Benefits of Immigration Outweigh the Costs

[Loulit01]

• Overall, we rate the Cato Institute Right-Center Biased. While Cato’s economic and environmental positions are strongly right, they also hold liberal positions on immigration and social liberty issues. On the whole, this places them Right-Center as we weigh economic theory more heavily in the overall score. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information and recognizing the consensus of science.

Unlocking America’s Potential: How Immigration Fuels Economic Growth and Our Competitive Advantage​

The most critical challenge facing the United States today is its declining population growth rate. The U.S. population is growing slower than at any point in its history. Moreover, in 2022, international migration accounted for 80 percent of the meager 0.4 percent population growth. Without immigration, the U.S. population will start to decline by the 2030s. Already in 2022, about half of all the counties in the United States saw declining populations.


The costs of this decline are huge. The ratio of workers to retirees has plummeted since the 1960s, and the Social Security Trustees now estimate that Social Security will be short nearly 35 million workers to fund the system in the 2030s. It will have to cut benefits by at least 23 percent in 2034, if not earlier. The situation will not improve after that with benefit cuts reaching 30 percent and the shortfall in workers hitting 80 million by 2080.

U.S. law thwarts legal immigration.

Immigrants are more likely to work than U.S.-born workers overall and at every education level—a difference that grows significantly among the least skilled—and nearly 97 percent of immigrants who looked for jobs in 2022 found them. Immigrant adults without high school degrees are about 20 percentage points more likely to work than comparable U.S.-born adults. The issue is not that immigrants lack the desire to help America. Rather, the issue is that America’s immigration system prevents too many potential immigrants from being able to do so. To briefly review the main permanent immigration options available for immigrants abroad:

https://www.cato.org/testimony/unlocking-americas-potential-how-immigration-fuels-economic-growth-our-competitive

I know I'm wasting my because the hate, racism, and misinformation run too deep. But this vendetta against immigrants harms the economy and the nation.

 

[dmpi]

Legal or illegal immigrants? There IS a difference.

 

[Hamish Howl]

Legal or illegal immigrants? There IS a difference.

In the presented stats?

Link?

 

[dmpi]

In the presented stats?

Link?

I can't figure out of the article referrers to both legal and illegal immigrants or just legal immigrants.

 

[Hamish Howl]

I can't figure out of the article referrers to both legal and illegal immigrants or just legal immigrants.

So the difference in this context was just dreamed up by you?

 

[soap box]

• Overall, we rate the Cato Institute Right-Center Biased. While Cato’s economic and environmental positions are strongly right, they also hold liberal positions on immigration and social liberty issues. On the whole, this places them Right-Center as we weigh economic theory more heavily in the overall score. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing of information and recognizing the consensus of science.

Unlocking America’s Potential: How Immigration Fuels Economic Growth and Our Competitive Advantage​

The most critical challenge facing the United States today is its declining population growth rate. The U.S. population is growing slower than at any point in its history. Moreover, in 2022, international migration accounted for 80 percent of the meager 0.4 percent population growth. Without immigration, the U.S. population will start to decline by the 2030s. Already in 2022, about half of all the counties in the United States saw declining populations.


The costs of this decline are huge. The ratio of workers to retirees has plummeted since the 1960s, and the Social Security Trustees now estimate that Social Security will be short nearly 35 million workers to fund the system in the 2030s. It will have to cut benefits by at least 23 percent in 2034, if not earlier. The situation will not improve after that with benefit cuts reaching 30 percent and the shortfall in workers hitting 80 million by 2080.

U.S. law thwarts legal immigration.

Immigrants are more likely to work than U.S.-born workers overall and at every education level—a difference that grows significantly among the least skilled—and nearly 97 percent of immigrants who looked for jobs in 2022 found them. Immigrant adults without high school degrees are about 20 percentage points more likely to work than comparable U.S.-born adults. The issue is not that immigrants lack the desire to help America. Rather, the issue is that America’s immigration system prevents too many potential immigrants from being able to do so. To briefly review the main permanent immigration options available for immigrants abroad:

https://www.cato.org/testimony/unlocking-americas-potential-how-immigration-fuels-economic-growth-our-competitive

I know I'm wasting my because the hate, racism, and misinformation run too deep. But this vendetta against immigrants harms the economy and the nation.

Very thorough report. Unbiased analysis. The blah blah blah can't answer what's in the report. If somebody has a complaint I bet the answer is already in there.

 

[Loulit01]

If you open the link there are reference numbers in the article you can click on to find the sources of the stats. Footnote reference numbers in superscript.

 

[ttwtt78640]

Legal or illegal immigrants? There IS a difference.

Not in the OP linked article.

Immigrants increase the supply of labor, which increases the supply of goods and services that people need; their consumption, entrepreneurship, and investment also increases the demand for labor, creating better-paying jobs for Americans elsewhere in the economy. Fundamentally, immigrants aren’t competitors.

If “immigrants aren’t competitors” (willing to work for lower compensation) then why do they (allegedly) create “better-paying jobs for Americans elsewhere in the economy”?

 

[Allan]

Legal or illegal immigrants? There IS a difference.

Link please.

 

[Loulit01]

Legal or illegal immigrants? There IS a difference.

If they have a clean record and are employed, give them a path to citizenship. We need them.

 

[WorldWatcher]

Not in the OP linked article.



If “immigrants aren’t competitors” (willing to work for lower compensation) then why do they (allegedly) create “better-paying jobs for Americans elsewhere in the economy”?

I'm assuming the theory is that money isn't static. It's not a binary true/false, yes/no, 1/0 situation.

Take agriculture. Farmers pay individuals to harvest crops, since crops are harvested only during specific seasonss, the workers mirgrate to areas where the next crop needs harvesting. The crops they are instramental in generating are sold to manufactures for processing into finsihed good, wholesalers for distribution, and retailers for sale to the consumer. If the labor hadn't created the product in the first place, then the jobs that American's will do in the supply stream would be greatly reduced. To get the product to the consumer there are logistics, transportation, processing, marketing, packaging, distributions, and all the financial jobs that go along with each step in the process.

Take hospsitality/grounds maintenance. OK, let's not take hospitality/grounds maintenance - I don't need to repeat the basic theme. There jobs support other economic activity which creates downstream jobs.

WW