Remember, let’s be polite; let’s be respectful, but most of all, let’s be outspoken.
The beauty of the United States stems from the variety of cultures, the diversity of ideologies, and the tolerance of differing lifestyles. Over the past century, the American workforce was predicated on this notion with profit-driven motives transcending any prejudices for potential employees. As time passed, the American economy was morphed by free marketeering, tweaked by government intervention, and widely debated by our greatest political leaders. However, despite deep recessions or extraordinary job creation, the central and timeless force behind any economic revitalization has been and always will be immigrants.
An economic analysis from the Penn Wharton Budget Model found that immigration has a broad positive impact on the U.S. economy. Various models show that immigrants are a net positive impact on the federal budget and are not large tax burdens for Social Security or Medicare. The analysis also shows immigrants make up the majority of patients, causing greater innovation and faster GDP growth. Finally, the report proves that immigrants taking laborious jobs allows natives to seek more communication-based jobs, leading to an allocation of labor that raises income and productivity for both natives and immigrants.
In recent years, there has been an increasing threat to immigration. One of the cornerstones of Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential run was a striking condemnation of illegal immigration. But, as his administration progressed, a New York Times article points out that Trump issued a temporary halt in issuing green cards to prevent people from immigrating into the country during the last spring.
Additionally, a Migration Policy Institute article found that the number of visas issued during the height of COVID-19 lockdowns dramatically reduced, where the number of immigrant visas issued abroad dropped 45 percent from 2019, and the number of temporary visas issued decreased 54 percent.
President Biden is faced with the arduous task of rebounding the American economy from a crushing recession. In doing so, Biden has to ensure a reversal of the immigration reduction that occurred during the past administration. Some politicians may take advantage of the immigration reduction to advance greater restrictions, which adds more urgency for Biden to rollback COVID-era immigration pauses. While reducing COVID-19 cases, reopening schools, healthcare, and sending stimulus checks should come first, immigration cannot be disregarded in the coming four years.
Five decades ago, my grandfather evaded bullets as a soldier in the Korean war while the other was subjugated to extreme poverty. However, like millions of immigrants, they looked to America as a beacon for a new dawn in their lives, an opportunity to give their children a life they never had. In immigrating, they contributed to a cooperative venture of entrepreneurship, innovation, and prosperity, one that defines the greatness of this nation.
Remember, let’s be polite; let’s be respectful, but most of all, let’s be outspoken.
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