It’s a bit of a false dichotomy. You can have all the immigrants in the world without any of the downsides of immigration. How? Just ask Dubai!
- Anyone can come and do work, with an ~easy work visa process.
- They can stay as long as they have a work contract, but must leave as soon as their services are no longer required
- Most workers cannot bring in their families, nor do they have any pathway towards permanent residency. Currently you need to earn at least $1000 to be allowed to bring in your spouse/kids, which is bar at most 20% of the residents can meet, so only ~10% of the immigrants sponsor a family visa.
- While the best-paid workers can bring in their families and can stay in the UAE without working, almost none of them are eligible for UAE citizenship, and even those with a 'Permanent' status are not eligible to use any social services such as education or healthcare free of charge.
Boom, best of both worlds! A gigantic foreign workforce that has no roots whatsoever and promptly departs the country once their contract has expired. No need to pay for their schooling, their healthcare, their Social Security - that’s a headache for their home country to deal with. I would make an exception for the top-10% of foreign workers conditional on them and their spouse passing an advanced English language test, but otherwise... no need to be generous, people will still happily come and dedicate the best years of their lives to your country in exchange for a large (by their standards) salary.
What's your plan for launching the military coup necessary to turn America into a dictorial petro state? Which is the only possible way we are getting UAE outcomes.
What are the potential downsides of converting America into a narrow dictatorship?
Is the context of the UAE and the context of America analogous? What are some of the differences between the two societies?
This too is a false dichotomy! You don’t need to be a dictatorship to support a Dubai like immigration policy! We should definitely ensure that any workers who want to go home are able to do so, including a program paying for people’s airplane tickets in case they’re left stranded or need to escape their employer. But there’s no law of nature saying you must grant Permanent Residency to immigrants!
There are, however, laws of nature that say if a regime restricts immigration, it is is harming its subjects, prospective immigrants, and, at least eventually, itself.
It’s a bit of a false dichotomy. You can have all the immigrants in the world without any of the downsides of immigration. How? Just ask Dubai!
- Anyone can come and do work, with an ~easy work visa process.
- They can stay as long as they have a work contract, but must leave as soon as their services are no longer required
- Most workers cannot bring in their families, nor do they have any pathway towards permanent residency. Currently you need to earn at least $1000 to be allowed to bring in your spouse/kids, which is bar at most 20% of the residents can meet, so only ~10% of the immigrants sponsor a family visa.
- While the best-paid workers can bring in their families and can stay in the UAE without working, almost none of them are eligible for UAE citizenship, and even those with a 'Permanent' status are not eligible to use any social services such as education or healthcare free of charge.
Boom, best of both worlds! A gigantic foreign workforce that has no roots whatsoever and promptly departs the country once their contract has expired. No need to pay for their schooling, their healthcare, their Social Security - that’s a headache for their home country to deal with. I would make an exception for the top-10% of foreign workers conditional on them and their spouse passing an advanced English language test, but otherwise... no need to be generous, people will still happily come and dedicate the best years of their lives to your country in exchange for a large (by their standards) salary.
What's your plan for launching the military coup necessary to turn America into a dictorial petro state? Which is the only possible way we are getting UAE outcomes.
What are the potential downsides of converting America into a narrow dictatorship?
Is the context of the UAE and the context of America analogous? What are some of the differences between the two societies?
This too is a false dichotomy! You don’t need to be a dictatorship to support a Dubai like immigration policy! We should definitely ensure that any workers who want to go home are able to do so, including a program paying for people’s airplane tickets in case they’re left stranded or need to escape their employer. But there’s no law of nature saying you must grant Permanent Residency to immigrants!
Which large democracies do you know of that have run a UAE style immigration system?
If its a false dichotomy, surely you can point to some sizable empirical examples.
Courtesy of Claude 3.6, ranking countries by following criteria:
1. De facto temporary status with minimal/no path to long-term residency (whether legal or tolerated)
2. High financial barriers to family reunification
3. Wage discrimination legalized/tolerated
4. Limited labor rights compared to citizens
5. Restricted access to healthcare and social services
6. Easy for employers to bring in large numbers of temporary workers
7. Restricted political expression for migrants
8. Highly efficient deportation mechanisms
9. Limited access to public education for workers' children
SOUTH KOREA
- ✓ Temporary status: EPS workers limited to maximum 4+4.5 years then must leave for 3+ months
- ✓ Family reunification barriers: EPS workers cannot bring family regardless of income
- ½ Wage discrimination: Equal pay laws exist but enforcement gaps create nationality-based disparities
- ½ Limited labor rights: Restricted ability to change employers; practical barriers to unionization
- ½ Restricted healthcare access: National insurance required but barriers in usage and coverage
- ½ Employer-friendly recruitment: Quota system exists but with bureaucratic requirements
- ½ Political restrictions: Labor activism can affect visa status; limited tolerance for organizing
- ✓ Efficient deportation: Regular immigration crackdowns with streamlined deportation procedures
JAPAN
- ✓ Temporary status: Technical interns limited to maximum 5 years with mandatory departure
- ½ Family reunification barriers: Technical interns and many visa categories cannot bring family
- ½ Wage discrimination: Legal equality but systematic underpayment of foreign workers
- ½ Limited labor rights: Technical interns face practical barriers to exercising rights
- ½ Restricted healthcare access: Insurance required but usage barriers and exclusions exist
- ½ Political restrictions: Political activity can affect visa renewal; limited tolerance for activism
- ✓ Efficient deportation: Strict visa enforcement with limited tolerance for overstays
Small democracies that meet the criteria: Singapore, Israel, Taiwan.
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Bryan is a big fan of the UAE btw, though he doesn't quite explain why we can't copy their FULL approach and not just the 'bring tons of people' part: https://www.betonit.ai/p/reflections-on-abu-dhabi-and-dubai
There are, however, laws of nature that say if a regime restricts immigration, it is is harming its subjects, prospective immigrants, and, at least eventually, itself.