St. Louis needs to play a role in immigration debate

Those states have passed laws aimed at keeping people out. St. Louis — along with much of the old industrial Midwest – needs to find a way to bring more people in.

Jack Strauss, a professor of economics at St. Louis University, says more foreign-born residents could supercharge the area's economy.

“The St. Louis region's lack of immigrants explains a considerable amount of the reason why St. Louis has slow job and income growth,” he says.

Rather than taking jobs away from native-born Americans, immigrants' skills and purchasing power bring more jobs to a region.

At a conference last week on the economics of immigration, Strauss began with a history lesson. In 1980, St. Louis was the 10th largest metro area in the country, and we ranked 26th in the number of foreign-born residents. Now we're 19th in population and 43rd in immigrants.

Somehow, a city with a proud history of welcoming immigrants — from Germans in the 19th century to Bosnians in the l990s — has become less international than places like Louisville and Nashville.

You could argue that immigrants have simply gone where they could find jobs, but Strauss' research shows that the causality goes in the other direction. Compared with native-born Americans, immigrants are far more likely to start job-creating businesses.

Strauss says that if St. Louis had just experienced an average amount of immigration over the past three decades, unemployment would be 2 percentage points lower and incomes would be 7 to 11 percent higher.

“Immigrants aren't stealing jobs, they are complements,” Strauss said. “They have different skill sets. They add to the economy through specialization.”

Congress, though, doesn't seem to understand economics. Paralyzed by the debate over illegal immigration, national-level politicians have failed to act on sensible proposals like making more visas available for people with science and math degrees.

In such a poisonous political climate, how can St. Louis be more welcoming? Bob Fox, a local businessman and founder of the Casa de Salud health-care center, thinks we can do a lot of things. His list includes more English classes, better transportation and health-care services and a change in attitude.

The Missouri Legislature sends a bad signal, for instance, when it considers bills that would require drivers license tests to be taken only in English.

“We cannot reach our goals in a state that is viewed as negative toward immigration,” Fox said at the conference. “Even neutrality is not good enough.”

Fortunately, many of our leaders get the message. A joint city-county steering committee is studying ways to make St. Louis more attractive to immigrants. Tim Nowak, director of the World Trade Center in Clayton and an adviser to the committee, says the group is examining everything from culture to infrastructure to social services.

It's also considering a communications effort. “We need to put the message out there that immigration is good, and that it is an important economic issue,” Nowak said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel has started a similar task force, vowing to make his city the most immigrant-friendly in America. The Chicago and St. Louis groups are talking to each other, which is a good sign.

Maybe if enough big cities band together, they can persuade Congress that immigration doesn't have to be a divisive, us-versus-them issue. Here in the heartland, it's just sound economics.