A different kind of People Mover: Let’s flood Detroit with immigrants

Adam Ozimek of the Modeled Behavior blog wants to set up a regional visa system to direct a flood of immigrants to troubled Detroit:

 Yes, an immigrant is made worse off by forcing them to go to Detroit rather than anywhere in the U.S. they want. But right now visas already only allow immigrants to go places where they can find an employer prior to moving here, and then they are effectively tied to that employer. And you don’t have to actually restrict the movement of these immigrants; they should be free to travel throughout the country. They will simply be restricted to working in Detroit. Again, visa holders are already effectively tied to working in a particular city as a result of being tied to an employer within that city. Paired with a plan to help regional visa workers who prove themselves get normal green cards also should help reduce concern about limiting mobility. …

Right now,  the population of New York City is 36.8% foreign born. In comparison, Detroit is only 5.1%. foreign born. This means Detroit would have to let in around 360,000 immigrants just to reach the percent foreign born of New York City. However many immigrants they let in, it’s not likely to approach this. But even if it did, it would not be unprecedented by U.S. city standards. More modestly, increasing the foreign born population to 20% would fall far short of New York City standards, but would still mean 133,000 new immigrants. This would go a long way towards sopping up the 99,000 vacant homes that are plaguing the city.

I’ve been thinking along the same lines, though Ozimek takes a deeper dive. This actually syncs quite nicely with my “charter city” idea for Detroit since its goal is to attract labor and entrepreneurs to the Motor City with a pro-growth environment. As Ed Glaser puts it: “Cities work best when they are filled with smart people and small companies that innovate by exchanging ideas.” Even if that means importing them.