The people who are openly hostile to migrants are idiots. But it is questionable why governments pursue large scale immigration policies promoting multi-culturalism given overseas problems. For instance research on it by Robert Putman at Harvard shows that increased diversity leads to reduced trust and community engagement. Prof. Putnam cited other studies that have found people in ?diverse? workgroups?not only of race but also age and professional background?are less loyal to the group, more likely to resign, and generally less satisfied than people who work with people like themselves. He also noted a study that found carpooling is less common in racially-mixed neighborhoods. Carpooling means counting on your neighbors, and people are more likely to trust people like themselves. Studies from Australia, Sweden, and Canada also show that ethnic diversity lowers levels of trust, and the same effect is found in non-Western countries.
Dora Costa of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Matthew Kahn of Tufts University analyzed 15 recent studies of the impact of diversity on social cohesion. They found that every study had ?the same punch line: heterogeneity reduces civic engagement. In more diverse communities, people participate less as measured by how they allocate their time, their money, their voting and their willingness to take risks to help others.?
Even the economic benefits of mass immigration are questionable. The report last year in England by the Lords economic affairs said immigration had had "little or no positive impact" on the living standards of the existing population.
So why does the Government still pursue mass immigration policies? It shouldn't just be presented as a fait accompli to serve corporate interests who benefit from greater wage competition. At the very least the focus should be on ensuring highly skilled migrants only are allowed in. One of the problems the US has is having mass low skill migration from Mexico where second generation migrants aren't going on to college in the same numbers as Asian or white migrants. As society becomes more complex this means they become state dependent.
