We should be rolling out the welcome mat for new immigrants, not building a wall to keep them out. Why? Because, in addition to the moral and humane reasons, they may be our best hope for replenishing the shrinking middle-class consumer engine that keeps our economy strong. In a May 2016 report, the Pew Research Center says “New economic research suggests that a struggling middle class could be holding back the potential for future economic growth. The national trend is clear – the middle class is losing ground as a share of the population, and its share of the aggregate U.S. household income is also declining.” Since consumer spending makes up 70 percent of the gross domestic product in the U.S., the amount of household income has a lot to say about whether the economy expands or contracts.
Income inequality is not the only reason the middle class is narrowing. It’s also because the U.S. fertility rate is dropping. Women would have to bear an average of 2.1 children for a generation to replace itself. In 2017, however, the fertility rate in the U.S. was below 1.8, the lowest in over 40 years. An article in Forbes.com, citing Census Bureau statistics, reports that the population growth rate through the first half of 2018 was 0.62 percent; the lowest since 1937. Over time, this slowdown will create a major shortfall of both workers and consumers necessary to sustain a strong economy.
The slowdown would be even worse if not for immigrants who are already here, including many without legal papers. For the past several years, nearly one-fourth of all births in the U.S. have come from immigrant families. Close to five million U.S.-born children under the age of 18 live with their unauthorized parents. USA Today says another 3.6 million children were brought to the U.S. without immigration papers.
Unauthorized immigrants pay billions of dollars in taxes: sales and excise taxes on goods and services, property taxes (often as a component of rent) and gasoline taxes. Their earnings circulate in local economies, stimulating rental properties and small businesses which pay property taxes and hire employees who pay taxes for personal income, Social Security and Medicare. If immigrants were granted citizenship, they would be able to emerge from the shadow economy and pay untold billions more in federal and state income taxes.
Anti-immigrant critics argue that the high cost of providing public assistance to first-generation immigrants isn’t justified. But the critics fail to see the long term picture. It’s their children and grandchildren who become fluent in English, more educated and qualified for jobs. According to a February 2013 Pew report, “Second-generation Hispanics and Asian Americans place more importance than does the general public on hard work and career success,” resulting in household income and home ownership rates comparable to the general population.
How does the present federal administration treat the people who might be our best hope to sustain a strong economy in the future? It hounds them. It threatens them. It demonizes them. It splits up their families. It makes unfounded allegations that they are less ambitious or law-abiding than other groups; claims that multiple studies have rejected in no uncertain terms.
Such behavior is immoral. But it’s also shortsighted economically. If we lose the immigrants’ vitality, productivity and buying power, America’s middle-class consumer engine will grow weak. Not only should we stop deporting honest, hardworking immigrants and their children; we should be offering them full citizenship and encouraging them to stay.
Note: I’m not suggesting that our borders should be a free-for-all where there is no immigration law or order. There must be reasonable controls. Nor do I believe that our only motive for offering citizenship to undocumented immigrants should be economic. Having compassion for those fleeing from extreme violence and poverty must be a critical consideration, as well.
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