Immigrants Make America More Affordable

Immigration is not primarily a nice thing we do for immigrants; it’s a smart thing we do for ourselves. Immigrants add value to America. Immigrants build houses, provide healthcare, and start new businesses. Meatpacking, agriculture, restaurants, and hotels all rely on them substantially- without immigrants, everything we buy in those sectors would be scarcer and more expensive.

But when it comes to immigration, Republicans abandon this basic economic logic in favor of culture war theatrics. Every deportation raid, every visa restriction, every bureaucratic barrier they erect makes your life more expensive. Immigrants make American life more affordable.

Immigrants Build Housing

The Trump administration talks a lot about criminals and drugs but the truth is they want to deport even the immigrants who are just trying to make a living here. The Wall Street Journal reports that Stephen Miller directed ICE to target Home Depot, where day laborers gather for hire to work on construction projects. These tactics, along with Republicans’ deportation approach, sabotage the homebuilding industry and make housing less affordable.

Migrant workers account for approximately 40% of all construction workers and an even higher percentage in certain occupations.

Image Credit: National Association of Home Builders.

And it’s not just documented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants also do a lot of our homebuilding.

Image Credit: Center for American Progress.

What this shows is that immigrants are building America, as they always have.

Not only that, but researchers have found that deporting undocumented immigrants leads to a substantial reduction in home building. Contrary to popular myth about immigrants taking jobs, those researchers found that these immigrants were complements to rather than substitutes for native-born construction workers. So, deportation of these workers can halt an entire project, reducing employment for native-born workers as well. This is in line with other research showing that deportations kill more jobs for native-born workers than they create. Immigration enforcement that disrupts the construction workforce ultimately means higher home prices.

Immigrants Provide Healthcare and Childcare

America faces a massive healthcare worker shortage, but Republicans would rather double down on nativism than recognize that immigration is an important component to solving it. Foreign-trained doctors could immediately fill critical gaps, but state licensing laws make it nearly impossible for qualified physicians to practice here. This is internationally unusual: Canada, Australia, and the European Union welcome experienced doctors who can provide needed services.

Fortunately, some states are getting smart. Tennessee, Wisconsin, Florida, Virginia, Arizona, Idaho, and Iowa have reformed their laws to allow qualified foreign doctors to practice after passing standardized tests. Encouragingly, this policy approach is spreading rapidly!

Image Credit: The Match Guy.

This is part of the broader dynamic where Americans strongly favor high-skilled immigration. When asked about high-skilled immigrants increasing doctors and nurses in their community, 74% of Americans see it as positive versus only 6% who view it negatively.

The elder care workforce shortage is particularly severe. As Baby Boomers age, we desperately need home health aides, nursing assistants, and caregivers, and immigrants are some of the only people willing to fill these jobs. In fact, immigrants comprise more than a quarter of the long-term healthcare services workforce. Republicans’ anti-immigration politics would gut this workforce precisely when we need it most, making long-term care scarcer and more expensive.

Immigrants also provide childcare. One in five childcare workers is an immigrant. Without them, there would be even fewer daycare slots and so childcare would be even harder to find and more expensive than it already is. There are also about 20,000 au pairs working in the United States. Each child cared for by an au pair reduces demand on daycare centers, keeping costs down for all parents. Unfortunately, the Trump administration has suspended visa interviews for au pairs, all but shutting down this vital pipeline.

More Businesses Means More Options for Consumers

Republicans love talking about American innovation, but their immigration policies are kneecapping it. Immigrants are 80% more likely to start new companies compared to native-born Americans. 46% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.

These aren't just feel-good statistics; immigrant entrepreneurship directly lowers costs for everyone. In tech, immigrants have revolutionized how we communicate, shop, and work. Uber and Lyft were founded by immigrants, and they’ve made transportation cheaper and more convenient. Likewise, immigrant-founded companies have driven down costs in everything from online retail to food delivery. Meanwhile, foreign-born engineers and programmers help American tech companies stay competitive globally, keeping prices low (or zero) through innovation and efficiency gains.

But Republicans want to slash H-1B visas, which allow businesses to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations and thus make it harder for international students to stay after graduation. This brain drain doesn't just hurt immigrants, it hurts Americans who benefit from the competition, innovation, and cost savings these entrepreneurs and engineers create. Every startup Republicans prevent is another missed opportunity to make your life more affordable and convenient.

It's just startups and tech though. Immigrants working on H-2B visas (which are meant for temporary work) are vital to keeping seasonal businesses open. You can see this very clearly where I live in Vermont. Many businesses here need workers but only need them a few months a year and meanwhile we have a worker shortage and one of the oldest populations in the country. Whether it’s operating a ski lift, mowing at a golf course, working on a dairy farm or any of the jobs at our other seasonal businesses, these workers are essential and deserve as much gratitude as anyone else doing those jobs. Our seasonal businesses could not operate without them. Those businesses closing would be harmful for our local economies and for tourists as well.

Agriculture, Meatpacking, and Restaurants- Immigrants Put Dinner on the Table

Immigrants are also vital in getting food to Americans dinner tables. 57% of crop production workers are immigrants and more than 30% are undocumented. This goes even higher in some of our most important agriculture-producing states.

Image Credit: New American Economy.

If Republicans deport these workers, and ICE is clearly targeting them in California, that’s going to drive grocery prices higher. In the top five meatpacking states (Nebraska, Iowa, Texas, Kansas, and Illinois), 56% of the meatpacking workforce is foreign-born and, of that 56%, 67% of them are noncitizens. We have more affordable steaks and burgers because of the hard work these immigrants do.

The same goes for grocery stores and restaurants. America’s grocery stores employ more than half a million immigrant workers. Immigrants are such a substantial part of the restaurant workforce (21% overall), particularly back-of-house, that there’s an old joke that all restaurants in America are Mexican restaurants, they just differ in the food they serve. So whether it’s the fruit in your fridge, the steak on your grill, or the dinner in front of you at a restaurant, immigrants were essential in making that happen.

It is also worth acknowledging that many of these jobs -especially in homebuilding, meatpacking, and agriculture- are difficult and sometimes dangerous. This isn’t to say “oh these jobs are bad, give them to the immigrants” or that we should be trying to create some sort of underclass of servants and two-tiered dignity. That is not what I am saying at all. What I am saying is that hard work is an important part of the cultural life blood of America and these people are doing hard work that benefits all of us. We should be glad they are here and recognize that what they are doing is deeply American.

Thank You Immigrants!

When it comes to immigration, Republicans keep putting their culture war ahead of your budget. Every deportation raid raises your grocery bills. Every extra visa restriction makes it harder to access healthcare and childcare. Every extra Republican bureaucratic barrier to immigration costs you money.

Immigration isn't charity; it's a smart economic strategy, because while Republicans are busy trying to score culture war points, immigrants are busy building houses, providing healthcare, working in daycares, starting companies, keeping seasonal businesses open, picking vegetables, packing meat, and cooking meals. We should acknowledge that and say thank you!

-GW