider the Somalian war refugees that the U.S. has taken in. Many of them were settled in Minnesota, Columbus, OH, and Maine. Why those locations? No clue. But I would imagine the social welfare services in those cities aren't as badly stressed as they are in Detroit, with its bleak economic prospects and chronic unemployment problem. Why the fuck would even a desperate immigrant want to come to Detroit?

[iheartthed]

In New York, they don't roll out the welcome mat for new arrivals. It's an immigration destination because of the harbor, Ellis Island, historically, and nowadays, because of extended family networks, name recognition, JFK airport, amongst other factors. I know because I came to the U.S. via New York. We went there because my Dad got a job there.

Ultimately, immigrants go where the jobs are.

People who are clamoring for new "homestead acts" are morons who have probably never met a non-white [[or non-black) person. Modern immigrants aren't medieval serfs fleeing the Tsar's armies or the potato famine or some such shit. These people are mostly middle class back in their own countries. They at least have the few hundred dollars to pay for visa paperwork and $1-$2K to fly over here. They don't want a burnt out house in the Detroit cocaine ghetto, with no prospects for a job.

I don't know your personal situation but the majority of immigrants work service sector jobs when they come to the U.S., regardless of what they did at home.

[woodwardboy]

Well.. the point being since we are not doing so well with the city of Detroit, maybe an influx of new immigrants could turn this ship around.

[DetroitPlanner]

Let's say someone is off real bad. Let's consider the Somalian war refugees that the U.S. has taken in. Many of them were settled in Minnesota, Columbus, OH, and Maine. Why those locations? No clue.

Economics [[availability of jobs) and established networks link immigrants to certain areas. When the auto industry was booming around here we were getting a ton of immigrants. What we really need to attract immigrants are some basic social services like language interpreters and less basic, more complex things like job creators.

[canuck]

The city of Detroit historically had been a destination for immigrants. I realize Detroit currently has economic challenges, but for immigrants fleeing worse why has not Detroit been more attractive to immigrants? Anyone wish to take a stab at this?

With a phoney dagger?