Surge in Immigration Will Boost U.S. Economy, Congressional Budget Office Says

The surge in immigration will help bolster the U.S. economy by about $7 trillion over the next decade by swelling the labor force and increasing demand, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday.

The stronger growth will be good for the federal government, lifting revenues by about $1 trillion more than otherwise over the period, according to the non-partisan agency. Wages, however, will rise more slowly, in part reflecting the increase in the number of lower skilled workers, in the CBO’s estimation.

“Increases in the population boost the demand for goods, services, and housing,” the CBO said in its budget and economic outlook for the next 10 years. “They also expand the productive capacity of the economy by increasing the size of the labor force.”

Read More: The Conservative Case for Immigration

The increased migration stems mainly from people entering the U.S. illegally and from those released by Customs and Border Protection officials with humanitarian parole or with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. After a lag, many of those migrants join the labor force.

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The CBO report underscores some of the economic advantages that can be gained from increased immigration — a point that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell made in a CBS News 60 Minutes interview broadcast on Feb. 4.

“The U.S. economy has benefited from immigration” over time, Powell said, while stressing that he wasn’t telling Congress what should be done regarding the issue.

Read More: All American Families Have Stories of Illegal Immigration

The CBO projects that the increase in immigration will lift the growth of inflation-adjusted gross domestic product by an average of 0.2 percentage points a year from 2024 to 2034, leaving it roughly 2% larger in 2034 than otherwise.

In its report, the CBO raised its estimate of the labor force in 2033 by 5.2 million people, mostly because of higher net inflows from outside the country.

The expanded workforce will put downward pressure on average inflation-adjusted wages, according to the agency. That effect is projected to partly reverse after 2027, but wages are still expected to be slightly lower than otherwise in 2034 in the CBO’s estimation.

Wages are depressed in part because many migrants are expected to work in lower-paying jobs, thus lowering the average salary. But an increase in the supply of labor also plays a role, according to the report.

SEE ALSO:

Director’s Statement on the Budget and Economic Outlook for 2024 to 2034

https://www.cbo.gov/publicatio...

DENVER (KDVR) — The influx of migrants coming to the United States continues in cities and states across the nation, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston is continuing to push the issue in the nation’s capital.

Thursday, Johnston was joined by some familiar faces to press the issue in Washington. Denver’s mayor has been calling for more resources for migrants over the past few months, along with other mayors across the nation.

“Denver, like many cities in America, is a vibrant, thriving city full of generous folks who want to see everyone succeed. We are also a city right now that is facing a humanitarian crisis and fiscal crisis unlike anything we’ve seen in the last 25 years,” Johnston said on Capitol Hill Thursday.

The Mile High City is hitting an inflection point — since December 2022 the city has received 37,714 migrants from the Texas-Mexico border. Johnston and most of Colorado’s Democratic congressional delegation stressed to the nation that Denver is reaching its breaking point with funding for the crisis.

“Without some intervention or support, the city of Denver is looking at a $180 million budget in 2024 to meet the needs of folks that are arriving in our cities in cold like this,” the mayor explained. “We are not willing to let folks be homeless on the streets of our city with kids in tents in 10-degree weather. But without some support, that $180 million would look like a 10% cut of our entire budget across the city.”

Johnston called on the federal government for better pathways to citizenship including faster work authorizations, more federal resources and proper guidance for states and cities.

Colorado members of Congress backed the Denver mayor up, calling for Congress to put aside partisan games to get a better federal system in place.

“We have the Senate and the House with different leadership and different majorities. You have to be able to come together and pass it in both chambers and find compromise like we do in Colorado,” said U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has long been an advocate for immigration reform, saying the nation cannot fault what local governments are doing to address migrants when the federal government has not done its part.

“What an irrational system to be one where people are coming here and then there is no ability for them to work,” Bennet said. “It’s as if the country is insisting that you be on the public dole, insisting that you can’t support your family. That’s not the situation Denver wants, that’s not the situation Colorado wants.”

Bennet said work authorizations have to be a part of any package Congress passes, but getting any agreement in Congress is easier said than done these days.

We have a lot of jobs, but not enough workers to fill them. If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have over 2 million open jobs.

DENVER (KDVR) — Denver Mayor Mike Johnston told FOX31 the migrant crisis could cost the city $180 million this year, and now he’s asking city departments to slash up to 15% from their budgets to cover the cost.

Johnston sat for an exclusive interview with FOX31 and talked about what this means for city services.

Just hours after Johnston broke the news to the city council, he explained the details as FOX31 rode with him around downtown Denver on a tour of cleaned-up encampment sites.

“For people that aren’t familiar with the budget, $180 million is about 10 or 15 percent of the city budget,” Johnston said.

So where will these cuts come from?

“As a department head, your goal is always how to find the things you can cut that don’t directly impact services as much as possible. We don’t want to close down rec centers or stop picking up trash or paving the streets or take officers off the streets, so we gotta prioritize that,” Johnston said. “So what they’ll do now is take a hard look at their budgets and see what their options are, and we’ll go back and look at them and see what we can do without trying to directly impact the city as much as possible.”

$180 million: That’s more than the entire budget for the Parks and Recreation department and more than the entire budget for the city’s housing and homelessness efforts all combined. And the news comes as the influx of migrants grows.

As of Tuesday night, more than 4,800 migrants were being temporarily housed by the city. More than 37,000 have been transported to Denver in the last year, and the city’s already paid $38 million to respond to the crisis.

If things don’t change, 2024’s bill will be a behemoth.

How will Denver manage the migrant influx?

In New York, they’re seeking legal remedies, like going after the bus companies that bring migrants to the city. Is Denver pursuing anything similar, perhaps versus the governor of Texas, who has bused migrants to the city?

“We’re not pursuing legal action to sue them. We’re trying to figure out how to work together,” Johnston said. “You know, I’ve reached out to the governor of Texas to say we understand that you don’t think Texas can manage all of this inflow on your own. We agree — Denver can’t handle it all on our own. Let’s partner together on how to manage this system in the same way we have for other asylum seekers. So we’re looking at how to solve the problem, not how to pick a bigger fight.”

The other crisis: The city is out of room. Every room that can be used for sheltering migrants in the city and county of Denver is now full. There is no space for new migrant arrivals and no staff or resources to support them if and when they come.

The mayor said without the help of neighboring cities, budget cuts might have to go even deeper if the crisis worsens — and it is not letting up. Seven more buses of migrants arrived in Denver over the weekend.

Options going forward include offering arriving migrants a ticket out of town or hoping they have friends or family to stay with while they’re here.