Argentina welcomes East and South Asian immigrations

From 1860 to 1960, a century of great immigration to Argentina, almost of its immigrants were Europeans mainly Italian and Spanish unlike in Peru or even in Brazil, where they accepted bulks of Asian immigration from China and Japan.

Let's assume that the Argentina stays the same size as it does in OTL but with more diverse immigration patterns, so for example instead of all-Europeans coming in, you might have more of East and South Asian waves from places like China, Japan, India, and the Philippines coming in alongside Europeans?
 
The large scale immigration of Japanese to South America was the result of specific programs (both private and supported by regional governments) to encourage immigration combined with the agreements of the countries affected.

Outside of the Guyana's (where it was the result of forced labor migration) South America never really saw any large Asian immigration apart from the Japanese, with nearly all the current non-Japanese Asian minorities being the result of modern migration over the last 50 years.
 
The large scale immigration of Japanese to South America was the result of specific programs (both private and supported by regional governments) to encourage immigration combined with the agreements of the countries affected.

Outside of the Guyana's (where it was the result of forced labor migration) South America never really saw any large Asian immigration apart from the Japanese, with nearly all the current non-Japanese Asian minorities being the result of modern migration over the last 50 years.

Its certainly true that the Japanese were by far the largest group (0.25 million to Brazil alone), the Cantonese sugar and shit workers in Peru during the 19th century were still pretty significant at 0.1 million, certainly far bigger than the Guyanese south asians.

If Argentina had been open to just that level you could easily get a few million Chinese-Argentinians. Probably wouldn't make that big a historical change though.
 
If Argentina had been open to just that level you could easily get a few million Chinese-Argentinians. Probably wouldn't make that big a historical change though.

There was and still a barrier for a large-scale Asian immigration to Argentina:

Argentina's 1853 constitution explicitly promotes European immigration (Article 25) which means there should be no any statute restrictions of accepting any European immigrants to Argentina like quota that US did onto Southern Europeans and Jews after 1924, which created demographic trap where lots of cheap European immigrant labor supple never uplifted real wages in par what the US did in 1940s and 50s while the demand side (businesses) never caught it up due to restrictions of doing businesses during Peron's era.

Had Argentina amended the Article 25 around 1920s and struck out the word "European" to impose severe restrictions on immigration, Argentina would have a demographic transition by around 1940s, earlier than in OTL, thus would have forced businesses to increase worker's real wages (preventing the Great Depression from happening at all or preventing it from becoming a depression like not passing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill in US and Imperial Preference in UK that destroyed Argentina's export-based laissez faire economy, thus no or lesser Great Depression would have butterflied away the 1930 coup and the imposition of import-substitution economic model, No or lesser Great Depression means no Peronism).

A sort of shortage labor in 1950s and stable political and economic climate would force Argentina to relax immigration restrictions and by 1960s, Argentina could accept bulks of Asian immigrants from China, India, Korea, and the Philippines.

PS: I would have been living in Argentina had their constitution allows free flow of Asian immigration. The next government in 2015, probably Sergio Massa, should strike the word "European" out of 1853 constitution and encourage Asians like me to come to Argentina with open arms as Asian's education expertise, cultural influences, and business practices are what Argentina needs to uplift their economy into 21st century economic realities and to compete with the rest of the world especially with emerging Asia, which means Sergio Massa should dump Kirchnerite economic model and copy Chile or Singapore's economic model. To create a demand for Asian immigration, Argentina after 2015 should encourage shale oil and gas and mining reserves to be developed like attracting foreign MNCs to invest it as much as possible without unnecessary restrictions and because it need labor with expertise to work with those vast reserves, these foreign MNCs could hire Chinese, Indian, or Filipino workers (wonder why Middle East oil fields are full of Indian and Filipino workers) to work with Argentina's shale oil and gas and mining reserves.
 
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There was and still a barrier for a large-scale Asian immigration to Argentina:

Argentina's 1853 constitution explicitly promotes European immigration (Article 25) which means there should be no any statute restrictions of accepting any European immigrants to Argentina like quota that US did onto Southern Europeans and Jews after 1924, which created demographic trap where lots of cheap European immigrant labor supple never uplifted real wages in par what the US did in 1940s and 50s while the demand side (businesses) never caught it up due to restrictions of doing businesses during Peron's era.

Had Argentina amended the Article 25 around 1920s and struck out the word "European" to impose severe restrictions on immigration, Argentina would have a demographic transition by around 1940s, earlier than in OTL, thus would have forced businesses to increase worker's real wages (preventing the Great Depression from happening at all or preventing it from becoming a depression like not passing the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill in US and Imperial Preference in UK that destroyed Argentina's export-based laissez faire economy, thus no or lesser Great Depression would have butterflied away the 1930 coup and the imposition of import-substitution economic model, No or lesser Great Depression means no Peronism).

A sort of shortage labor in 1950s and stable political and economic climate would force Argentina to relax immigration restrictions and by 1960s, Argentina could accept bulks of Asian immigrants from China, India, Korea, and the Philippines.

PS: I would have been living in Argentina had their constitution allows free flow of Asian immigration. The next government in 2015, probably Sergio Massa, should strike the word "European" out of 1853 constitution and encourage Asians like me to come to Argentina with open arms as Asian's education expertise, cultural influences, and business practices are what Argentina needs to uplift their economy into 21st century economic realities and to compete with the rest of the world especially with emerging Asia, which means Sergio Massa should dump Kirchnerite economic model and copy Chile or Singapore's economic model. To create a demand for Asian immigration, Argentina after 2015 should encourage shale oil and gas and mining reserves to be developed like attracting foreign MNCs to invest it as much as possible without unnecessary restrictions and because it need labor with expertise to work with those vast reserves, these foreign MNCs could hire Chinese, Indian, or Filipino workers (wonder why Middle East oil fields are full of Indian and Filipino workers) to work with Argentina's shale oil and gas and mining reserves.

The word European wont be taken away. You seem to interest a lot in Argentina. You must know there has been a huge discussion over should the Constitution be changed or not. If the PASO told us something is that 70% wants it to stay as it is.

Besides, what difficulty are you talking about? Argentina must be one of the easiest countries to immigrate. We dont even patrol our border outposts nevermind the rests of it.

If there was and is a problem with Asian immigrantion is that once Asian people come they isolate from contact with the rest of the society and they never learn Spanish. For god's sake, its like the minimum to be done. They are received much better than Bolivians who actually speak Spanish and even then wont take the chance to integrate.

One thing that truly strikes me is that apart from Europeans, Asians sons and daughters are one of the groups who most easily integrate into the rest of society. Even much more than sons of Bolivians or Paraguayans. The clue is that they can Speak Spanish I believe.

Going back to OP its nearly impossible. The idea was not to populate the country, but to do it with Europeans. Nothern ones if possible. The country at the time was backwards and a mess, and their inspiration for change was Europe. The idea was to bring Europe here.
 
From 1860 to 1960, a century of great immigration to Argentina, almost of its immigrants were Europeans mainly Italian and Spanish unlike in Peru or even in Brazil, where they accepted bulks of Asian immigration from China and Japan.

Let's assume that the Argentina stays the same size as it does in OTL but with more diverse immigration patterns, so for example instead of all-Europeans coming in, you might have more of East and South Asian waves from places like China, Japan, India, and the Philippines coming in alongside Europeans?

This is a really interesting question.

First, I should disclaim that I used to live in Buenos Aires. While it is much more diverse than the rest of Argentina, it is not especially diverse. Not sure of all the specific causes, and have read about and gotten different answers over the years.

So the real issue is how to get them there.

My suspicion is that some racism played a part. Afterall, Argentina has for a long time seen itself as the most European countries in Sout America with Bs. As. as a Paris of the southern hemisphere.

So, perhaps the solution is to see a greater emphasis on developing the interior and building greater rail networks wst and south for agriculture and manufacturing. In this case, Argentina should be able to attract a significant number of asians, much like the chinese rail workers in the American west.

Not sure how you get south asians or Japanese there, though ... except it is possible that with the attraction of fascism in the 1930s in Argentina a growing militarism in Japan and ties with Nazi Germany, maybe you could see a bigger industrial/military relaitonship between the countries through deliberate efforts ... which would bring some workers and some scientists? I mean, Japan needed to feed itself and Argentina is a huge breadbasket, so their could be a trade relaitonship developed in the 1930 ...
 
The word European wont be taken away. You seem to interest a lot in Argentina. You must know there has been a huge discussion over should the Constitution be changed or not. If the PASO told us something is that 70% wants it to stay as it is.

I know that there has been a huge discussion on whether the 1853 Constitution should be changed or not because in the first place, the constitution is anachronistic (like Article 25) and flawed ones, however, Cristina Kirchner has perverted the whole discussion of changing the constitution by flirting her re-reelection plan in 2015. Any future constitutional amendment or revision in Argentina should deal the Article 25 by striking the word "European" out of the provision. Menem in 1993 forgot to tackle the Article 25.

Argentina badly needs a new constitution. Alberdi's idea never work in the 21st century.

Besides, what difficulty are you talking about? Argentina must be one of the easiest countries to immigrate. We dont even patrol our border outposts nevermind the rests of it.
Difficulty for Argentina to attract high-skilled immigrants from Asia while embracing low-skilled immigrants from Bolivia and Paraguay with open arms. I think Argentina should emulate Canada or Australia's immigration policy of prioritizing high-skilled immigrants while restricting low-skilled immigrants mainly from Bolivia and Paraguay.

If there was and is a problem with Asian immigration is that once Asian people come they isolate from contact with the rest of the society and they never learn Spanish.
It depends where does Asian immigrants come from. If they are mostly Chinese, Koreans, or Japanese, assimilation among immigrants will be difficult as East Asians are too protective with their cultural and national identities abroad. If they are mostly Filipinos or Indians, assimilation might be easier especially the former as we Filipinos rather dump our fragile national identity abroad just to earn dollars to support our relatives in the Philippines. Filipinos have basic immersion to Hispanic cultural norms, the missing link however, we cannot speak Spanish due to American occupation. Filipino attitudes are strikingly similar to Argentine ones.

For god's sake, its like the minimum to be done. They are received much better than Bolivians who actually speak Spanish and even then wont take the chance to integrate.
Because Asians are more motivated of working hard than Bolivians, correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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I know that there has been a huge discussion on whether the 1853 Constitution should be changed or not because in the first place, the constitution is anachronistic (like Article 25) and flawed ones, however, Cristina Kirchner has perverted the whole discussion of changing the constitution by flirting her re-reelection plan in 2015. Any future constitutional amendment or revision in Argentina should deal the Article 25 by striking the word "European" out of the provision. Menem in 1993 forgot to tackle the Article 25.

It wont happen. It had a meaning back then. Now it doesnt affect government policy. It hasnt since the 50s. Something I would change is to let everybody in just because they want, and that has an effect.

Argentina badly needs a new constitution. Alberdi's idea never work in the 21st century.

Argentina needs to consolidate on the Constitution it has. Its a good one and most people like it, so no need to change it. The basics are put. To addapt we got the laws.

Difficulty for Argentina to attract high-skilled immigrants from Asia while embracing low-skilled immigrants from Bolivia and Paraguay with open arms. I think Argentina should emulate Canada or Australia's immigration policy of prioritizing high-skilled immigrants while restricting low-skilled immigrants mainly from Bolivia and Paraguay.

Its not like we dont welcome them. The country is a shit place to work. Immigration policy is not what attracts people, the country situation is.

It depends where does Asian immigrants come from. If they are mostly Chinese, Koreans, or Japanese, assimilation among immigrants will be difficult as East Asians are too protective with their cultural and national identities abroad. If they are mostly Filipinos or Indians, assimilation might be easier especially the former as we Filipinos rather dump our fragile national identity abroad just to earn dollars to support our relatives in the Philippines. Filipinos have basic immersion to Hispanic cultural norms, the missing link however, we cannot speak Spanish due to American occupation. Filipino attitudes are strikingly similar to Argentine ones.

Badly enough Filipinos wont be treated as well as Chinese, allmost everybody will mistake you for Bolivians or Paraguayans.

Because Asians are more motivated of working hard than Bolivians, correct me if I'm wrong.

Im glad to. You know, I particulary dislike Bolivians in my country. They dont like to play by local law and culture, they want even more rights than we have, and send most of what they earn to Bolivia. But they are hard working. The men do the jobs we dislike, like construction. And the women work cleaning houses. They are usually informal workers and work 12+ per day.
 
The large scale immigration of Japanese to South America was the result of specific programs (both private and supported by regional governments) to encourage immigration combined with the agreements of the countries affected.

Its certainly true that the Japanese were by far the largest group (0.25 million to Brazil alone), the Cantonese sugar and shit workers in Peru during the 19th century were still pretty significant at 0.1 million, certainly far bigger than the Guyanese south asians.

Actually, only in Brazil there's around 1.5 to 2 million Japanese decendents. Yes, it was not a "natural" influx, but mostly a sponsored migration to fulfill the labor demand of the coffee plantations, after a shortage of European labor. This kind of contracts were not specific to Japanese, but to Europeans immigrants as well. Most (or a good part) of European immigration to Brazil was sponsored. There was also a considerable migration to Brazil also after the WWII of Japanese people (and Eastern Europeans).

Because Asians are more motivated of working hard than Bolivians, correct me if I'm wrong.

Err... I don't know in your country, but, where I come from, this kind of statement is called racism.

Im glad to. You know, I particulary dislike Bolivians in my country. They dont like to play by local law and culture, they want even more rights than we have, and send most of what they earn to Bolivia. But they are hard working. The men do the jobs we dislike, like construction. And the women work cleaning houses. They are usually informal workers and work 12+ per day.

You'll love to hear the same about you if you want to go work someday in Europe or the US. Oh, the irony...

Difficulty for Argentina to attract high-skilled immigrants from Asia while embracing low-skilled immigrants from Bolivia and Paraguay with open arms. I think Argentina should emulate Canada or Australia's immigration policy of prioritizing high-skilled immigrants while restricting low-skilled immigrants mainly from Bolivia and Paraguay.

If we are talking about today's politics and economics, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Argentina can't even garantee good jobs for their own citizens right now. I don't think that Latin America's biggest worry right now is to attract high-skilled immigrants. This isn't Canada.

By the way, Bolivians (now they're preferring to migrate to Brazil, specially to São Paulo, despite the language barrier) are only taking advantage of South American integration, which is pretty interesting to Argentina's government as well.

Curiously, there is a considerable Syrian and Lebanese community in Argentina (and in all Latin America), Carlos Menem was born a Muslim and only converted to Catholicism to be president. Today, if you visit Buenos Aires, you'll find out that most of the grocery shops are controlled by the Chinese.

Now, leaving today's world, I think that it's possible to have more Asian immigration to Argentina, but not too much. In Argentina, they don't have an overpriced commodity, like Brazilian coffee or the Peruvian guano. Their export table was cattle and grains and the need of labor force in this activities was much lower. The Asians could enter the country to work mostly on the development of the railway infrastructure (like they did in OTL in the US, Canada, Africa, etc.), only if there wasn't a HUGE offer of cheap labor from Europe that was rejected by the US (a.k.a. Italians)...
 
You'll love to hear the same about you if you want to go work someday in Europe or the US. Oh, the irony...

I did work in Spain and France with other Argentines. The thing is, most dont see us different. The average Italian is almost the same as the average Argentine. Physically and a good way in behavior.

Argentines who emigrate tend to be educated and integrate easily into society. IIRC the average income of Argentines in the US is higher than the whole average income. Uneducated Argentines till some years ago were scarce, and anyway unskilled Argentines dont emigrate in noticeable numbers, they ever have as today.
 
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