If America is the land of opportunity, there is no state that stands firmer to prove it true California.

With its unique combination of a Mediterranean climate and fertile lands, high technology and Hollywood, it’s no surprise that the Sunshine State has become America’s most populous and has served as a magnet for those seeking a better life for decades.

But something strange is happening on the West Coast.

The population is shrinking, not growing, as thousands of middle-income families move to other states.

With infrastructure collapsing at the same rate as California’s economy, and the streets of big cities filled with the sick, homeless, and drug addicts, you might think it’s no wonder the really rich are looking for clean air in states like Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, or Dakota.

But this is not where the main effect is felt. Most likely, young families who want to get busy are disappearing. move to states like Texas and take their skills – and, as it happens, their political views – with them.

For them, California, the state that dominated the twentieth century, is no longer a place of progress.

Why is the American dream dying?

A shrinking economy is part of it. Despite its immense wealth, the Golden State has been in economic decline for the past three decades.

Much of the economy is at a standstill, thanks in part to a short-sighted state government controlled by Democrats.

Housing is an even bigger problem. Thanks, among other things, to the staggering success of Silicon Valley, real estate in California is simply out of reach for middle-class families who are instead looking elsewhere for their future.

Now on the back foot, California has a new problem: unprecedented levels of immigration across the Mexican border.

But this is not an unambiguous replacement of people who should be the engine of economic – and civil – success.

Immigrants without money, without skills. In many cases from corrupted backgrounds.

And what was once a boon for the United States of America — a nation founded on the masses seeking a better future — is a potential disaster for California’s crumbling economy. And for the nation itself.

I have little doubt that America will eventually become a poorer country as migration continues to accelerate at an uncontrollable rate.

I have mixed feelings about immigration. This can be a huge advantage – and has been a huge advantage for my family.

In 1958, when Turkey was going through the chaos of a coup d’état, my uncle came to America. He was a doctor. Around the same time, other skilled Turks arrived, especially engineers, attracted by the US economic miracle

Over time, we became the largest Turkish family in America.

But at present the United States attracts less attention from the professional classes. Not only is the infrastructure crumbling, especially in Democratic-run coastal states, but taxes are high.

For example, a doctor in New York or California must pay tax on an annual salary for eight months.

It is not the skilled and highly mobile people who come to the doorstep of California, but those who are in despair and beggars – people who, of course, want help.

But people who can’t easily contribute to a complex economy and instead will drive down wages, drain public services and erode civic life.

By the way, not only Latin Americans go to the border. People who are much further away are attracted by the prospect of a land barrier rather than a dangerous sea crossing. Add weak border controls and you get the picture.

Figures based on the number of “illegals” apprehended in the border city of El Paso, Texas, suggest that migrants crossing the border are increasingly coming from around the world.

It is not sustainable. And it’s especially volatile in California, where border enforcement is particularly lax.

It is expedient for the ruling Democrats. New, Spanish-speaking citizens, in their opinion, are more likely to vote for them. And immigrants who have already become are more likely to vote for hospitality.

The contrast with Texas is instructive. Like California, Republican Texas shares a large southern border with Mexico.

But Texas has an effective system in place that catches and rounds up illegal immigrants, limits the benefits they can receive, and then sends some to other states so the overall burden can be shared.

California, a Democrat since 1992, is relatively soft, especially in swing states like Mexicali.

The Sunshine State keeps its migrants and provides them with social services, which become an additional burden on the state, which then deteriorates.

After that, the young, educated people that California desperately needs go elsewhere. It’s a closed circle.

California accounts for 15 percent of the U.S. economy. This means that its decline is a problem for every American.

No one wants to completely abolish immigration, let alone crack down on migrants.

But it’s time for some hard, cold facts about where we’re headed.

• Erbil Gunasti is a member of the largest Turkish American family in the United States. He is the first person of Turkish origin to run for mayor in America, now represents the 36th district of Palm Springs and is a delegate in the presidential election. His weekly blog on US domestic politics and foreign policy goals is at erdoganandtrump.com/