The fact that rising immigration boosts the U.S. economy refutes a common myth that immigrants are a drain on the economy.
According to the Center for Public Integrity, immigrants will “add $7 trillion to the U.S. economy within the next decade” as well as an extra $1 trillion in federal tax revenue.
Much of this information is available from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and flies in the face of negative reporting about immigrants, including in a letter to the editor, (The Chronicle, April 27, 2024).
These economic benefits from immigrants are often not reported by politicians, nor do they tell the truth when they lead us to believe that immigration is responsible for increased crime.
Recent research from Stanford shows that increased crime rates due to immigrants has not been occurring in America for the last 140 years.
Anti-immigration politicians, such as Donald Trump, repeatedly try to link immigrants to increased crime but research shows that this is simply untrue.
In the Stanford research (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), we find that our own citizens lead in crime statistics. In other words, our screening process at the border is working in that there is no tie between immigration and crime.
Politicians and others have also misled us in accusing immigrants of bringing fentanyl into the country from Mexico.
Instead, it is for the most part brought in by U.S. citizens.
Another common complaint is that “immigrants will take our jobs.” Some workers are led to believe this myth, causing them to posture against immigration. But according to a congressional website, immigrants do not compete for the same jobs as U.S. citizen workers. And immigrants contribute to the expansion of the economy such that increased numbers of jobs become available. Unfortunately, “they are taking our jobs” is a popular myth.
It is important for us to understand the benefits that immigrants bring to our country, for us to not accept plans put forth by Trump and others, that include: horrific treatment at the border, the horrors of containment camps for rounded-up immigrants, and the terror that would be caused for immigrants with mass deportation.
For the sake of justice, for the sake of morality, such as the ethic we are taught in the Good Samaritan story, we must put these myths about immigrants to rest and welcome them with compassion and hospitality.
Linda Warren
Winlock
