How can you say that increased demand from immigration does not increase demand for housing and place strain on public services with a straight face?
Because the real issue isn't immigration. It's a structural one. Class size issues, teacher shortages, and housing pressure existed long before recent immigrant arrivals. This is a direct result of the lack of funding and support for schools across the country. If we actually funded schools properly, the system could handle these new arrivals better, with enough ESL teachers, interpreters, and resources for everyone, including immigrant students.
It's easy to point fingers at immigrants, but that doesn't address the root causes, like underfunded schools, skyrocketing housing costs, or the real estate speculation that drives these pressures. If we keep looking for scapegoats instead of tackling these systemic issues, we're never going to escape this cycle.
Ultimately, this is about a system failing to meet the needs of everyone besides a privileged few. If we invested in public education and tackled systemic under-funding everywhere, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
You know this country is broken when police budgets are bigger than the combined budgets for social programs that actually help people. We need to start talking about why we dedicate more to that than investing in healthcare, education, housing, or social safety nets.