The US requested restricting the agenda to demographic changes in the West (America first). After passing the vote, all of the world is now considered the West at the discretion of the chair. Opening speeches highlighted various aspects of the agenda (issues with mass immigration – Germany, US, economic benefits of immigration – Spain, Korea, UK and its limitations -Switzerland. There were mentions of technological solutions – Israel, later Japan, sovereignty – Italy, and offering up more migrants – Mexico. Opening speeches were followed by a moderated caucus on the “economic net value of immigration” initiated by the US. Italy, Spain, Israel, Mexico, UK, Switzerland, Korea and Poland all recognized the benefits of immigration, though they also highlighted the need for regulation (with the exception of Korea). The US claimed that migrants, at least those from Africa and the Middle East bring no benefits (citing a Danish study), and as such not all immigrants are “good”. The US and Italy moved the discussion towards family policy, as there seemed to be a consensus on immigration. This was followed by an unmoderated caucus. Hungary and Japan joined the debate. The US, Italy, Hungary and Mexico claim that Christianity is the key to higher birthrates, debate whether the next pope should be Italian, Mexican or Hungarian. The delegation of Spain disagrees resulting in an altercation with the delegation of Mexico. Israel partially agrees but criticizes the focus on Christianity. Korea and Japan suggest that exporting and using their robots is the best solution. The session closes with a moderated caucus about “the role of NGOs and the media on birth rates”, initiated by Hungary.
