The Immigrant “Problem” Is a Government Failure, Not a People Problem

A Manufactured Crisis

Across the Netherlands, the UK, and the United States, headlines scream about immigration as if it were an invasion. Protesters rail against asylum seekers, governments scramble to “tighten controls,” and media frames immigration as the crisis of our age.

But let’s be clear: the crisis is not immigrants. It is governments failing to manage migration honestly and responsibly. Housing shortages, social tensions, and integration challenges are symptoms of poor planning, not the presence of people crossing borders.

Nations Built on Migration, Now Pretending Otherwise

Every country now panicking about immigration was shaped by it.

The United States was built by settlers, enslaved Africans, and successive waves of migrants — Irish, Italians, Chinese, Mexicans, and more — who powered its economy. Each wave was vilified in its time, only to be absorbed into the national identity later.
The UK was the center of a vast colonial empire. Post-WWII immigration from the Commonwealth was not a surprise; it was the empire coming home.
The Netherlands invited “guest workers” from Turkey and Morocco to rebuild after WWII and still profits from colonial ties in Suriname, Indonesia, and the Caribbean.

To call migration a “problem” now is historical amnesia. These societies exist because of it.

Why People Move

Migration is not chaos. It is structured by global systems. People move because:

Wars — often involving Western powers (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria).
Climate collapse — droughts, floods, and crop failures pushing people across borders.
Labor demand — aging societies in Europe rely on younger migrant workers to fill care, construction, and agricultural jobs.
Colonial ties — migration follows the routes laid by empire.

Immigrants are not coming “for free houses.” They are coming because global systems — many driven by Western decisions — make staying put impossible.

The Housing Myth

Anti-immigrant rhetoric in the Netherlands, the UK, and the U.S. points to housing shortages. The logic is simple: if migrants arrive, competition rises, and natives are squeezed out. But the data tells a different story.

Netherlands: In 2022, asylum seekers accounted for 7% of social housing allocations — significant, but hardly the root of a crisis created by decades of underbuilding and speculative investors buying up stock.
UK: At mid-2025, about 32,000 asylum seekers were in hotels — a scandal, but the real issue is chronic underinvestment in affordable housing since the 1980s.
U.S.: Housing pressures are driven mainly by restrictive zoning and speculation, not immigration. Immigrants add demand, but policy failure drives scarcity.

Blaming migrants for housing shortages is like blaming passengers for a train wreck caused by bad track maintenance.

Integration Is a Policy Problem, Not a People Problem

When newcomers struggle to “integrate,” it is often framed as their failure. In reality, integration succeeds or fails based on government choices:

Are there fair housing pathways or are migrants left in limbo?
Is there access to language and job training, or are communities siloed?
Are naturalization processes transparent, or are they bureaucratic traps?

If migrants feel alienated, that reflects a system designed to exclude — not some flaw in the people themselves.

The Scapegoat Mechanism

Scapegoating immigrants is politically convenient. When governments fail to deliver housing, healthcare, and fair wages, public anger builds. Instead of pointing at policy failures, politicians and media redirect anger toward visible newcomers.

“It’s their fault schools are crowded.”
“It’s their fault housing is tight.”
“It’s their fault wages are low.”

This narrative protects elites while punishing the powerless.

What the Science Actually Shows

Migration research is clear:

Migrants tend to be younger, balancing aging populations.
They contribute more in taxes than they consume in benefits, especially in the long run.
Economic impacts are generally modest or positive, not catastrophic.
Crime rates are tied to poverty and exclusion, not nationality.

In other words: migrants are not drains — they’re often net contributors. The “burden” exists only when governments fail to integrate them properly.

The Real Issue: Governance

The problem isn’t people crossing borders. It’s how governments plan — or fail to.

Netherlands: Housing crisis from speculation and underbuilding, not migration numbers.
UK: Decades of sold-off public housing and chronic underfunding.
U.S.: Immigration policy swings wildly, but housing shortages are driven by zoning and market speculation.

Immigrants are the scapegoat. The real culprit is political neglect and economic policy.

Stop Blaming People, Start Fixing Systems

The panic around immigrants in white-majority countries is a distraction. It’s not migrants who dismantled public housing, hollowed out welfare states, or destabilized regions abroad. It’s governments and elites.

Immigrants are not the problem. Bad governance is.

Until the debate shifts from “how do we stop immigrants” to “how do we build fair, resilient systems,” the cycle of scapegoating will continue — and ordinary people, native and migrant alike, will pay the price.