Synthesis Paper. Fareed Zakaria’s article. Social Sciences Essay

Immigration
Name
Institution
Due Date
Immigration
Fareed Zakaria’s article titled Immigration Lessons for the U.S. from Around the World is one that offers a summary of almost all the immigration issues in the world today. Immigration has become a major topic in the U.S. political class ever since President Donald Trump assumed office. From the start, it was clear that Trump was against the high number of immigrants the U.S. has been allowing in the country. The argument from his camp was that immigrants come to take up jobs that are meant for the U.S. citizens. Trump’s argument is not new, and in several countries around the world, the same sentiments have been said. In South Africa, for example, attacks fueled by xenophobia made news for several weeks in September 2019. Intolerance towards immigrants continues to be a major issue in the world. But, even as immigrants are being fought from all corners, economists have continually admitted that there are some economic benefits tied with opening the borders to immigrants. The U.S., for example, has been built upon the blood, sweat, and tears of immigrants and even today, the country continues to reap big from the contributions made by immigrants. However, as Zakaria notes, the country needs to learn a few lessons from Canada to avoid a similar situation to that of Japan and Europe. This article thus seeks to support the notion that Canada’s immigration system that is centered on reducing the country’s economic needs ought to be adopted in the U.S.
The backlash regarding immigrants greatly downplays the contributions immigrants have made in the developed nations. Immigrants have been the answer to developed nations’ labor shortage problems. However, a country like Japan, as written by Zakaria, still maintains the world’s “strictest immigration policies in the world” (2012). According to Zakaria, Japan has one of the lowest percentages of immigrants in the world at 2%. However, Japan’s strict laws are about to hurt the country economically as the country is faced with the challenge of a shrinking population. The number of babies born every year continues to reduce, and in 2018, it was “estimated at 921,000 – down 25,000 from the previous year and falling short of 1 million for the third year in a row” (Japan Times, 2018). This problem is compounded by the fact that the country’s primary working-age has also been reducing. In essence, Japan’s government has been contemplating “to extend the age through which companies would be required to rehire retired workers – from the current 65 to possibly 70” (Japan Times, 2018). The goal is to encourage the elderly to remain in the labor force. The labor shortage problem appears to be at its initial stages with Zakaria reporting that the country’s population is set to reduce from 127 million to 90 million come 2050. Immigrants can be a great asset to Japan and its labor shortage problems. Immigrants have been a great source of cheap labor for developed nations for a long time now, and it is time that Japan embraces...