A speech by President Ronald Reagan on January 19, 1989, absolutely “nailed” the importance of immigrants to the United States: “Thanks to each wave of new arrivals to this land of opportunity, we’re a nation forever young, forever bursting with energy and new ideas, and always on the cutting edge, always leading the world to the next frontier. This quality is vital to our future as a nation. If we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.” 

Earlier, Reagan had signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 that legalized most of the roughly 3 million undocumented immigrants who had arrived prior to 1982.

Whatever you might think of him, Reagan was a bona fide conservative Republican, lightyears apart from the anti-immigration, populist RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) like former president Donald Trump and many of his supporters. And what he said 35 years ago is just as valid today as it was then – even more so. 

Yes, immigration and immigrants must be carefully controlled and managed.  More on that later.  But first, please bear with me for some helpful facts and statistics.

Estimates vary, but there may be close to 50 million foreign-born residents in the country today, which would be approximately 15% of the population.  In fact, the United States was home to more international migrants than any other country, according to the UN Population Division’s mid-2020 data, exceeding the combined totals of the next four countries – Germany, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and the United Kingdom. 

U.N. World Population Prospects 2022 estimates that low birthrates and other factors will cause working-age populations (ages 15 to 65) of Europe, Brazil, China, Chile, Japan and Russia, among others, to shrink between now and 2050.  According to a February New York Times article, this shrinkage “could have extremely negative consequences for those societies.”  During this same period though, the number of working age individuals in the U.S. is projected to increase by 8%, mainly due to immigration.

Some countries have attempted to boost birthrates with tax breaks and cash bonuses, but the results have been marginal at best. The fact is, once birthrates fall it is extremely hard to get them back up again.  Fortunately, the United States had a modest increase in births between the 1970s and 2016, according to Pew Research, but it was due entirely to births by immigrant mothers.  I suspect that trend is continuing.

The NYT article also highlighted another expected result of decreasing population: As young and working-age people leave an area to find better job opportunities, its population ages and its economy becomes depressed.  Consequently, transportation services decline, schools close because there are fewer children and hospitals shut down.  Psychologically, those who remain feel neglected and undervalued by the political elite, which makes them particularly receptive to far-right politics.  Does that “spot on” explain what is happening in rural America, or what?

Well, evidence of this rural red phenomenon is clear. Trump won 2,569 U.S. counties in the 2020 election and President Biden won just 515, according to the Brookings Institution.  But this is the clincher, counties that voted Democratic comprise around 71% of America’s economic activity, vs. 29% that voted Republican.  Right-wing politicians pray on grievances of voters in economically depressed areas.  The facts, however, show that their policies of restricting immigrants and immigration, will only exacerbate the problems.

I don’t believe there is any reasonable doubt that immigrants are a boon to the U.S. economy and that is confirmed by officials who have their fingers on its pulse. 

Director Phillip Swagel wrote that the Congressional Budget Office’s February economic and budget forecasts have factored in a previously unexpected surge in immigration that began in 2022, which the agency assumes will persist for several years.  As a result, he advised, “we estimate that, from 2023 to 2034, GDP will be greater by about $7 trillion and revenues will be greater by about $1 trillion than they would have been otherwise.”  Yes!  More immigrants, more federal revenues.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell also cited immigration as being a long-term benefit to the U.S. economy during a recent appearance on CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

The Census Bureau is projecting a rapidly aging U.S. population, where people over 64 will outnumber children under 18 by 2029, according to a November 2023 Axios article. Its projections also show that with low immigration the population will soon begin decreasing, going from around 335 million today to an estimated 319 million in 2080; while high immigration will increase it to 435 million. How can the U.S. maintain strong economic growth and support safety net programs without population growth?

It’s imperative, however, that the flow of asylum seekers and other undocumented immigrants coming across the southern border and elsewhere is controlled.  Numerous Republicans spuriously claim that Biden can solve the border problems with executive orders.  Oh, but he can’t unilaterally increase appropriations to hire more border patrol agents or immigration court judges nor otherwise increase funding for immigration administration.  That requires action by Congress, which has considered five major immigration reform bills since 2006 and failed to pass even one.

Trump’s opposition killed a tough, bipartisan border bill just last month.  He wants immigration to be a continuing hot campaign issue, while promising to deport millions of undocumented immigrants if he is elected.  How wrongheaded is that?