WE NEED MORE IMMIGRANTS, NOT LESS
Mark 12:31 "The second [commandment] is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Romans 13:9-10 “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
Over the past several years the SJRAISE newsletter articles have used the teachings of Jesus to show the need of justice for immigrants. There has been little progress in immigration legislation. Yet, the love for our neighbor would lead us towards fair, humane and comprehensive immigration legislative reform. On Jul 15, 2019, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry spoke to the issue of immigration in a video. In the video he asks, “Who is my neighbor?” He concludes, “When you welcome the stranger, you welcome Jesus.” To welcome the stranger is to follow in the way of Jesus.
For some the gospel is not enough to encourage change. People sometimes listen to their pocket books first. Welcoming the stranger would be good for the US economy. The following is an economic argument to welcome the immigrant:
1. A nation’s economic stability, strength and growth is one of the foundations of its national security.(1)
2. Economic stability, strength and growth is dependent upon having more people working, preferably at good paying jobs and not being exploited by their employers.
3. Due to the falling birth rate, the rising death rate and the retirement of the baby boom generation the US does not have enough workers to maintain economic stability, strength and growth.(2)
4. The US will need more workers to maintain adequate funding of its infrastructure, safety net programs like Social Security and healthcare programs like Medicare.(3)
5. At this time the only way for America to maintain its national security and economic stability is by importing workers; both fundamental low- skilled workers and high-skilled workers.(4)
AMERICA IS AGING
America is an aging country with more people dying than being born. (4). Population change in a country is the result of deaths, births, and immigration into that country. Population growth from July 1, 2020, through July 1, 2021, was 0.12%. This is the lowest population growth since the Census Bureau began collecting such statistics in 1900. The rising death rate was exacerbated by the almost 1 million deaths from Covid since March 2020.
THE US HAS A FALLING BIRTH RATE.
American women are not having enough babies to replenish the number of people dying.(5) Statistically there needs to be 2.1 children born per woman of child-bearing age in order for a population to remain stable with deaths equaling births. Birthrate has been falling since 1958. It has been under 2.1 since 1973. Since 2017, the US the number of children born to each woman has been under 1.8 which is inadequate to replace those who are dying. The falling birth rate has been most notable for white Americans
IMMIGRANTS HELPED THE US MAINTAIN POPULATION GROWTH
Due to the falling birth rate and the aging population, the 2020 US census recorded the second lowest growth in population in US history from 2010 to 2020. If not for immigration the population of the United States would have fallen in the 2020 census.(6).
Even with immigration at reduced levels, for the first time immigration made up the majority of the 0.12% population growth in 2021. Per the US Census Bureau, “Between July 1, 2020, and July 1, 2021, the nation’s growth was due to natural increase (148,043), which is the number of excess births over deaths, and net international migration (244,622).”(6)
MORE IMMIGRANTS WILL HELP GROW THE US ECONOMY
Without economic growth America cannot build the infrastructure needed for clean air and water, transportation systems, health care, education, and efficient energy use. America’s stable economy, long-term economic growth and democratic institutions are some of the most important reasons that so many people from all over the world want to come to America to live and prosper. Per the Congressional Research Service, “Security is achieved not only by military means but by the whole of the American economy.”(1)
Having more workers paying taxes will help the US to continue future funding Social Security and Medicare. Besides having more workers there are other changes that can improve the outlook of our social safety nets.
Raising the income level cap for Social Security and Medicare taxes, benefit cuts, and upping the age at which people can start collecting benefits are all potential changes to improve the outlook of those programs.
When the unemployment level is low and there are not enough workers to fill the needed jobs and pay taxes, the economy can falter putting the nation’s security at risk. Following Jesus to love your neighbor, the US could institute fair humane and comprehensive immigration reform that would allow more people to migrate to the US legally, and also have those undocumented immigrants, that are already living here, legally incorporated into the workforce.
December 23, 2021 article from Brookings institute on flat population growth in US
Falling birthrate for almost all women in the US since .
8. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/05/us/immigration-census- population.html. Amid Slowdown, Immigration Is Driving U.S. Population Growth A declining birthrate and pandemic deaths helped drive U.S. population growth to historic lows. But immigration appears to be back on the rise.
10. https://mronline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/What-would- fair-humane-immigration-reform-look-like.pdf. 7 aspects of a fair and humane immigration program.
Dr. Jim Mendez is a layperson from St James Cathedral in Fresno and is a member of the EDSJ Immigration Commission (SJRAISE).