Immigration Restrictionists are Undermining American Institutions

Alex NowrastehBenjamin Powell and I wrote our bookWretched Refuse? The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions to address the argument that liberalized immigration will undermine the very American institutions that created economic prosperity that attracted immigrants here in the first place. Immigrants generally come from countries with political, cultural, and economic institutions that are less conducive to economic growth than those in the developed world. The fear is that they ’d bring those anti‐​growth institutions with them. Thus, as their argument goes, the estimated enormouseconomic gains from liberalized immigrants are a deadly mirage and immigrants could actually kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. As we assiduously document, immigrants do not bring those institutions with them and there is even evidence that immigrants improve institutions after they immigrate.It ’s ironic that the immigration restrictionists most worried about immigrants degrading American institutions are attacking those very institutions at every level. After President Trump lost his reelection bid, the most nativistic members of his party have embarked on a quest to reverse the election. A dozenRepublican Senators, mostly those supportive of cutting legal immigration, plan to object to the certification of Biden ’s win over Trump. Over100 representatives could join in too. President Trumpcut legal immigration more than any other pre...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs