The surge in immigration is a $7 trillion gift to the economy

Per the WaPO:


As the economy has strengthened and consumers have begun to take note, Republicans have shifted their focus to criticizing President Biden on a different policy issue: immigration. It seems nearly everyone, including Democrats, agrees that immigration is a serious problem.

But what if this premise is incorrect? Voters and political strategists have viewed our country's ability to attract immigrants from around the world as a curse, when it could actually be a blessing if we could overcome our own obstacles.

Consider these figures: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office recently released updated 10-year economic and budget projections. These numbers look much better than they did a year ago, and immigration plays a significant role.

The CBO has now incorporated an unexpected surge in immigration that began in 2022 into its forecasts, which it expects to continue for several years. These immigrants are more likely to be employed than native-born individuals, largely due to their younger age. This influx of working-age immigrants will more than offset the anticipated retirement of the aging native-born population.

This will result in improved economic growth. CBO Director Phill Swagel stated in a note accompanying the projections: Due to these immigration-driven revisions to the labor force size, "we estimate that, from 2023 to 2034, GDP will be approximately $7 trillion higher and revenues will be approximately $1 trillion higher than they would have been otherwise."

As I reported in 2021, "missing" immigrant workers — initially due to pandemic-related border closures and later due to immigration agencies' backlogs — contributed to labor shortages and supply chain disruptions. However, work permit approvals and other bureaucratic processes have since accelerated. Federal Reserve officials noted that this normalization of immigration figures boosted job growth and helped resolve supply chain issues.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell recently stated on CBS News's "60 Minutes" that "the U.S. economy has benefited from immigration. And, frankly, just in the last year, a big part of the story of the labor market returning to a better balance is immigration returning to levels that were more typical of the pre-pandemic period."

An increase in the number of people ready and willing to work is not the only economic advantage. Immigrants are also linked to other positive growth effects, such as higher rates of entrepreneurship and disproportionate contributions to science, research, and innovation

The U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico in December 2023, according to government statistics. That was the highest monthly total on record, easily eclipsing the previous peak of about 224,000 encounters in May 2022.

The monthly number of encounters has soared since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic temporarily forced the U.S.-Mexico border to close and slowed migration across much of the world. In April 2020, the Border Patrol recorded around 16,000 encounters – among the lowest monthly totals in decades.