The U.S. economy should be in a real pickle. But it isn’t. Why? Immigrants are filling vital roles in the job market.
Here’s some backstory. The Federal Reserve is the central bank of the United States. Its goals are to keep prices stable and encourage employment. A spike in prices of products can cause inflation. The Federal Reserve responds by raising interest rates. Higher interest rates make it more expensive for people to borrow money. That encourages people to save. With less demand in the market, product prices usually drop.
The Federal Reserve has aggressively raised interest rates over the past 16 months. Raised interest rates sometimes lead to a recession. During a recession, people buy less. Businesses sometimes shut down. Some folks lose their jobs.
Surprise, surprise! Instead of a recession, the U.S. economy saw hundreds of thousands of jobs added month after month. Some economists say the reason for such a strong job market is immigration.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2019 that about one million people would immigrate to America in 2023. The actual number turned out to be 3.3 million. Those immigrants came ready to work.
Immigrants often take undesirable, low-paying, yet essential jobs that most U.S.-born Americans won’t. They also can boost the country’s innovation and productivity, as they are more likely to start their own businesses.
More workers filling jobs and spending money helped drive economic growth. Immigrant workers eased the pressure on companies to sharply raise wages. Companies also avoided passing on higher labor costs to their customers in higher prices that feed inflation.
Consider the workforce of the Flood Brothers farm in Maine’s “dairy capital,” Clinton. Foreign-born workers make up half the farm’s staff of nearly 50. They feed cows, tend crops, and help collect the milk—18,000 gallons each day.
“We cannot do it without them,” says Jenni Tilton-Flood, a partner in the operation.
Critics argue that a surge in immigration can force down pay for low-income workers. Unexpected waves of immigrants can overwhelm state and local governments with heavy costs, including assistance with housing. Immigrants don't always enter the United States lawfully. It is important to obey the immigration laws that are in place.
For now, legal immigrants like Mariel Marrero fill many job vacancies. Marrero fled Venezuela in 2016. She had received death threats for being a political opponent of the government. She crossed the U.S. border and applied for asylum.
Marrero’s case is still in process, but she received authorization to work in the United States last July. She found work selling telephones. Then she became a sales clerk at a convenience store. She currently shares a two-bedroom house with three other Venezuelans in Doral, Florida. She makes enough to send $200 a month to her family in Venezuela.
Marrero has her own American dream. “I imagine having my own company, my house, helping my family in a more comfortable way.”
Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. — Deuteronomy 10:19
