Bush Institute Monthly Immigration Update

Hello, Friends.

 

I’ve noticed a bit of chatter lately about how immigration has been helping grow the U.S. economy while combatting inflation. The American Action Forum’s Doug Holtz-Eakin wrote about this in January. NBC News covered the same topic earlier this month. And yet this is all happening with a U.S. legal immigration system that is sorely out of date. The immigrants helping boost the economy? Many of them are the migrants entering at the U.S. southern border who don’t have a legal pathway other than our strained asylum system.

Anyone who follows Doug’s work knows that good immigration policy is good economic policy. Reasonable people can disagree about what good immigration policy is, but one thing is clear from the recent economic growth we’ve experienced: Adding immigrants to our labor force – regardless of their educations, skills, or pathway to the U.S. – grows the economy. The U.S. could accelerate this growth by actually reforming our immigration system to admit workers whose educations and skills match current labor force gaps.

Current U.S. immigration policies don’t maximize economic benefit. It’s up to Congress to fix that.

 

Kind regards,

Laura

Figure of the Month

36%

Data Dive

 

• More than 65,000 Americans signed up to serve as private refugee sponsors via Welcome Corps. Refugees admitted via Welcome Corps are admitted through the same process and protocols as other refugees, but their Welcome Corps sponsors provide a built in community to help them integrate into the U.S. and ease their transition.

• The U.S. has expanded the use of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in recent years, as crises around the globe prevent some foreign nationals from being able to return home safely. With recent designations or redesignations to immigrants from Cameroon, Burma, Syria, and Venezuela, nearly 1.2 million immigrants are receiving or are eligible for TPS.

• The number of illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border declined from February to March, down to 137,000 from 141,000. U.S. officials credit increased enforcement by Mexican immigration authorities for the reduction. Working with our allies to help manage migration is a key recommendation of the Bush Institute’s border policy approach and will continue to be an important component of broader border security efforts.

• Here in Dallas, we know that immigrants are crucial to our booming economy. A new report from the American Immigration Council quantifies that impact, showing that immigrants in Dallas contributed some $2.5 billion in federal, state, and local taxes and are helping to fulfill the city's growing labor demands in fast-growing sectors like STEM and manufacturing. Immigrants in Dallas represent 38.9% of business owners in the city despite making up 23.2% of the population.

• A new report from the Wilson Center Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative argues that the U.S. and allies must lead to protect and successfully resettle the millions of forcibly displaced people worldwide. The number of forcibly displaced people tripled to at least 110 million in 2023, up from 33.9 million in 1997. Leadership to protect refugees and address the root causes of displacement is needed, and the U.S. is well-positioned to lead given our role as both a receiving country and a donor to other nations who receive refugees.

• A compelling article in The Wall Street Journal explores the explosion of asylum claims that are putting pressure on the nation's immigration system – and on immigration systems in other developed economies. What was once a channel used infrequently has now become one of the most common. Many will not qualify for asylum, but appropriate legal channels have not modernized or expanded in decades. For many immigrants, asylum is viewed as the only way to enter the United States legally. Improving and expanding other legal avenues of migration will alleviate some of the pressure placed on the asylum process.

• The brilliant Dara Lind at the American Immigration Council has this month’s must-read piece exploring U.S. humanitarian migration policies and how they intersect with American foreign policy priorities.

• The Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park at the Bush Center is officially in full bloom for the spring season! You can check out the beautiful Texas wildflowers in our new social media series, “What’s Growing On?”

• April 23, Baker Institute for Public Policy: Mexico 2025 and Beyond: A Conversation with Carlos Bravo Regidor

• May 14, Baker Institute for Public Policy:The Future of Immigration in the 2024 Elections

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