Local opinion: More immigration equals more economic growth

Pedro just arrived from Mexico. He knew no one. He only knew that he wanted a better life and was willing to work for it.

He walked onto a construction site in Tucson and started working. Never mind that he wasn’t employed there and had not applied for the job.

At day’s end, as the workers began heading home, the foreman asked Pedro, “¿Quien eres? ¿Trabajas aqui?” Who are you? Do you work here?

Pedro made his pitch: He wanted a job. He worked hard, as he had shown, and did good work. The foreman thought it over. “Regresas mañana” he said to Pedro. Return tomorrow.

That was in the 1960s. Pedro eventually worked his way up to foreman and later started his own business, getting licensed as a general contractor.

My father-in-law, himself an immigrant from Mexico and a retired roofing contractor, tells the story of his friend with an incredulous chuckle. “Puedes creerlo? Eso es atrevido, no?” he says of Pedro. Can you believe it? That’s bold.

Bold and unorthodox. The motivation behind it, however, is classic immigrant. It’s true of highly educated immigrants — physicians, software engineers, other professionals — those with skilled hands such as carpenters, roofers and drywall installers, and it’s true of laborers.

Like Pedro, they come to work. Despite political dialogue, immigrants don’t want handouts. They want opportunity.

They also offer opportunity for the economy to continue growing. Imagine how much more it would grow if employers could fill job vacancies with immigrants who would add to the workforce, not replace anyone in it.

Those who fear monger, pushing xenophobic “white replacement theory,” ignore what immigrants bring.

Consider what Zeke Hernandez, a University of Pennsylvania Wharton School professor, says in a book coming out in June, The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers. Hernandez applies two decades of research to refute “the villain narrative” that immigrants threaten our jobs, our way of life and our safety.

“We know that the U.S. doesn’t admit enough immigrants through work visas or green cards to meet the needs of the economy,” Hernandez said in a December interview with Marketplace on NPR.

“For reference, the last time the U.S. updated its visa system was in 1990. Back then, the economy was $9 trillion in size. Today, it’s over $20 trillion. So we’ve more than doubled the size of the economy, but we haven’t budged on the number of workers that we let in.”

He said each first-generation immigrant costs government about $1,600 for services, mostly immigrant children’s education. By the second and third generations, each pays taxes totaling $3,000 or more, so government more than recoups its costs. Think about what Pedro with his general contractor’s license must have contributed to taxes and the economy.

That should inform the congressional debate over immigration policy, not the Republican presidential candidate directing members of Congress not to strike an immigration deal.

We need immigration reform and more immigrants, not fewer, as worker shortages continue. A February story from news website Stateline.org said the Associated Builders and Contractors reported 459,000 job openings nationally in November 2023.

Other sectors need workers, too — health care, education, manufacturing, transportation and food services.

Businesses struggle to replace the many who quit their jobs in the pandemic. Additionally, record numbers are retiring and not enough native-born people are entering the workforce to fill vacancies. The solution: immigrant labor, at all levels.

Immigrants boost the economy, and they pay taxes. If people on Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and other contributary and taxpayer-funded programs want to continue their full benefits, they should support more immigration.

The Pedros of the 21st century are ready to work, want to walk onto the job and provide economic wellbeing for themselves, the community and the nation.