A provocative title to give an account of a WSJ article this day. Apparently, the US recession and the harshness of the living conditions in the US are proving a strong disincentive for people to come or to stay in the US.

There is a strange relationship of love/hate with immigration in the US, maybe more paradoxically than elsewhere.

While immigration is always a source of sociological frictions in the existing population in all the countries of the world, for a long time, the US, being itself a nation of immigrants, prided itself on making of its “chosen” immigration a strength in the world.

Unfortunately for the US, tensions have also risen towards immigration, in particular illegal immigration and “latino” immigration, accused as everywhere else of “stealing” anything from jobs to free medical care.  In addition, the slow influx of Spanish-language immigrants and their acquisition of the US citizenship has shifted the balance of the population, the influx particularly focusing the attention, notably around the Mexican border. This induced a pressure in favor both of the Spanish language and of government policies, as many candidates have tried to capture the hispanic electorate.

But now, the cards could be changing in favor of more homogeneity. The recession could indeed “encourage” millions of immigrants to return to their homeland, in search of better conditions as the economic pain continues to last for small businesses and low-qualified workforce. This leads Asian and Hispanic immigrants to make the  choice of returning to their homeland rather than face the harsh US economy or the lack of support for jobless people.

Graph from the WSJ.

In a phenomenon already experienced in Europe in the 1930’s the current crisis could give rise to a return on itself of the US, combined with protectionism and xenophobia. A dangerous mix in times where the leadership is held by weak men and where ideological certitudes have been wiped out by the currents of history.

Maybe this article of the WSJ is one of the most cruel signs of the US decline in world leadership. It is not anymore a place of desire and of envy. It has become a place to flee.