Since the earliest times, people have moved on to create new lives for themselves and their families. Some move because they need to find work or economic opportunity, while others seek to escape conflict, persecution or large-scale human rights violations. Still others migrate to find better healthcare, social support networks or environmental conditions.
Migration is often accompanied by grief, which can manifest in a variety of ways, such as sadness and nostalgia, guilt, anger or liberation. It can be triggered by a phone call, a smell, a song, an important date on the calendar or the loss of friends and family in their place of origin. In the essay Dinamitando desde Berlin la hegemonia del emigrante melancolico (Leaving from Berlin: the hegemony of the immigrant melancholy), Joseba Achotegui expands the interpretation of personal migratory mournings to include not only sadness and nostalgia, but also anger, frustration, fun and fulfillment. Ultimately, she says, migrants live in a constant state of in-betweenness.
Despite the current tumultuous politics surrounding immigration, most Americans support it. According to the most recent American Community Survey, 14 percent of the population identifies as being an immigrant. This supports a range of positive impacts on the economy and society:
In the labor force, immigrants add to GDP by spending money and purchasing goods and services. Their consumption and entrepreneurship contribute to higher wages for native-born workers in the same industries and occupations. Immigrants also bolster the economy by contributing to industries that depend on high levels of productivity, such as technology and healthcare.
For the most part, immigrants want to stay in their new homes. In focus groups, many reported that they would choose to move to the United States again if given the chance. This was true across age, education level, income, and immigration status.
At the federal level, immigration has a net positive effect on the balance of taxes and spending, with immigrants paying more in taxes than they draw in public benefits. At the state and local levels, this balance is even closer. Immigrants are particularly well-represented among households that access key public services such as welfare, child care and school meals.
The most recent data show that the primary sources of migrants have shifted twice in the 21st century: first from Asia to Latin America (including the United States) during and after the Great Recession; then, as immigration slowed during Trump administration efforts to tighten border security and the coronavirus pandemic, back to Mexico.
Amid political rhetoric, it is easy to forget that immigrants are not competitors; they’re collaborators. We need to ensure that they can continue to build productive lives in the land of opportunity, and keep a vibrant economy moving forward. We need to invest in the skills of all people on the move, and make it easier for them to retain their status and stay here permanently. This will prevent a potentially catastrophic demographic shift, as the U.S. faces slower population growth and an aging population with fewer young adults to replace them.