I don't have to imagine it. We have a huge Kurdish population here in Nashville. It was an influx that came after Saddam Hussein's reign of terror. They are more than welcome here. We've made many strides to aid/bolster their survival as best we can and have accepted them plenty. I've just returned from DC and after visiting the Holocaust museum, I came away with disgust and shame after watching FDR avow to stay out of the war, and observing his actions regarding the *Evian Conference. To send away shipfuls of refuges. It wasn't right. I don't want it to happen again. It should never have happened in the first place. We must find a way. There has to be a reasonable solution to aid our fellow humans in this world. Somehow, some way. We cannot go down that road again.

Holocaust site regarding the Evian Conference

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*"In the summer of 1938, delegates from thirty-two countries met at the French resort of Evian. Roosevelt chose not to send a high-level official, such as the secretary of state, to Evian; instead, Myron C. Taylor, a businessman and close friend of Roosevelt's, represented the US at the conference. During the nine-day meeting, delegate after delegate rose to express sympathy for the refugees. But most countries, including the United States and Britain, offered excuses for not letting in more refugees. "

In a recent issue of National Geographic, there is a good article (and photos) of the Kurds and how they are rapidly working toward creation of their own country. What makes is difficult is how spread out the Kurds are, living in at least 3 continuous countries.

When the end of the Vietnam fiasco was near, there were literally thousands of folks in SE Asia who wanted to flee that area. The Vietnamese and Cambodians made up a large percentage of the folks who wanted to come to North America, and they did. The Detroit area has its own ethnic population and, reportedly, Chicago has the largest number of Poles in one city outside of Warsaw.

If one wants to consider the population of Vancouver and eliminate those who emigrated from China, the census numbers would drop considerably.

We have been able to get by, we should continue to get by. There are some who might declare that those who want to come to North America should be somewhat fluent (whatever that means) in the prevalent language here - namely English. That ain't gonna happen.

Jim

I'm very liberal when it comes to immigration. I realize it was pure chance that I was born in the US and not in one of the many war-torn countries in the world. I live a truly blessed life compared to most, and I cannot fault someone for wanting a better life for themselves and their families.

Every single one of us would want the same, and if we found ourselves in the same circumstances we would all try anything we could to escape and provide a safe life for our children. We are just lucky, that's all. Not more deserving than someone who happened to be born somewhere else.

I realize there are practical concerns (economic, government, infrastructure, etc.) but human life is more important than anything else, so I feel like there must be a way. There's certainly enough wasteful spending that doesn't save lives.

But my main point was how would we cope if we were to have to deal with a 25% increase in our present population over the space of 5 years or so?

Without being? feeling? overwhelmed!

ole joyful

I think the premise of this thread is naive and trivializes major issues in an important region. In Lebanon, for instance, it's my understanding that majority of the Syrian war refugees are in camps and are attended to (as best possible) by international organizations. We're not talking about an immigration surge, they'd gladly go home if it were safe to do so.

The instability in the Middle East is about 100 years old, and has roots (depending on which part of the region one looks at) in one or both of two fundamental problems:

1) The post WW1 arbitrary carve up of the Ottoman Empire by France-UK-US, into countries with borders that ignore historical divisions of religious and tribal groups, In Syria, the family (al Assad) of the ruling dictator is from a minority tribe. Not unlike the case with S Hussein in Iraq. Minority rule is imposed using brutality and totalitarian means.

2) Movements encouraging widespread religious extremism and intolerance have usurped normal political and potentially democratic processes.

We have the same problem here (#2) as far as I'm concerned, we're just a bit more civilized and it hasn't caused actual physical violence. People are free to believe as they wish, but history tells too many sad stories about intolerance and what happens when one group tries to impose its views on others that don't share their beliefs.

There is a lot of room in the Nevada desert to build a big community that would supply jobs to these millions of immigrants. Whenever I drive across Nevada, I wonder why so much of the state is empty.

That is because there is no water there. No economical way for us to pump water there. Vegas is in a world of hurt right now, Lake Mead, the main source of water for Vegas is 10 feet above the lowest pump out point... 10 FEET!!!! After it drops below that, who know how they will pump the water out or if they even can. This the beginning of the hot season too, and all the visitors that come in. Scary.

I live in Northern Nv and we are hurting already with hardly any snow pack in the last 3 years to sustain water usage. We aren't rationing yet, but I think it will be coming and soon. If we go through another dry winter, for sure.

Yeah, that carving up to keep the native populations weak is a big reason for the horrors in Africa too. Colonialism is one of the worst things to ever happen to the world.

we already have more people than in the original countries already. however they do buy homes, small business, and have become American citizens.

Detroit is also a temporary home for automotive people from around the world...(although the kids have to attend "Saturday" school to keep up, when they move back)

The way it was presented assumes immigrants bring no skill sets nor do they put any money into the economy. Why is an influx of immigrants a problem? And not a benefit?