Bloomberg's immigration solution: Detroit

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a solution to the nation's immigration problem: Let immigrants come to the United States . . . "as long as they agree to live in Detroit."

Bloomberg said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" he believes the federal government has an immigration problem and that Detroit has a people problem: "Half the population has left; you've got to do something about that."

Bloomberg's numbers were a little off. Census figures show Detroit's population fell 25 percent in the past decade, from 951,270 in 2000 to 713,777 last year. In 1950, the city's population peaked at 1.8 million -- at the time, fifth-highest in the nation.

Reeling from a sharp decline in the auto industry as carmakers scaled back and at least two sought bankruptcy protection from the courts, Detroit and Flint, Mich., have been among the hardest-hit in the recent recession. Nearly 860,000 jobs have evaporated in Michigan since 2000.

"If I were the federal government, assuming we could wave a magic wand and pull everybody together, you pass a law letting immigrants come in as long as they agree to go to Detroit and live there for five to 10 years, start businesses, take jobs or whatever," Bloomberg said.

"You would populate Detroit overnight because half the world wants to come here," Bloomberg said of the continued appeal of living within the United States. -- Politico