Washington remains deadlocked on a solution to ongoing immigration challenges despite migrants and asylum seekers significantly strengthening the U.S. economy
New York, NY — A recent article in The Washington Post highlighted how migrants and asylum seekers are driving U.S. job market growth and “helping cement the country’s economic rebound from the pandemic as the most robust in the world.”
To put it simply: The American economy benefits from more immigrants in our workforce, with analysts finding that “approximately 50 percent of the labor market’s extraordinary recent growth between January 2023 and January 2024 can be attributed to foreign-born workers” and “the economy is projected to grow by $7 trillion more over the next decade than it would have without new influxes of immigrants.”
Pia Orrenius, Vice President and Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, emphasized the invaluable part migrants played in the U.S. economic growth and that the immigrants have “been instrumental. You can’t grow like this with just the native workforce. It’s not possible.”
The article pushes back on the harmful and baseless claims about an immigration crisis, noting that “Republicans have increasingly campaigned on the idea that immigrants have hurt the economy and taken Americans’ jobs. But the economic record largely shows the opposite.” Unfortunately, legislative solutions on immigration to further support our nation’s economy are in limbo because Washington is deadlocked and backlogs in work permit cases are leaving new migrants eager to work with “few pathways to work authorization.”
According to Murad Awawdeh, Executive Director, New York Immigration Coalition:
“Immigrants bring innovation, key skills, and a strong work ethic to our businesses and communities in New York and nationwide. This is clear to see in the aftermath of the pandemic and as our nation experiences skyrocketing economic growth. Migrants have proved to be resilient and are pouring millions into our state and nation’s revenue, and our leaders in New York and Washington D.C. should focus on real solutions, more legal and community resources, and clear paths to allow migrants and asylum seekers to work.”
Read highlights from the article below:
The Washington Post: The economy is roaring. Immigration is a key reason.
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About 50 percent of the labor market’s extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers between January 2023 and January 2024, according to an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data. And even before that, by the middle of 2022, the foreign-born labor force had grown so fast that it closed the labor force gap created by the pandemic, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
Immigrant workers also recovered much faster than native-born workers from the pandemic’s disruptions, and many saw some of the largest wage gains in industries eager to hire. Economists and labor experts say the surge in employment was ultimately key to solving unprecedented gaps in the economy that threatened the country’s ability to recover from prolonged shutdowns.
[…]
Republicans have increasingly campaigned on the idea that immigrants have hurt the economy and taken Americans’ jobs. But the economic record largely shows the opposite.
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Fresh estimates from the Congressional Budget Office this month said the U.S. labor force will have grown by 5.2 million people by 2033, thanks especially to net immigration. The economy is projected to grow by $7 trillion more over the next decade than it would have without new influxes of immigrants, according to the CBO.
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Federal law requires migrants to wait nearly six months to receive a work permit after filing for asylum. Wait times can stretch for additional months because of a backlog in cases. While they wait, many migrants find off-the-books work as day laborers or street vendors, advocates say. Others get jobs using falsified documents, including many teenagers who came into the country as unaccompanied minors.
Still, many migrants miss the year-long window to apply for asylum — a process that can cost thousands of dollars — leaving them with few pathways to work authorization, advocates say.
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