Immigration has helped strengthen the U.S. economy

What happened?

The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.2% last quarter, its sixth consecutive quarter of growth. “If you put your head up and look around the world, it’s pretty good,” Marketplace said. And a “big reason” why the U.S. has outperformed expectations and its economic peers is a “rebound in immigration,” the New York Times said.

Who says what?

America's “absolutely astronomical” immigration has contributed “significantly” to its world-class post-pandemic recovery, Pia Orrenius, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, told The Washington Post. “You can’t grow like that with local workers. “That's not possible.” At the same time, “the strength of the labor market is the biggest draw for migrants,” said Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes, an economist at the University of California Merced. “More than any immigration policy.”

What next?

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that net immigration gains will add $7 trillion to the economy over the next decade. Immigration “remains a deeply polarizing issue in American politics,” said the Washington Post, but “whoever wins [2024] The election will take the helm of an economy that is hugely supportive of immigrants – and will likely continue to drive it for years to come.”

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