Migrants, the “backbone” of the United States economy

Would it still be USA the first world economic power with less migrants? “No”why are “spinal column”the engine that moves the machine and on which many essential sectors depend, experts say.

The Congressional Budget Office, an independent official agency, is clear: the rebound in migration will boost the United States economy by about $7 trillion over the next decade by providing the workforce and increasing demand.

This forecast has not prevented migration from being used as a weapon during the campaign for the November elections, which will be contested by Democratic President Joe Biden, candidate for re-election, and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.

The latter threatens mass deportation if he returns to the White House because he considers that migrants “they poison the blood of the nation”.

Can the United States do without them despite the aging population?

The migrants “they are the soul” and “spinal column” of the country, because many industries depend on them such as food, services, construction, agriculture, health, “critical for the functioning of any society”, Justin Gest, political scientist and professor at George Mason University, told AFP.

Deprive these sectors of their labor “It would have a critical effect on the entire country,” where around 11 million migrants in an irregular situation live, he adds.

If they stopped working “would be absolutely cataclysmic in some industries” and would have a “domino effect that would affect the entire economy,” agrees Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank.

Still, polls show that Americans are increasingly concerned about migration.

Unfilled positions

In particular, supporters of the Republican Party, who blame the influx of migrants on Biden’s policy: more than 7 million intercepted after illegally crossing the border with Mexico during his term, according to official data.

And the Democrat has toughened his migration policy “orderly”imposing conditions for entry – such as making an appointment through a mobile phone application, completing procedures in the countries they pass through or taking advantage of humanitarian permits – and accelerating the expulsions of those who fail to comply with them.

Some conservative states have gone much further and are promoting anti-immigrant laws and measures against those who are in the country irregularly.

“The United States has something that the rest of the countries in America do not have: a surplus of jobs.”“, so “this official discourse that people who are without permission are expelled is more than anything electoral,” Oscar Chacón, director of Alianza Américas, a coalition of 58 associations defending migrants in the country, told AFP. .

Specifically, there are more than eight million unfilled jobs, according to the Department of Labor.

“The United States benefits from the abundant labor that crosses the border, it creates an internal political problem and not everyone who crosses the border contributes something positive to the economy” but it offers “a comparative advantage,” recognized the director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Goergieva, during the spring meetings of the IMF in Washington.

What Georgieva calls a domestic political problem has worsened during the election campaign.

“More entrepreneurs”

““President Biden values ​​and understands the economic and cultural contributions of migrants to this country.”Maca Casado, director of Hispanic media for the Democrat’s campaign, told AFP.

Casado reproaches Trump for boycotting a bipartisan bill that allows restricting the flow of migrants at the border and favors accelerated expulsions. The hardline Republicans sentenced him to death because they considered him too lazy.

The AFP contacted Trump’s team, but they have not responded.

Partisan fights aside, experts recognize the multiple contributions of migrants to the economy.

A labor market like that of the United States depends on migrants because “They are among the most flexible, mobile and versatile workforces in the country,” says Gest. And they contribute to controlling inflation, another of the great concerns of voters.

Without foreign workers, “The cost of labor will rise, so wages may rise, leading to inflationary pressures that cause prices to rise for all Americans.explains the political scientist.

Furthermore, they are “more entrepreneurial”, completes Shierholz. Although “Not all migrant businesses are successful; on average, they contribute disproportionately to the economy.”

Almost the 25% of new businesses opened in 2021 in the United States were owned by Latinos, according to the Treasury Department.

So much so that, according to a study by the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), if Latinos living in the United States were a country, they would be the fifth largest economy in the world, behind the United States, China, Japan and Germany.

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