 Good morning everyone. It's Friday morning at Davos, so a lot of people are still getting home at this time right now or some others are waking up, but we appreciate the fact that you're here and of course that we have an amazing panel to talk about an important issue. My name is Enrique Acevedo. I work for Univision and Fusion in the US. We are the largest Spanish language network in the country and on many nights the most watched broadcast network in the country regardless of language, which in a way is a statement about immigration and the power of immigration in the case of the US. We're gonna talk about immigration today. An issue so divisive that it shot down the US government just last week. In the last few years, we've seen people migrate from their homes due to economic opportunity. Also, in cases they're forced to to immigrate from their countries because of political turmoil, climate change and conflict among many other reasons. I was looking at the statistics and around 3.5% of the world's population lives in a country that it's not the country where they were born. So a quick show of hands here in the audience and also in our panel. How many of you live in a country that is not the country where you were born? So I'd say around 60% in our panel, it's 90% and well, I'm also an immigrant. So it's an issue close to everyone's heart here and I think it's an important issue to discuss especially at a time where nationalism and populism are on the rise around the world and the role that immigration has had in fueling both of those dynamics. A couple of housekeeping items when we do television panels, they usually ask you to be very quiet and still. I'm not going to do that. You can be part of this conversation. We're going to make it as interactive as possible. We were planning to do a poll, but we're going to wait until more people get here. So I don't want to say statistically valid, but at least we have a good show for the result and I'll also introduce each of our panelists when we do an introductory round. So Ronald Reagan was actually responsible for a phrase that's become really famous now, make America great again and we'll hear about that in a few hours here at the forum. But he also said something that I think it's important and relevant to our discussion. He said that in America our origins matter less than our destinations and that in that sense immigration is crucial to democracy. So my first question for Alyssa, Alyssa Varsena, Ibarra from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean is is immigration a threat to democracy or is it is it something that actually helps democracy grow and Well, I definitely believe that in migration when it's good migration and an order migration can contribute enormously to democracy and contributes particularly to diversity. I think that that's something that is extremely important. For example in Latin America, we have 30 million people living out of their original countries. You were asking how many people here. We're talking there 30 million people in Latin America out of 600 and but the majority of them 20 million are in the US, of which 11 million are illegal. So what I would like to say is that when migration is illegal then the status of migration is different and now those migrants feel very threatened because they feel that they are going to be returned home and it has become an issue, a political issue and actually my view and the view of the UN, I would say, is that migration can be really a contribution to democracy to development and that's why currently the UN is working on a global compact on migration that is going to be probably ready by the end of this year to be presented to all the heads of state of the UN to see if everybody can agree on this order well-managed migration compacts in the world because it's extremely important and here we have Bill Wing Swing who is the head of the International Migration Organization with whom we are working very closely Precisely what we what we do in the UN is we try to understand migration and the contribution for example migrants in the US return back remittances to Latin America up to $278 billion a year and we'll talk about that with the president of Western Union who's Bringing the business perspective into our discussion today, but I wanted to ask Alejandro Ramirez the CEO of Cinepolis one of the biggest cinema companies in the world about This idea of immigration and democracy you come from a state Michoacan in Mexico that produces a large percentage of the migrants that go to the US So you leave this close close to home Your thoughts about this this link between immigration and democracy and what he can do for a country that That's losing all this human capital Well, I think Alicia alluded to the contribution of immigrants to diversity and and I would like to point that through that diversity also Immigration contributes positively to economic growth through increases in productivity and innovation And there's evidence that suggests that countries that are more open to immigrants grow more There's a recent IMF study that shows evidence that countries that are open to immigrants on average grow for each additional point of Immigrants in the labor force. They they grow up to two percent more in the long run So this is a you know, an econometric Multivariate analysis so very very rigorous. So it shows, you know across, you know, tens of countries this evidence So and and it's quite obvious for you know, CEOs We employ People from all over the world, you know, I employ over 40,000 People in my company and I have people from every Latin American country from the US from England from Spain from India from Arab countries and and I see how that Diversity in my workforce enriches my company and allows us to be more innovative more dynamic to understand better every market and Just like it it works for firms. It works for for countries. I Want to I want to bring in a Korean Yang. She's well, she describes herself as a entrepreneur but serial entrepreneur Your stories is amazing and you represent the voice of a million undocumented youth in the US the so-called dreamers Who by the way are in the front pages of the news today in the US? So no pressure But I did want to ask you about You know your your Experience and bringing that experience into the conversation as someone who immigrated to the US when you were 13 years old 13 just a couple of weeks before 9-11 correct and then went through a 10-year process of becoming a an authorized immigrant in the US So I'm really honored to be amplifying the voice of 800,000 undocumented DACA students Who are in this very difficult place currently due to what's going on with the policy changes and In my case, I came to provide different perspective I immigrated to United States two weeks before 9-11 happened from a island called Vanuatu and it's in South Pacific Neo-Fiji it was very surreal because a Immigration process that really should have only taken three months actually ended up taking more than ten years to get processed as a result of the circumstances and I hear a lot of myth after Working through this process of trying to understand how can we go about surviving and Staying in a country where my parents are where my family is who had officially invited our family to the country and Navigating that process was very challenging but at the same time helped me realize how many people really realize the importance of investing in youth and In my case, I was very fortunate to have a lot of mentors and counselors and people who who wanted to provide that safe heaven for children who They knew that was going to be the future labor force. So what I do through what I have done through the Los Angeles Junior Chamber of Commerce as well as a Company that I have founded for social entrepreneurs was to work with all these immigrant Immigrant entrepreneurs who basically provided more jobs for people in the United States Representing the country in other parts of the country doing social entrepreneurship and bringing social goods. So I I'm here to provide a different perspective from the people that have met outside of California and so I'm Very happy to be here and just an interesting fact Kiri hired around a hundred workers while she wasn't documented. Yes, so, you know, that's also something We should be looking at that how not only immigrants contribute to the community, but to, you know, the creation of jobs and wealth He could also the president and CEO of Western Union. You you Lead a company that thrives on the power of immigration in many ways So you have a unique perspective the business perspective about immigration from the US as an immigrant Your mother was Austrian and but your father was Turkish, right? That's that's I'm married to an Indian. So And live in the US your daughter lives in Germany. So yeah, that's I'm not unique By the way, many of the fortune 500 CEOs like me are immigrant background. So it's not, you know And obviously there is something if you come with a global background You do have a certain etched you do work hard You have a global understanding and actually you do understand the customer needs but just before I Start today, you know, just to complete your Ronald Reagan Quotes he also said tear this wall down So, you know, just maybe And you know the last wall I know was you know The two histories went was one is a Chinese wall great wall and one was Berlin wall and both are, you know Didn't hold for a longer term. So I think walls, you know, especially in the world like where we live Where the digital connection especially with young people like you where it's, you know, people are connected where everything is communicated it's hard to stop people around the world not to immigrant and not to contribute to the economy they arrive in fact You know global remittances are about six hundred billion dollar. It's probably largest foreign direct investment Happens every year If that wouldn't happen the world will be in a different well different, you know situation And I just want to change also some perception the immigrants they come they drive the not only the economy of the country but they also 85% of their earnings stay there. They send only 15% back home and That's 600 billion dollar worldwide and I can see that daily in 200 countries Happening constantly and Immigrant contributions about 9% of the global GDP If that wouldn't happen our GDP a global GDP growth will be 5% less and this is something that we don't see it on day-to-day and Actually, we play defense here instead of offense. We always want to Talk about our rights immigrant rights instead of telling them what we can do and it's not something like we are taking away We are giving actually and this offensive Contribution I like this panel because I'm looking forward to learn from this panel or so What we can do be play play more offense than having you know already Saying that we are here, but and I want to avoid that word but perfect. Thank you so much. Mr. Essex These are fifth year collaborating with Davos panel panel discussions and Something we've learned throughout the years is that sometimes a discussion gets lost in Policy data and we never get to see the human side of the things that we discuss here in Dallas We have an amazing artist with us today I actually just learned your your last name today Platon because I've known you like Prince and share From your first name Platon photographer the founder of the people's portfolio an amazing artist again And he's here to provide that human perspective about what we're discussing today about immigration that the human stories The lives affected by the policy the data that that we are Dividing today, and I know you wanted to share the story of Ebony So what an honor it is to be amongst my friends here My role is to humanize the data I've heard so many amazing amazing people talk about policy and Analyzing information, but I'm always interested to find out who who who is represented by this data So I began a project a few years ago when immigration Believe it or not was not discussed in America It wasn't discussed on Capitol Hill The press didn't really want to deal with it But I kept hearing that if you are a family in the front line of this problem, and you're being torn apart It's a huge news. It's a big deal. So I Decided to go and investigate and I went to I crossed over America. I went to the border and One day I was in Arizona at a march a pro immigration reform march And I saw a mother marching with her daughter Her daughter was three years old and her name is Evelyn and she was beautiful this little kid, right? So the little girl was wearing a white t-shirt with hand-painted letters on it saying free my dad So I went up to the mother and I was just amazed by the idea of this image Because it sums up how complicated the whole issue of immigration is this little girl is a citizen Her father is not a citizen He was an undocumented worker and he was now in a waiting deportation So the family was being ripped to pieces So I said to the mother excuse me. Here's Evelyn I said can I take a picture of your daughter and she said yes, so I pointed the camera to the daughter and She got spooked by my my me the strange man with a camera just like my kids would and she hid behind her mother's Legs now that is not the picture. I wanted to take I didn't want to photograph her as a victim Frightened on the run because when I saw her in the march with her mother. She was marching for dignity and pride So I had to earn the trust of this little girl by playing balloons with her for five and a half hours Now let me tell you I have never had to earn that kind of trust working with Obama Trump Putin any of the world leaders I've had the privilege to work with but this little girl I had to earn that trust of empowerment and after five hours. She says to me picture So I took the picture because I had now graduated and And it was an amazing. I was very proud of this picture. She doesn't look frightened She looks like she wants the world as a dignified empowered human being and then I turned to her mom And I said, you know what you should be really really proud of this little girl Because despite all the powerful people I've worked with I think this is one of the most important pictures I ever took Because I think it's going to help people understand this problem and the mother then turns to Evelyn and she says Photographers very happy you did good and then Evelyn says if I did so good. Does that mean daddy can come home? Thank you, but We we started talking about immigration and we discussed some of the economic components of the debate But during the 2016 campaign which I covered for Univision I Understood there were these economic frustrations jobs wages Trade and what that did to a large segment of the population in the US, but what about the cultural and social? Issues behind immigration and the demographic anxieties. It's causing in in some of the countries that are getting these influx of immigrants You know President Trump would go into one of the rallies and he would talk about again trade globalization And all these issues all these economic issues and people would pay attention But as soon as he mentioned the wall, they weren't crazy. They would chant build the wall Mexico will pay for it. That was a strong Narrative for the campaign and one that won him the nomination on a very talented field of 16 Republican presidential hopefuls But but that also ended up winning him the campaign. He outflanked everyone on immigration So let's talk about a little bit about the social and cultural aspects of this debate and and the demographic Anxiety is causing in a country like like the US. Mr. Ersek Well, you know what we do is always we show us and Europe as an example But the immigration is not only the building the wall is not a US issue. It just came back from South Sudan Uganda Country like Uganda, which has a few million people are hosting about 1.2 million immigrants on all Uganda And that's an issue what they have done though. They issued immediately work permit for South Sudanese So South Sudanese can be it's integrated immediately in you can denies Society which helps a lot. So one thing we should really put away is that it's not an it's not a US issue It's not a new issue Immigration was always there and it's gonna go more especially given the climate change one thing is Gonna happen that the people gonna move for better opportunities Some statistics or you know, I know I don't know and I put it also in the human way. Let's me put it in a human way Japan is getting older Europe is getting older and they are not getting kids. They're not producing kids Africa by 2050 will double the population and it's the what we are talking here is really the distribution of wealth and Distribution of our human wealth worldwide in a fair way and if you don't take care about that this issue will never stop Stop and it's gonna It's gonna continue. One other thing I would like to mention is that You know, if you are a European politician or US politician, you got four years How do you win the next and the election? You need to have populist slogans to win the next election and Immigration issue won't be solved immediately. It's a long-term issue. So what you do is that you choose a slogan Which is easy to argue which has no defense the immigrants have no lawyers The immigrants have no flags the immigrants have no national interests the immigrants have no ambassadors the immigrants have no Presentatives here except us maybe Who raised their voice who has legal rights and the easiest way to win an election is to go after them instead of to you know getting the real issues and I think that's a big Thing that it's not on it's happening globally and we should put that in a global perspective It is in a way Alejandro. We mentioned this in the beginning. It's since immigration is feeding this Rise of nationalism and populism around the world not only in the US We're right even in countries with strong economic growth like Germany like Holland like Denmark for example, no totally right. I think One of the key problems is to to understand Why politicians find it so? Easy to target the immigrants as was mentioned and I think it's because a lot of the job Displacement that we're seeing in every economy and in the advanced economies Due to technological innovation and technological disruption It's easier to blame on an immigrant than on a robot You know you can say this Mexican immigrant is taking your job this Polish immigrant is taking your job It's very hard to say well a new automated process in the plant has you know this place a couple hundred Workers, so it's very easy and I think you know to your point about President Trump's rallies during the campaign I mean there's evidence that net migration from Mexico has dropped over the past ten years in fact today there's one million less unauthorized immigrants from Mexico than ten years ago and This is due to both economic growth in Mexico and Just there's been a negative Flow of migrants. I mean more Mexicans go back to To their country of origin than they go in every year and yet You know the rally was build a wall as as if you know that was the problem You know displacing American workers, which is not true It's it's really and many studies attest to this is really due to a technological innovation and disruption It's sorry just Just if you know you're absolutely right what we see is now that Mexico is getting an odd bond country Mexico is attracting actually Immigrants to Mexico from solid let other Latin American come Countries and they are sending back from Mexico home to Peru and other countries remittances So you're absolutely right. It's changing. Alicia. You want to say yes, I wanted to say something I think that the that what what's happening today and yesterday actually Is that President Trump is saying Mexico has to pay for the wall and and we want to end we want 25 million? I mean dollars for the wall, right and we will then give a chance to 1.6 million DACA Dreamers to stay now. That's I mean that's a dealer and let's put it this way So the whole thing of the bridges or walls between Mexico and the US is totally linked to one factor And that is that Mexico is super avitarian country has a super avid vis-à-vis the US in terms of trade China Japan Mexico and Yes, China Japan Mexico and there's another one and Germany, of course But of course Mexico is the neighbor. So it's the easy target. No, but actually the the largest target is really China When you talk about where are the jobs that the US lost? Indeed they did lost the jobs and they did lost the companies and the industry especially the car industry Which went to Mexico and to China so but are these jobs going to go back because immigrants are going to go back home? No, because that that's the point, you know the point as you said is that the country the dreamers don't want to go back home The US already paid their education. That's their home They the US already paid for that educated people and they are sending them They're not gonna send them back is what deals are they going to be made in in the in the road? And and I would say that let me put the example of another country that is not Europe It's not the US is Chile where I live Chile is 17 million people in a very large country. They are not having children So immigration for them is going to be the future at the end of the day Who is going to be the social security who is going to be the the support of social security for the elders in Chile? The migrants right so what Chile is doing in a very intelligent way. They are receiving migrants legally They they ask them to pay social security. They formalize them. They have a work contract And we made a survey among the private sector and we we found out that there are certain sectors that prefer Migrants for example the construction sector. They love the Peruvians the sports business. They love Haitians So and and for example the service sector. They love Venezuelans So it's very interesting to see where does the Immigrants fit in terms of the sectors in the case of the US we can also do that We are already doing a study of where the migrants of Mexico and Latin American general because I agree with you. They are coming back now They're not staying and the reason why and you may know this that what the reason why remittances are growing Almost 20% last year is because they are afraid. So now instead of sending 15% of their income They're sending 50%. I don't know much more higher because they know they are they might be sent back And we had a conversation with global shapers young Leaders from Latin America this week and one of them from Venezuela was saying I would I wish that the World Economic Forum Would hear our discussion about immigration not only as a as an example of the challenges that we face in Latin America but also Because of the solutions that we're coming up the local solutions that we're coming up for for immigration from documentary immigration That that you know that we get from other countries throughout Latin America. So Cree going back to the concept of demographic anxiety You know, you live in a very progressive state like California, but still especially in the last couple of years we've seen sort of a backlash against immigrants an anti-immigrant sentiment growing in the US Which is something you've experienced virtually. Yeah, I I think this is a very interesting conversation and thank you so much for opening it up because Right before I came I was interviewing a lot of my friends who worked at large companies corporations in Silicon Valley who are Paid a lot just to stay and then companies are coming up with solutions to figure out How are they going to keep these talents because they're actually being negotiated right now by Large companies in China and Taiwan in Mexico to be paid double just to come and Their software engineers there. I mean they're in health care the doctors or physicians their lawyers and they're they're Contributing so much to the country and what I found really fascinating was our US representative Jimmy Gomez shared with us that if if They get rid of these 800,000 illegal Children who are educated here the impact that it has just on the state of California is over 12 billion dollars loss in annual GDP and I was shocked to hear that number especially because I don't think a lot of people are aware of that and so I go around and asking a lot of my friends about their stories and Shockingly, there's a lot of people who came here Undocumented and they're in I mean they're in so many nonprofit organizations in corporations Working really hard. And so to me I feel like there's there's so much of misunderstanding and Perception around the what's the demographic of undocumented and just immigrants in general correct Platon going back to the wall and the border It's a common myth in the US to talk about border security and I say it's a myth because over the last 12 years The US has invested over I want to say invested or spent over a hundred billion dollars on border security They already have a 700 mile wall in a 2,000 mile border 21,000 well-armed men security presence similar to the one the US has between South and North Korea drones ATVs High-tech surveillance equipment, so it's a pretty secure border. I would say And still people say now we need border security as a precondition to anything else to any sort of agreement on immigration But this border militarization Platon has come at a great cost for border communities on both sides and For human rights for for immigrants rights, so sometimes even You know at the cost of their own lives yeah, I mean I wanted to personally find out what happens at the border and I heard that you know previous administrations had this Policy that they would you know sort of militarize the safe areas of crossing But they would leave the most dangerous areas of crossing Assuming that people wouldn't want to cross that dangerous terrain, but perhaps what they underestimated was that people's commitment to cross the border that many It's that they have hunger. They can't feed their children in other cases. They're fleeing gang violence So it's not always a choice to just go over the border for America in many cases. It was survival for your family So people were crossing the border. I Photographed a guy. I don't guys. I don't know if you can go to an image I have this guy is called Mike Wilson and he's a native American and He lives in Arizona and his land is the Tonneau autumn nation Reserve and on his land. It's actually one of the most dangerous migrant crossings on the US border Many many people die in this land In the summer it reaches 115 degrees Fahrenheit and it's devastating So what he does is he leaves water out in the desert in specific areas for migrants who are starting to get weak from dehydration to help them survive now many of Mike's friends have criticized him for aiding and abetting criminals and I asked him about that about the moral complexities and he said there are two laws To choose from there is a federal law and he said as a law-abiding citizen I would rather be choosing the federal law But there's another law as well that exists which is a higher law of universal compassion and he said People are dying on my land Families are dying on my land and I can't watch them die. I have to give them water So what happens when you die? It's this is this is heavy stuff. I if you go to the next picture You end up here in a morgue This is the morgue in Arizona and I stood in this room surrounded by about two or three hundred bodies And I'll never forget the smell of death. It's still in my head Now within an hour of dying at the border You know over this dangerous terrain your body starts to decompose within two hours apparently you're unrecognizable So if you go to the next picture, I'd like to show you a picture of a lady Her name is Robin Rainer key and what she does is she runs a project called missing migrants project Now if you die on the border you essentially Go missing and your family wherever you came from have no idea what happened to you. This happens to children, too So Robin has decided to start gathering all the personal effects found on bodies and She makes files of them and then she matches those artifacts with missing persons files and Tries to help get families a sense of closure to identify their loved ones Now she's holding all the artifacts that she finds on bodies and I asked her what kind of things she's found I said, did you find guns? She said no, I've never found a gun. She said I've never found a knife I've never found drugs So I said, well, what did you find and she said on one person's body if you go to the next image folks On one person's body. All I saw was a watch They had their clothes, but the only personal effect they had was a watch Someone else had a comb someone else had a toothbrush Someone else had a wallet with three dollars and some pictures of their children someone else had a cross or a rosary and if you go to the last picture I Made a set of images of all the personal effects and I put them up as a line Can you see yes? Here we are. This is like a washing line of the dead and You know that each each bag represents Someone's life that was lost in the border And the decisions policy makers Take on issues like immigration have a have an effect on people's lives And and and we see that through the through the images and and those decisions those solutions It's what I want to talk about right now before going to our audience and taking a few questions because I think it's worth having this conversation of course and and in terms of solutions, I think that the Bulk of the reaction has been on okay. Let's stop immigration. Let's figure it out Let's just stop immigration and see how we can you know keep a minimal number of immigrants coming in Trying to manage immigration, but we rarely hear about fighting the root causes of immigration It's not a sexy politically. Like you were saying Alex is not something that politicians can capitalize on elect on elections Because it takes probably longer and it means in many in many cases investing in in other countries The US investing in Central America Europe investing in Northern Africa And and and fighting the root causes of immigration and recognizing There's a core responsibility in creating the conditions for for these people to leave their their homes Crime in Central America has to do with drug consumption in the US The instability in Northern Africa has to do in many ways with how Europe has behaved in that region of the world so Talking about the solutions what works what doesn't work Looking forward Alex where should should policy makers be be focusing on well I think there are successful examples of Orderly migrant programs one for instance that has been going on since 1974 between Canada and Mexico Yes, every year Canada brings at least 25,000 Agricultural workers from Mexico that can stay in Canada anywhere between two and eight months And they have to go back and next year they can apply again And it's been going on successfully since 1974 and this 25,000 Mexican legal immigrants in in the agricultural fields in Canada contribute positively to the economy of Canada and of Mexico because they send remittances I think one of the things we need to start looking Going forward is to bring facts into this debate. I mean this debate as we said is easy easily overly simplified and and You can use stereotypes. I mean it's just easy to oversimplify something that is actually more complex But that there's actual actual data that shows that you know, for instance the cities that grew the most in the US between 1990 and 2007 where the cities that were more open to immigrants and they have that grew more their share of Immigrants in the labor force namely Houston Dallas and Phoenix and the cities that grew the least Pittsburgh Cleveland and Detroit were the ones that have The lowest share of immigrants in their labor force So I mean there's a lot of data that that shows, you know that immigrants contribute to innovation For instance in Silicon Valley, you know immigrants are around 15% of the skill labor force yet they they represent more than 50% of the startups in in a Silicon Valley and over 50% of the patents registered in Silicon Valley So we have to bring facts to illustrate and to enlighten policymakers and the population in general to see the many good things that migrants bring Especially in orderly programs and surprisingly among the 10 cities with the most immigrants in the US The ones that have the most positive reaction to to their presence are Cities like LA Chicago, New York where that that thrive through through immigration and diversity Mr. Erzegh one of the the the solutions that The US government has has floated in terms of undocumented immigration is taxing remittances with that with with that with that put a America Look businesses first or or would that hurt American businesses like Western Union? Look, I think money will flow anyway You know if you tax remittances Then the people will find a way to send money maybe illegal and we don't like that And nobody likes that not a government not a company and not people it should be documented And we should send money for good cause not for bad cause So I think the remittances taxing the remittances It's you know It's not a good idea and it doesn't work in some countries tried that never worked out and it went always back on That one and the other thing as we're seeing and I want to mention is that you know, these people are human besides statistics I give you some some fact US is one we talk a lot about us but you know one of the things is Syrian refugees currently happened about They're about You know, what does a remedy refugee do as you mentioned earlier for the human I do you die They died about a bill a million people in Syria Or you go you don't want to die that's simple and obviously you don't want to die you go Turkey Had 3.3 million immigrants Syrian immigrants Jordan 1.2 million Lebanon 1.2 million in Jordan another example is Jordan was the fifth poorest water resource Country of the world because they don't have a lot of water So they really give people to water since they had that you know, they hosted them They said okay, we're gonna give also water to the immigrants and now they are the second poorest Country water resource country of the world what they did is that they own citizen They shared the water with refugees in cost of their own citizen and this is something big solution-wise It's quite complex as you said Some countries like Turkey did okay We have buffer zones on the refugee zones on the on the border. We're gonna invest there They invested a lot on SMEs ask SMEs to invest their produce and hire Syrian refugees to produce good to export them Somewhere worldwide to Africa or to Asia and what happened is that they could not export them because They couldn't say it they couldn't say it made in refugee camp Because they were in a buffer zone It was not made in Turkey was not made in Syria and nobody would take the trade agreements wouldn't take that So I think it's the situation is more complex than it looks like it's needs a global global Union here that we understand this issue sometimes We think it's easy. It's easy to build a wall It's not easy to build a wall and we know also the walls don't help to avoid problems and I think we have to see that and go go more really case by case and solve this issue and definitely and it's an important distinction and I'm thankful that you made it people Sometimes link immigration to opportunity and that's a case for you know people who voluntarily want to leave their homes and go work somewhere else But in many cases, it's not about opportunity but necessity Surviving as a necessity fleeing violence crime conflict or climate change That's immigration. That's born out of necessity and that's what we're seeing more of around the world So solutions to address that and technology I'll go back to you in a minute Alicia, but technology has been a powerful tool query in helping us Incorporate the value of immigration into our societies You want to talk a little bit about for example how you used Greg's list to hire people when you were caring a company in the US over 10 years ago and Technology platform really allows young people, especially I've been representing the voice of youths for almost 10 years and It's really interesting how people think that we're part of the problem when in fact we are the part of the solution because we're the millennials and the incoming generation the Gen Z's are Actually innovative than ever and they're they're entrepreneurial and they want to do something that actually matters that has a purpose and so it's I think it's really interesting to see how these platforms like Airbnb or I mean like we travel around the world and it's so it makes it so easy like I don't actually have to hire a Designer within United States like I mean there's all these platforms that allows us to hire people from Indonesia to you know Eastern European countries and It really leverages and it flattens the world in a sense and we kind of forget that we're immigrants because I mean especially I'm I'm part of the global shapers group and Coming to Davos as a selected 50 There's 40 country representatives around the world and we were just shocked sharing our vulnerable stories of what got us here And what whose voice we're representing we were just shocked by looking at each other how? Wow, we're all sharing very similar stories no matter where we are and having that technology on we chat on What's up and and just Green modest and sorry to interrupt because you know you founded live guide which provides mental health services for people regardless of their immigration status right and The health care system in United States is not the most accessible especially in mental health so our Company goal is to bring mental health services as accessible as possible to Underserve communities and around the world through technology because it's such a taboo topic, but also a necessary Industry that needs to be addressed. Thank you so much. I agree and then Alicia. I'm sorry that you want to say something about Yes, yes, I think that the most important one is to promote regular migration and I Want to make a distinction between migrants and refugees It's not the same and the treatment cannot be the same. We're talking about 250 million migrants and the refugees is a totally separate story So when we talk about Syria or we you know, we're talking about a different story Right, so because talking about the causes of migration They are different from the cost of from the causes of people of large amount of people moving from one place to another Looking for refugee For and they want to go back by the way Migrants not necessarily want to go back the refugees normally want to go back and I have a story of Syrians That were accepted 40 families were accepted in Chile 40 of Syria They came to Chile and they were not adapted They came to the UN to make to tell us that they don't want to stay in Chile They don't know the language. They don't understand the culture. They want to go back So as soon as possible, they would like to go back So that's a different part of the story and and the other thing I wanted to say is that I Definitely believe the private sector has a role to play here, of course I mean, but indeed the governments have to come together. It's not a national problem It's an international problem That's why we are on on the global migration compact in the UN Working together with governments to find the solution But the private sector has a very important role because they can identify as you did Which are those migrants that you want the companies know They know much better than the governments many times What are the type of workforce they need and what type of people Qualified even not qualified that they would prefer as workers you go to the US you ask them ask the companies What do they want and they will tell you I want the mexican. No, I prefer a salvadorian. No, I prefer an asian I you see they they know what they want and I think we have to bring them into the equation of Managing a managing migration. I think it it has to become regular. It has to become managed It cannot be illegal migrants are not criminals by definition And I think this is something that we have to definitely overcome migrants are not criminals by definition no and Sometimes images perception can be deceiving about Who who the criminals are who the migrants are and then the narrative the political narrative the people rhetoric also confuses Confuses people You know, um, one of the biggest problems we face is persuasion So, um, I I believe that if you can't see yourself in the story Then you are comfortably detached from it Consequently the people that you are discussing become dehumanized And when someone is dehumanized, it's very easy to make a callous political or policy decision And if you look back at history Whenever we've switched to the wrong side of morality, it's when we've dehumanized people When people are humanized and it could be your daughter. It could be your father could be your mother your wife Then suddenly you see yourself in that story and I think our goal is one of Allowing everybody in this very complicated argument to see themselves in the story And if they don't then you can never really Make a compassionate, but also rational decision Now, um, I did do a picture. I'd like to show you where we're we're talking about perception Farm workers exploited at work The lady on the left Holding the box with her hand on her heart. Her name is Alina Diaz She's the most courageous lady perhaps I ever met. She's now a citizen Um, and she campaigns passionately for women's rights who are farm workers To my knowledge there's a large percentage of farm workers in america who are undocumented I even heard it could be as much as 50 percent. I'm sure my colleagues will be more accurate about that statistic But it's a large amount And now when you're undocumented and you live In the shadows of society you have no protection And you're very vulnerable A dear friend of mine works in the NGO community and this lady is a great lady And she said to me and I respect her immensely, but she said I don't think you should show people this picture I said why? She said because the two ladies at the end have got bandanas around their head They look like bandits. They look as if they're threatening I don't think we want anyone threatening in a picture about immigration Well, that horrified me because this is from someone I admire let alone from someone I fundamentally disagree with The reality is that these women are wearing these bandanas because when they're working in the farms They have no protection from pesticides and poisons They have no protection at all and they have to use a makeshift process Of protecting themselves by just putting handkerchiefs and scarves over their mouths and it's certainly not adequate So the question is The perception might be that they're threatening us The reality is they're just trying to protect themselves and they're extremely vulnerable These women are also wearing very baggy clothes Uh, apparently, I mean they told me that they don't wear tight fitting clothes Because it sexually arouses predators in the fields and many of these women are raped and are subject to sexual violence Again with no protection If there's an injury in the farms, there's no insurance for health. So there is that there's no process of healing your body So the lady who I know Alina. She's a friend of mine now. I said to her Alina. What what do you wish for? And she burst into tears And she said something and I wrote it down and if I may I'd like to read it to you. Please So Alina, what do you wish for? And as she wipes her tears, she says I hope to die in my bed Finally seeing justice for these women I want to die surrounded by all these women telling me Alina Things are good now. We have rights We have drinking water in our fields We have a bathroom They pay us fair They don't rape us They don't poison us with pesticides We can speak out now without fear and we can walk proud And nobody is going to arrest us because we are a darker color That is what I wish for That's a powerful statement It's a powerful statement and I think it's um an inspiring story That that you're sharing with us again. I don't thank you so much for doing that We have a few minutes and I would like to use them for um questions from our audience So if you can just say who you are and and the question for the panel My name is the Abbas Shah. I'm the chairman of the board of SWIFT. I am an American and immigrant So we had a very good conversation on the economic benefits of immigration the business benefits of immigration The human benefits of immigration What about the issue where people in western lands are afraid that their culture Their religion their way of life is threatened. How do we address that? When I was referring to social and cultural Um Components of this debate and the demographic inside is that's that's probably the most important part I don't know if who wants to tackle the this this can I can I just put one example that I have very concrete The largest diaspora of palestine people is in chile Uh, that's the largest amount of people from palestine that live abroad And they came many years ago They are now the most the most successful entrepreneurs in chile. They have a football camp They have the food And the culture really blended it all depends on how or what are you talking about? I also believe for example that the mexican culture in the us Has made a lot of uh impact I mean, I can say that you are from the the movie sector But there is one movie in particular that calls a tremendous impact if I can say the name coco No, that one that has been so successful and it's about mexico. It's about the traditions It doesn't mean that that you have to impose your traditions in the in the country you're going to But definitely you can contribute so I agree with you that in religion is a different story that Again, the migrants have been Stigmaticized There's like a stigma that if you're from the muslim region then you're going to bring your Your um, you're an extremist That's the problem when we when we put stigmas on top of the migrants I think this is this is a real problem, but the contribution in terms of culture food singing Art, uh, I think there's a lot of things that that humanity needs to learn from each other without losing your roots You know, you don't have to lose your roots To to migrate but it's a reality that that immigrants are coming from cultures that are more distant and different and and you know Societies can only take so much change in a generation mr. It's it's a long-term issue, but I can't give you for my own experience My mom is catholic My father is muslim and I'm married to a hindu So it works in my case Do you have one of those co-exists? Seekers in the back of your car. I know so it does and we do celebrate I mean, I'm fortunate that I can't celebrate more celebration than anybody I get presents here, but it is a culture long-term issue. That's an excellent question And in some countries has that been as an integral part of that? One thing in the u.s. Which I you know, we talk about the u.s. Thing one thing in the u.s. Now I am there what I like is the tanks given vacation It's the only vacation Regardless of your religion where you come from everybody celebrates And normally what happens is that in the country in Greece? Or in uh in austria you celebrate only one religion and the you know And that's it and if you come with a other celebration people look you in a different way So I think there can be done some institutions germany is much more relaxed here. They do celebrate Mrs. Merkel goes to a mosque celebrate with the muslim Communities there. They have about eight nine million muslims in germany and that's new also And it's nothing wrong there to just saying that I am celebrating man with my fellow germans Instead of I am celebrating with my fellow muslims It's a big difference And that's you know because uh the head of the state is head of the state is not head of the religion And that's something that we are Really ignoring most of the time religion is an issue. We know that you know one other thing political turkey's application for european union It is definitely some economical thing has been about 35 years. Do you think that turkey if turkey would be a Christian country would be easy to join the european union community? Probably yes, but it has been always delayed and delayed for other reason. Maybe also Maybe from political reasons also whatever that is, but that was one of the most main drivers the cultural differences So the one thing is also clear We did a study and I know that The multicultural the migrants have a higher multicultural competency And they be bring as you your point multicultural environment The other thing is also I want to mention because you said chili My sister-in-law is a refugee from pinotchet her family get tortured to austria And she is now a doctor a famous doctor in austria and she was a refugee now She's a migrant there and brought that also a part of it. So I think the uh, it's a huge issue By the way, last sentence I'm just I'm shutting the head up I do we need my family have the cultural fights every time Although I feel me extremely cultural competency But you know because of the different religions because of the different environment you have that all the time So which is a healthy one and cultural competency is such an interesting term I'm gonna have another question from our audience if you can just raise your hand in the back Okay Yeah, my name is maron peters from swiss national public radio are the question for mr. Erzeg Despite a pledge given by the g8 countries in 2009 to reduce the average global transfer fees To five percent They are still very high up to 22 25 Dependent on the countries. What's your explanation for that? Sure. Um, if you look at I very simple um, you know, we are a private company public traded company And our goal is making money And we won't be at the last mile of the Customers, we won't have five five hundred and fifty thousand locations We will we wouldn't have one of the best anti-money laundering system of the world We wouldn't invest 250 million dollar every year on our on the anti-money laundering systems We wouldn't have five five billion accounts worldwide if we wouldn't make money and The there are not other companies who can really serve these customers Because we are serving that customers in the right way If I would go only On the high profitable location only on that one. I wouldn't have five hundred thousand locations I wouldn't be in the rural areas or Bangladesh. I wouldn't be uganda or sudan. I wouldn't serve the customers That's simple And finally a lightning round and I know this is not easy. Sorry to put you on the on the spot, but in one word Um, how would you describe immigration and I'll start uh from the middle with with baton if you just had one word I know you use images not words, but in this case if you can just describe immigration In one word. Well, what word would you use? I'm an optimist, so I would say bridge building Curie I'm I share the same perspective for me. It's really compassion and it really with working together We can grow together so compassion compassion working together When people move good things happen I like that alicia solidarity A use of verb enriches enriches countries and cultures Perfect. Well, thank you so much to our amazing panel for sharing your experiences and your opinions with us today and to our audience Thanks again for being with us this morning and A round of applause for everyone. Thank you so much