Are Immigrants Taking American Resources?

The Future of an Economic Powerhouse with an Aging Population

As the 2024 election quickly approaches, the rhetoric around immigration continues to heat up as politicians seek to make it a winning issue for their side. The devastation that has come to much of the country due to Hurricane Hellene has provided an opportunity for politicians and anti-immigration forces to make false claims that funding has been diverted from much-needed resources for search and rescue to take care of migrants.  FEMA has responded to such falsehoods on its website.

While people of sober judgment should not peddle in such falsehoods, the question remains for many. Are migrants who come to the U.S. a drain on resources meant for U.S. citizens?  Let’s look at some of the data.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), recent increases in immigration will drive economic growth and help meet growing labor demands in the next decade. The CBO report estimates that this immigration surge,  

"will add $1.2 trillion (about $3,700 per person in the US) in federal revenues over the 2024–2034 period. The annual revenue increase grows over time and reaches $167 billion (about $510 per person in the US) (or 2.2 percent of total revenues) in 2034 in the agency’s projections. Individual income taxes and payroll taxes paid by immigrants who are part of the surge are responsible for most of the effects on revenues. In addition, the surge is projected to boost economic activity and, in turn, tax revenues.” 

At the same time, additional costs to the federal budget due to immigration will be much smaller by comparison (Effects of the Immigration Surge on the Federal Budget and the Economy, Congressional Budget Office, July 23, 2024). 

One of the assertions often made is that migrants are driving up the cost of housing and thereby making buying a home unaffordable for average Americans. According to a study in the conservative news outlet National Review, the claim that migrants are driving up the cost of housing is not supported by the data.

In fact, a well-documented factor driving higher housing costs is the shortage of construction workers.

Out of all U.S. industries, construction employs the highest percentage of immigrant workers in the U.S. In 2022, 11.7 percent of all immigrant workers were employed in construction.  Of the 11.8 million construction workers in the U.S. in 2023, 2.9 million were immigrants. -- . Immigrants make up almost 25% of the construction workforce. Contrary to popular opinion, immigrants do not take construction jobs from American citizens. They fill spaces in an industry vital to the U.S. economy, but that struggles to hire the workers needed (Natalia Siniavskaia, Immigrant Share in Construction Highest on Record, National Association of Homebuilders, December 18, 2023). 

It is not only construction that benefits from immigrant workers. American agriculture is a $1 trillion industry. 73% of agricultural workers were born outside of the U.S. With fewer migrants coming to the U.S. and an aging U.S.-born population, American farms face an ever-increasing worker shortage. The American Farm Bureau estimates that U.S. farms need between 1.5 and 2 million new workers hired yearly. Farmers have been struggling to fill these positions. For example, 56% of farmers in California reported being unable to find all the workers they needed. The American Farm Bureau estimates that if farmers lost their foreign-born workers, their agricultural output would fall by $30 to 60 billion. Retail milk prices would nearly double (Andrew Moriarty Immigrant Farmworkers and America's Food Production: 5 Things to Know., Fwd.us, September 14, 2022)

With projections that the U.S. population of adult workers will shrink over the next two decades (Stuart Anderson, U.S. Risks Decline and Stagnation Without Immigrants, Forbes, August 23, 2023), immigrants provide needed population and economic growth. With the retirement of the baby boomer generation, revenue to fund Social Security, defense, and other needed government programs will continue to shrink without an influx of immigrants. Furthermore, in 2021, undocumented immigrants paid $30.8 billion (about $95 per person in the US) in taxes, including $18.6 billion (about $57 per person in the US) in federal taxes and $12.2 in state and local taxes (Stephen Hubbard, Dispelling the Myth: How Undocumented Immigrants Pay Taxes and Contribute to the US Tax Base, Immigration Impact, March 22, 2023).

While five workers supported one retiree collecting social security in 1960, there were only three workers per retiree in 2022. Current projections are that social security will run dry by 2033 unless something changes. Documented and undocumented immigrants pay billions each year into social security through payroll taxes (Alexia Fernandez Campbell, New data shows why the U.S. needs more immigrants, The Center of Public Integrity, February 23, 2024).  

Far from being a drain on our economic system, immigrants continue to strengthen us.  They help provide the U.S. with economic stability and growth that far outweighs any drain on resources. We should encourage our Senators and House members to join the new bipartisan efforts to better understand and fix an immigration system that will benefit Americans and those who wish to come to the U.S.