Noah Smith on Immigration

1/Immigration is the big issue in 2018. I've been writing about it for a while.

So here's a thread of articles, facts, and graphs that you can use in the immigration debate.

— Noah Smith (@Noahpinion) January 23, 2018

1/Immigration is the big issue in 2018. I've been writing about it for a while. 

So here's a thread of articles, facts, and graphs that you can use in the immigration debate.

2/First: Why immigration at all? Why do we need to bring newcomers into our country? Economic reasons: 1. They pay for the retirements of the native-born. 2. They are highly entrepreneurial. 3. They help keep America the center of the world economy.

3/Immigrants also help save declining towns, counties, and states. Immigration is the best hope for the Midwest and Northeast.

4/Finally, Americans just LIKE immigrants. The "nation of immigrants" thing isn't just elite propaganda. It's reflected in all the polls. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-12-18/anti-immigration-fervor-is-different-this-time …

5/Now, let's address the arguments AGAINST immigration.

6/The first argument against immigration is economic. "Immigrants take jobs away from the native-born!" "Immigrants lower native-born wages!" Are these true? Probably not.

7/You may have heard that George Borjas of Harvard says immigration hurts native workers. He does. But he's in the distinct minority. And the research methods he uses are often suspect. The vast weight of evidence is against Borjas.

8/The second argument against immigration is legal. "We just want to enforce the law! We like LEGAL immigration, just not ILLEGAL!" Well, guess what: The number of illegal immigrants living in America has actually FALLEN, not risen, over the last decade.

9/Furthermore, Americans favor a path to citizenship over deportation. Enforcing the law is good, but most Americans agree it's not worth turning our society into a police state just to kick out people who live here.

10/The third argument against immigration is fiscal. "Immigrants are a drain on government resources!" As it turns out, all but the least educated immigrants are a net POSITIVE for government budgets. https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-09-22/immigrants-are-a-fiscal-boon-not-a-burden …

11/The fourth argument against immigration is cultural. "Immigrants don't assimilate!" Well, yes they do.

12/Today's immigrants learn English just as fast (or faster than) previous waves. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/01/28/hispanic-immigrants-are-assimilating-just-as-quickly-as-earlier-groups/ … What's more, today's immigrants intermarry at very high rates - a sure sign that they're integrating into America.

13/What's more, immigrants' political attitudes are similar to Americans' attitudes. https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/edb_27.pdf … Immigrants are not importing foreign values that are going to displace traditional American values.

14/The fifth argument against immigration is racist. "Immigrants come from shithole countries, so they'll make America a shithole too!" Guess what: Immigrants from poor countries in Africa and elsewhere do really well in America.

15/There are also some arguments I haven't written about. For example, the idea that immigrants bring crime into the U.S. (False! It's the opposite: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/us/trump-illegal-immigrants-crime.html …)

16/To sum up: There are many good reasons to keep letting immigrants into the U.S., and to let in even more than we currently do. There are few good reasons to tighten restrictions. Happy debating!