Anti-Immigrant Politics, Belonging, and Research

An well-written piece from the NY Times:

Britain's Poles Are Paying Their Way
By A. M. BAKALAR   JAN. 13, 2014 

LONDON — “You are not from here,” I heard during a recent visit to my hometown, Wroclaw, in Poland, while I was out for a drink one evening with friends. “What do you mean? I was born here,” I said, surprised. 

“You speak Polish,” said my interlocutor, thoughtfully, “but there’s something strange about you, something different.” 

It left me wondering if I was in danger of becoming an immigrant in my own country. Or even whether I would discover — back home in London — that I wasn’t really Polish anymore.
For migrants everywhere, the question of belonging is often fraught, sometimes vexing. Like many Poles, I am dismayed by recent remarks about immigration from Britain’s prime minister, David Cameron. Britain’s membership in the European Union meant that restrictions on the free movement of workers from the newer member states Bulgaria and Romania were lifted on Jan. 1. In response, Mr. Cameron introduced a series of measures — with rhetoric to match — aimed at discouraging a fresh round of immigration.

“The hard-working British public are rightly concerned that migrants do not come here to exploit our public services and our benefits system,” he said last month. The theme continued, when the prime minister told the BBC last week: “There are other European countries who, like me, think it’s wrong that someone from Poland who comes here, who works hard — and I am absolutely all in favor of that — but I don’t think we should be paying child benefit to their family back at home in Poland.” 

With the barbarian hordes from Bulgaria and Romania still massing at the border, it seems that Britain’s Polish community is a convenient stand-in for Mr. Cameron’s populist turn. His words drew a series of stinging ripostes. He received a letter of remonstration from Poland’s former prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, and a warning from our former president, Lech Walesa, that Britain was acting “irrationally and shortsightedly.” Our ambassador to London, Witold Sobkow, published an article protesting that “there is no need to single out, to stigmatize Poles,” who come to Britain “to work hard, not to abuse the system or grab the benefits.”
I began to wonder where this sudden hostility toward immigrants in Mr. Cameron’s words came from. My British partner, of Jamaican parents who arrived in Britain in the 1960s, said angrily: “Everybody is an immigrant here. It’s an island for God’s sakes.” 

Back in 2003, I relocated to London for love, rather than the promise of earning more money than I could make in Poland. In that respect, perhaps, I was unrepresentative of the majority of Poles who immigrated after Poland joined the European Union in 2004, yet I took my part in what has become Britain’s second largest immigrant group (after Indians). Recent data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that 521,000 Poles now live here. 

During the first few years, I did not spend much time with other Poles in London. I was enthralled by the cultural diversity. My partner was right: In London, the most ethnically diverse city in Britain, 37 percent of residents were born abroad; more than 300 languages are spoken.
For middle-class Britons, the Polish influx was generally welcome. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Camerons themselves had employed a proverbial “Polish plumber” — and marveled at the quick work and modest charge. But it is no secret that the post-2004 immigration did, in some places, have an impact on low-paying jobs, driving hourly rates down, especially in industries like construction or in the service sector. The situation has gotten only worse since the recession.“You see a truck with immigrants arriving and they will work for 5 pounds an hour, with no experience or papers. What am I to do?” asked a British friend who is a certified carpenter yet struggles to find enough work. 

With the British economy still striving for recovery, the complex issue of immigration for such a small island will inevitably worry many. If I were the prime minister, I would be concerned, too. It’s no secret that Mr. Cameron’s Conservative Party faces a tough fight before the 2015 general election. The surge of support for the right-wing populist U.K. Independence Party is surely on Mr. Cameron’s mind. What better way to win back lost voters than to demonize immigrants — even if that means conveniently putting aside the facts. 

According to the migration research unit of University College London, “the recent immigrants were 45 percent less likely to receive state benefits or tax credits than U.K. natives over the period 2000-11.” So much for benefit-grabbing Poles. People from the European Economic Area also pay about 34 percent more in taxes than they receive in benefits and have made a staggering net contribution of £25 billion ($41 billion) to Britain’s public finances.
Data provided by the London School of Economics has also revealed that “immigrants are younger and better educated than their U.K.-born counterparts.” That ought to come as a relief to Mr. Cameron — considering the problem Britain faces of finding the future tax revenues to support an aging population. 

Of course, every country has its right to control its borders and the flow of immigration. But inciting fear about immigrants is a cheap, and scary, practice. Mr. Cameron should beware the damage it will do to Britain and its international standing. 

One evening recently, I called my parents on Skype. 

“You know, you can always come back,” my mother said, hoping I would change my mind. We’ve had this conversation many times over the last 10 years, but this time it seemed different.
“London is my home, Mum,” I said, “whatever the politicians want us to think.”
By “us,” I meant other immigrants. And, as usual, we left it at that.
A.M. Bakalar is the author of “Madame Mephisto.”