# Is there any amount of immigration, legal illegal either both, that is too much? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 23, 2026, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515 "2026-08-23T22:50:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/21 "2026-08-24T20:22:13Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > FWIW I strongly believe a high immigration pipeline is a net positive for this country. Especially in a time of declining birthrates. Overall, in the long term, I believe immigration is a net positive for the United States. I know others have mentioned the benefits, so I don’t need to repeat them. There are short term costs as well. Immigrants can place a strain on public services, particularly local services and they can depress wages, usually for lower skilled workers but even among skilled workers thanks to H-1B immigrants. The United States as a whole is capable of absorbing a lot of immigrants without worrying too much about them overwhelming us culturally. I’m not really sure where to draw the line. But, yeah, I imagine there’s a point where the immediate cost is a bit too much for people to stomach even if it’s beneficial in the long run. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/22 "2026-08-25T00:20:36Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Is there any amount of immigration between Alabama and New York that would be considered too much? Or California to Colorado? You are correct that internal migration may demonstrate if there are any potential problems with wide open migration … and there is. The immediate cases to look at are places like the Phoenix region where population influx has outstripped water resources, or the Sun Belt metropolitan regions that have had growth overwhelm the educational systems. The tools to limit the influx are limited but implemented where possible. On a smaller scale gentrification comes to mind, with higher income folk moving in, driving housing prices up so much the analogous “natives” families there, for generations even, are driven out, the neighborhood losing its older shops and getting Whole Foods, Juice Rx, and the Pilates studio instead. I don’t blame the old time residents there wanting restrictions placed. So yes there definitely can be too much internal immigration, and little recourse to it. > [@Odesio](#): > > The United States as a whole is capable of absorbing a lot of immigrants without worrying too much about them overwhelming us culturally. On this I would argue even the opposite: this country’s secret sauce has been its hodgepodge stew of cultures. None overwhelms but all have added depth and complexity to the overall dish. Not melted together but chunks of different flavors abutting in novel ways. That ever changing stew IS American culture and is why our culture has been our most successful product. I argue for high rates of immigration for many reasons, including informed self interest ones, but arguing for control over the rate is not necessarily racist or ignorant. (Even as racists exploit ignorance as they use immigration bogeymen to further racist goals.) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/23 "2026-08-25T00:23:55Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The libertarian right is dominated by white nationalists; Cite? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/24 "2026-08-25T03:32:06Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > The United States as a whole is capable of absorbing a lot of immigrants without worrying too much about them overwhelming us culturally. That’s actually one of the culture war points the Right loves to point out. They get really bent out of shape when people immigrate here and live in ethnic enclaves of people like them, as if they’re refusing to assimilate and just leeching off American society. Thing is, it’s _hard_ to assimilate as adults. And living in a community of similar people is comforting. And for the most part, everyone bitching had forefathers _who did the exact same thing_. I’ll bet that the upper Midwest and elsewhere had German (or whatever) language newspapers until well into the 20th century, just like parts of Texas did. And they still eat stuff like fleischkuechle, kolaches, pasties, and chicken fried steak which are immigrant dishes at heart. To make it more silly, most of their children are bilingual, and their grandchildren are often monoglot English speakers and often first generation college students. And in places like border states where you do have solely Spanish speaking communities of US citizens, those communities typically _predated US sovereignty over the areas_, as they were typically part of Mexico before they were part of the US. I mean if you live in Laredo and you are a Mexican American who speaks only Spanish, it’s not like _you’re_ the person who’s refusing to assimilate. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/25 "2026-08-25T03:42:06Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > So no problem until catastrophic collapse? > > One factor driving anti immigration support in some countries is that increasing housing supply is a much slower process than rapid influx of immigrants needing housing, raising housing costs, especially entry level housing. Yes more immigrants provide the labor pool to construct new units, but a rapid pace is going to create a mismatch, with higher costs and poorer living conditions likely both resulting until supply catches up. > > That is not collapse but it is still a significant problem. Yeah, I would think waves up immigrants showing up and forming refugee camps on your border would constitute a serious problem. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/26 "2026-08-25T14:28:28Z")
Especially if they aren’t allowed citizenship. I hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/27 "2026-08-25T16:34:17Z")
Longer arc of immigration history makes me wonder about the racism issue some? To some degree the directionality sometimes went the other way … an immigrant group got labeled as a different race during an initial immigration phase, often some variant of black but not always, to then be considered “white” in a subsequent more culturally assimilated generation. Italians, especially Sicilian origin, Greeks, even the pale Irish had the n word applied to them. Jews of course a different race. So yes racism motivates, but the anti immigrant mindset defined groups as an inferior race deserving of discrimination. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/28 "2026-08-25T17:45:49Z")
Yes, but when the N word was applied to us, it didn’t get mean we were Black. It meant we were beneath the true whites, that our whiteness (unlike theirs) was subject to recall. And had as much to do with language and religion as skin tone. ---
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/29 "2026-08-26T06:53:34Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Something similar happened in California. Not sure what you mean. The gold rush was a massive migration that completely changed California but it was already part of the US by then. When we captured it from Mexico, it was a sleepy backwater that was too far from anything to really bother with. A few decades later, we were a driving force behind some really awful immigration laws called the Chinese Exclusion Act. The repercussions continue to this day. I know a paper nephew. He was probably raised to keep his mouth shut to avoid problems. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/30 "2026-08-26T10:45:58Z")
Well I think it’s more complex than a single number. Obviously there are different ages, education levels, whether they need support (e.g. people who have trauma from conflict), and this changes a lot the effect that a given cohort of migrants will have on the wider population. Now, to be clear, I am in fact an “open borders” person. Aside from people trying to escape arrest, probation, taxes etc, I would like to see a future where people can freely move around. However, I accept that it is not practical for an individual country to set such a policy overnight; it’s something that needs to be done stepwise over time. And finally I think the appeal to a singular scary number is often for political means. FTR I am not accusing the OP of this, but here in the UK, it’s common for pictures of irregular migrants (e.g. the “boat people”) to be accompanied with stats on total migration, which is of course very misleading. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/31 "2026-08-26T10:52:30Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Now, to be clear, I am in fact an “open borders” person. Aside from people trying to escape arrest, probation, taxes etc, I would like to see a future where people can freely move around. My general thinking is that it ought to be as easy for people to cross borders as it is for money to cross borders. Otherwise we get unfair labor practices, where money can move where labor is cheapest, but labor can’t move where it’s most valued. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/32 "2026-08-26T12:36:36Z")
One million immigrants per year means that about three people in every thousand will be new to the country. I think that’s pretty easy to absorb and even the minimum necessary, especially in light of our aging population and that our current annual surplus (births minus deaths) is only around 500,000 and projected to drop even further. Immigrants are good for the country. It’s who we are and we need them. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/33 "2026-08-26T13:21:44Z")
> [@Ancient\_Nerd](#): > > Not sure what you mean. A very large number of Americans poured into California after Mexican independence from Spain. This is part of what brought about the Mexican-American war and California’s brief flirtation with independence before the gold rush. Edit: maybe “very large” is an exaggeration — I’m most familiar with San Diego but most of the sources I sees discuss the Bay Area. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/34 "2026-08-26T14:25:30Z")
I would also add that the stronger a social net a nation has, the more it needs to put in safeguards and restrictions to prevent people from coming into the nation and using the net but not contributing to the net - else the net may soon be unsustainable. The immigrants who come in need to be productive. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/35 "2026-08-26T14:35:13Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I would also add that the stronger a social net a nation has Luckily(?), the US has basically the weakest social safety net of any Western country! ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/36 "2026-08-26T14:38:45Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > The immigrants who come in need to be productive. So, disabled folks need not apply? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/37 "2026-08-26T14:41:58Z")
Unless you are a refugee, it is pretty hard to get an immigrant visa and permanent resident permit without being “productive”. I have always had to show a letter from my employer. > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > So, disabled folks need not apply? The medical exam, if any, is after they’ve let you in the country in the first place. They check for stuff like tuberculosis and other contagious diseases, but it has nothing to do with whether you are “disabled”. Remember, you already have a job (unless you are an asylum seeker) ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/38 "2026-08-26T14:45:57Z")
My personal feeling is that ANY illegal immigration is “too much”. If they go through proper channels, great. Welcome to America. It’s kind of like my home. I have locks on my doors to prevent “illegal immigration”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/39 "2026-08-26T14:48:03Z")
If the “proper channels” are too much of a nightmare, people (which, again, already have a job) have an incentive to skip them. They need to start work now, not 2–5 years from now. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515/40 "2026-08-26T14:50:17Z")
Understood, but the solution is to fix the problem, not create something worse instead. Using my home as an example again, I don’t take the lock off my door if it is stuck and is very hard to unlock. I repair/replace the lock instead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-amount-of-immigration-legal-illegal-either-both-that-is-too-much/1032515.md?page=3)