Spoiler alert: quite possibly.

Well, in my opinion, they are people. I’d still say that even if the migrant crime wave Trump and his allies harp on were real, and not a figment of their imagination (violent crime has in fact been plummeting in many cities). And I’d say it even if there weren’t growing evidence that immigration is helping the U.S. economy — indeed, that it may be a major reason for our surprising economic success.

But as it happens, there is a lot of evidence to that effect.

  • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
    5·
    11 months ago

    I’ve always understood that immigrants build the economy and generally commit fewer crimes. They take our crappy jobs and start small companies, so they drive down labor costs (they’re willing to work for less) and create new jobs.

    So yes, immigration is great for the economy and we need more of it. I’m in favor of moving toward open borders (as in, no quotas, not no restrictions), but only after a lengthy period of increasing quotas so we don’t shock the market too much. If I could make one immigration change, I’d double immigration limits and simplify the paperwork to immigrate legally, and allow a one-time immunity to illegal immigrants to get legal papers (and they’d get priority over new immigrants for the first year or so). And renewing a visa should be simple: if you have regular income or proof of means to pay for yourself and have no criminal history, you get a renewal.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    21·
    11 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Some background here: When Covid struck, there were widespread concerns that it might lead to long-term economic “scarring.” Millions of workers were laid off; how many of them would either depart the labor force permanently or lose valuable skills?

    Also, our policymakers didn’t make the mistakes that followed the 2008 financial crisis, when an underpowered fiscal stimulus was followed by a premature turn to austerity that delayed a full recovery for many years.

    The budget office recently upgraded its medium-term economic projections, largely because it believes that increased immigration will add to the work force.

    Overall, then, immigration appears to have been a big plus for U.S. economic growth, among other things expanding our productive capacity in a way that reduced the inflationary impact of Biden’s spending programs.

    It’s also important to realize that immigration, if it continues (and if a future Trump administration doesn’t round up millions of people for deportation), will help pay for Social Security and Medicare.

    All of the rise in unemployment is among foreign-born workers — and this, they suggest, means that we aren’t seeing the kind of weakening in demand for labor that presages recessions.

    The original article contains 1,063 words, the summary contains 191 words. Saved 82%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!