NEW: Congressional Budget Office Data Shows Migrants Expand the Economy
Will Ohio Embrace the Brain Gain?
At the Ohio Immigrant Alliance, we want to build an Ohio that is economically strong and socially vibrant. Some politicians in Ohio are attacking immigrants for selfish, short-term political gain. But other Ohio residents and communities are taking a different approach. Their attitude is the one that will sustain our state for the long term. And, there’s new Congressional Budget Office (CBO) data to back it up.
The nonpartisan CBO estimates that recently-arrived immigrants will add $1.2 trillion to the U.S. Treasury between 2024–2034.
Since immigrants are not only workers, but purchasers and consumers, their presence sparks additional economic gains. People who move to Ohio from other countries only want to be safe, contribute to their local communities, and raise strong families. And, their contributions increase with the approval of federally-issued work permits.
Of course there are costs to adding people to any population. But despite what you may hear from non-credible sources, migrants coming to the U.S. to seek asylum are not eligible for means-tested public benefits. Some will have children born in the United States, and they will be U.S. citizens. The CBO projects that new immigrants and their U.S. citizen children will add $50 billion in mandatory outlays to federal programs and interest on the federal debt.
The CBO cannot fairly predict whether new migrants will be included in future discretionary programs, and what that would cost. Those decisions will be made in the coming years by Congress and the Executive Branch. But, the CBO does point out that expenditures on current discretionary programs would grow by $0.2 trillion between 2024–2034, if immigrants are included.
You don’t have to be a math genius to understand that $1.2 trillion in contributions, minus $50 billion ($0.05 trillion) in mandatory spending and $0.2 trillion in discretionary spending is a net gain for the United States. (It’s a positive $0.95 trillion).
In Lockland, Ohio, Vincent Wilson is teaching Black Mauritanians who have come to the U.S. to seek asylum how to repair bikes. The bikes are then available for them and others to use. “A lot of these men had to make a choice between going to English class in the morning or to the mosque at noon. The bicycle really allows them to do both, and to have a sense of empowerment and freedom as well,” he told Nick Swartsell at WVXU.
Access to a bike might not seem like a lot to people who have everything they need. But for those who are just starting out, it’s a ticket to mobility and opportunity. Samba Diallo uses his newfound repair skills to help others. “Some people, they don’t know this place is here. So I show them the place, and next time I see them, they’re like, ‘Thank you, thank you, you helped me get a bike.’”
Previously, I predicted that in two years, the immigration surge will become an economic boom in Ohio. Here’s my main argument:
In U.S. asylum law, you cannot apply for a work permit until your asylum case has been pending for at least six months. This means that people who have been going through the process for a year or more are still awaiting their legal work permits. In the meantime, they’re doing odd jobs for $20, $40, maybe $60 a day. That’s not enough to sustain a person in any economy, whether its Ohio or New York, much less a family. It’s a period of great stress, exploitation, and instability.
But once they get access to those work permits, things change. They have the right to full, legal employment at the minimum wage or better. They can get an Ohio ID and rent their own place. Build a credit history. Maybe purchase a new pair of shoes, some clothes. Participate in Ohio’s state and local economies and pay more in taxes. Start to save. Take a breath.
Migration is as old as time, as basic as breathing. Even the politicians who are demonizing immigrants have family members who came to Ohio from somewhere else.
We can either embrace it, and harness the benefits migrants bring, or continue to become a smaller-minded, less vibrant, shrinking state.
