The New Dream Isn’t American

The weak dollar, which reduces the amount of money people can send home, is a contributing factor. Brazil's chronically weak currency, the real, has gained strength against the dollar. Travel agents in areas with large Brazilian communities report that thousands of Brazilian clients have purchased one-way plane tickets in recent months. Workers from South American countries like Ecuador and Bolivia are increasingly seeking their fortune in Spain, where language, lenient immigration policies and the strong euro make the environment more congenial.

Strength in emerging economies is also exerting a gravitational pull on potential migrants. Today, about 84 percent of the graduates of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology decide to pursue careers at home, compared with only 65 percent seven years ago. Rising living standards and the spread of Western-style capitalism are responsible. "The lure of immigration to the U.S. is still pretty strong, though its intensity is declining," says Shubha Singh, a writer on the Indian diaspora. The American Dream still holds a powerful appeal for people around the world. But the choice of whether to immigrate to the United States requires a careful weighing of the costs and benefits, the risks and rewards. Given the climate—at home and abroad—people like Salvador Luna in Mexico City are thinking more than twice about embarking on the journey.

With Jessica Ramirez in Washington, Terry Greene Sterling in Phoenix, Ashley Harris in New York, Sudip Mazumdar in New Delhi and Monica Campbell in Mexico City

© 2008