USA Today Article Comments: Can the US handle more immigration? History and the Census suggest the answer is yes.

Omar Ornelas/El Paso Times

Here’s a rare immigration news article that quotes experts instead of politicians.  David Bier says, “We need immigration to make up for the fact that we’re having fewer children and people are living longer and retiring…It puts upward pressure on the cost of living if more people are consuming and fewer are producing. That puts a drag on economic growth.”  

According to United Nations estimates, the U.S. would need to admit 4 million immigrants per year just to sustain its historical one percent rate of population growth.  With unemployment persistently below 4% and nearly 9 million job openings, the U.S. must find a way to welcome more migrants and provide them with work authorization to power the economy.

Unfortunately, because our system is so outdated that for the vast majority of those wishing to enter, there simply is no lawful pathway.  There is no line to join.  Or the line stretches for decades.  People cross the border illegally because they have no other option.  The more we restrict lawful means to immigrate, the more people will enter in other ways.  Focusing on the border without creating alternative pathways will not eliminate illegal crossings.  It will just result in more injuries and death (and more money flowing to smugglers) as people take greater risks to enter.  We need immigration reform to create a navigable system for legal immigration.  Our future depends on it.

Read full article here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/01/11/foreign-born-population-us-immigration-labor-economy/72042754007/