Yes, I'm very aware that Australia (and the whole of the world for that matter) also has rising far-right and anti-immigration sentiment. I'm not sure why so many people in this thread think I was born yesterday and have done 0 research on the matter of where I hope to spend the rest of my life. Ultimately anywhere is better than the US though, and I can't allow myself to be so caught up in self-defeatist thoughts like "everywhere has rising far-right politics" or "nowhere is safe" or "immigration is too hard" that I stay paralyzed in the line of danger.

My decision to choose Australia over Canada was ultimately a matter of degree. I felt a country further from the US would be more safe geopolitcally, Australia's higher foreign-born population would lead to a less xenophobic culture, and compulsory voting laws would keep far-right politicians from gaining or maintaining a foothold, thank you for your concern

I'm well aware of the Australian housing crisis, and of it's far-right politicians like Dutton. I was also aware that there were other reasons for Trudeau being unpopular besides immigration (hence why it wasn't the sole statistic I provided, I used Trudeau's approval ratings as somewhat of a general metric for Canada turning against left-leaning politicians, and I used the other two statistics to try to show Canada's anti-immigrant attitudes. Without spending exorbitant amounts of time studying Canadian politics this was the quickest summary statistics I choose to look at).

I criticized Canada for having poor attitudes towards immigration, and I would criticize Australia for the same, these two opinions aren't mutually exclusive. Ultimately my personal decision to attempt to immigrate to Australia rather than Canada came down to choosing 'the lesser of two evils' (which as an American I am very practiced in doing. ha. ha.)

Specifically, I thought Australia's further distance from the US would make it safer geopolitically, it's higher foreign-born population would make it so that way 'anti-immigration' sentiment didn't become 'anti-immigrant' sentiment, and it's compulsory voting laws would make it harder for far-right politicians to gain and/or maintain a foothold. I truly did not intend for my personal decision to go to Australia over Canada to be some kind of dig at Canada, though I did get defensive at the dismissive claim that the limited research I have done was just "propaganda getting to me." Apologies if I was a bit aggressive in my critique of Canadian attitudes towards immigration

It's a matter of degree. Australia has a housing crisis and many want to lower immigration, but their starting level of immigration was already incredibly high, for instance 30% of the population is foreign born, as compared to Canada's 21%. A marginal difference, but it still contributes to a culture more accepting of immigrants.

You know, I think somehow the rhetoric has gotten mixed up here though. I have said 'As a victim currently being forced to flee my fascist home country, I think Canada could stand to be more accepting of immigrants' and you have heard 'Canada sucks so hard I won't go there even though I'm American (and thus an uninformed idiot).'

I think it's part of an overarching narrative I've seen, of people from non-US countries hating on Americans for not voting/volunteering/working hard enough to stop Trump from being elected, that 'America = Bad' and '[Insert My Country Here] = Good, and we would never be like Bad America.' It goes without saying that I voted Harris & phone banked often. I don't think Canada is a bad country, I think it's amazing, even! But I also find the sheer amount of nationalistic rhetoric I've seen both around and directly here in this thread deeply worrying.

Like, you do realize that you're essentially responding to a trans person, a potential victim of genocide, with 'Haha, you're such an idiot! Don't you realize nowhere is safe for you? Don't you realize everywhere has rising far-right politics and hatred of immigrants? Have fun immigrating to a country that hates you to escape a dictatorship you tried to stop but ultimately had no control over!'

I'm very aware that Australia also has an upswing in anti-immigrant rhetoric. I find it deeply unempathetic of you to try and use it as some sort of 'gotcha' to prove that your country is amazing (or that other countries are just as bad). I'm currently having to flee the country I've called home my entire life due to political persecution. I think it would be helpful if people could remember that I'm an actual person and not just another 'stupid American'

I don't think I have all the answers, buddy, I'm just defending myself from the accusation that because I happen to not have a favorable view of your country in regards to immigration (and mysteriously, it gets less and less favorable the more actually interact with Canadians) that means I've somehow fallen prey to propaganda

I tried to defend myself by showing the statistics I had seen showing that Canadians aren't currently partial to immigrants, and you are responding by essentially saying 'responding with statistics must mean you think you know everything, you know-it-all.' I am willing to learn and engage with actual evidence, this is just an ad hominem attack

Genuinely, where do you think I should get my impression of Canada from? Perhaps this Lemmy instance, where the prevailing response to me going: 'hey, Canada has a lot of hatred towards immigrants, as a victim of a fascist government forced to flee my home country I decided to search elsewhere' was 'um, ACTUALLY, the place you have chosen to go to ALSO hates PEOPLE LIKE YOU, and you (the victim of a fascist government trying to kill you for being a minority) should've DONE YOUR RESEARCH(??) because Canada ALSO HAS A MASSIVE PROPAGANDA PROBLEM which is why you should COME TO CANADA INSTEAD'

Frankly, I fear all I have learned from this is that Canadians, unlike the stereotype, are deeply unempathetic people who currently seem to be pushing a narrative of "Canada good, America (and Americans) bad." Hence the claims I've seen on Lemmy that 'Americans deserve to suffer under fascism' because 'we didn't work/vote/volunteer hard enough to stop it.'

In this case, America = Bad bc American doctors (smart) are leaving. Canada = Good bc American doctors want to go there. So, under this framing, me criticizing Canadian attitudes against immigration somehow becomes me (stupid American) hating on Canada as a whole. Queue the dogpiling about how I'm an 'uninformed idiot' and I've 'bought the propaganda' despite the fact I've been researching how to immigrate for the past few months

Forgive me if this came out a bit hostile, I'm a bit frustrated right now, you know, from the whole 'fleeing my country that wants to genocide me' thing. As a warning, I'd be wary of dismissing the blatantly nationalistic attitudes of your fellow countrymen as "oh that's just how Canadians on Reddit behave." After all, glossing over just how many fascists my country had was what got us Trump.

Sure, but not to the same degree. I don't know much about Canadian politics but for a time my social media was filled with post after post bashing Trudeau and favoring more far-right politicians just over immigration policy. It was enough to turn me off of your country as a whole, if immigrants are so hated there.

Aughaughaughsjscjf did some ppl just not get the memo, or is this more of that "I don't care if bad things happen so long as I'm not associated with the cause of it" mentality you usually see from non-voters?

For anyone who is undocumented (and people who are documented!), it's important to know your rights regarding ICE:

1. Don’t open the door for ICE. They aren’t allowed into your house or workplace without a warrant signed by a judge.
2. Ask them to leave.
3. Stay silent. Do not talk to them without a lawyer.
4. If you ask you your immigration status, your citizenship status, etc, don’t tell them anything. Don’t even speak to them.
5. Even if you’re a citizen, still don’t tell them anything. ICE destroys communities, and every second of their time you waste is one less second they will spend destroying people’s lives.
6. If you are detained, ask to talk to your lawyer. Note that ICE doesn’t provide lawyers so make sure you get one in preparation.
7. Do not sign anything or give them any documents whatsoever without a lawyer in that room.