One more story about immigrants/refugees fueling growth, this time in Minnesota….

I’m not an economist, but what exactly is growth—is growth more houses being built that gobble up open space? Is growth putting more cars on the road? Building more roads? Is growth constructing more schools and hiring more teachers? Building more Walmarts or more low-income housing? Does growth require more government agencies including for more services such as welfare and police? And, does growth mean that we generally need more government to control everybody and every thing?

I know, call me an economic ignoramus, but why is all that a good thing—that we must haul in more and more (culture challenging) immigrants to fuel the growth?  Seems like it’s a vicious cycle to me!

The more immigrants we admit to work for mostly big global corporations, the more we need to supply them with things. Is that what growing the economy means?

(See yesterday’s post about how the UN is a driver for mass migration and globalization.)

Anyway, here is a meandering story (worth reading!) from the Twin Cities Business Journal that basically boils down to yet one more whack at Donald Trump for cracking down on immigration of all sorts.

It begins with a whinefest about those good (upstanding!) Minnesota workers illegally crossing in to Canada as they scamper to get out of Trump’s way. (Emphasis below is mine)

A dramatic shift in global migration patterns is unfolding this year on Minnesota’s border with Canada. Refugees—typically from African countries, motivated in part by fears they are not welcome in the United States—have been moving from and through Minnesota to seek asylum in Canada. While their ranks are still small overall, their numbers began spiking last winter as they walked north across the sparsely populated border near Emerson, Manitoba, often risking their lives in sub-zero temperatures.

[….]

Janzen says many asylum seekers have overstayed their U.S. visas, while others have criminal records. [Canada is welcome to them as far as I’m concerned!—-ed]

Both groups fear imminent deportation under the newly instituted zero-tolerance policy. Initially, Janzen says, a majority were Somali, but increasingly they represent a diverse array of ethnicities and national origins. The situation is unprecedented in recent memory.

“I’ve been here for 27 years and I’ve never heard of refugees leaving Minnesota or the [U.S.] to go to Canada,” says Jane Graupman, executive director at the International Institute of Minnesota, one of five refugee resettlement agencies in the Twin Cities. “The tone from the White House is something I’ve never heard before.”  [The International Institute is a subcontractor of primary contractor USCRI***—ed]

Here it is!  It is not about humanitarianism, it is about labor! In Minnesota the poultry industry is a leading consumer of cheap migrant labor, including refugees!

All of this is part of a larger economic picture that has caught the attention of Susan Brower, Minnesota’s state demographer. “I’m concerned,” says Brower, who worries that the rising anti-immigration sentiment will lead to a growing labor shortage in Minnesota.

And, for those scratching your heads about why Republicans supported the ‘Gang of Eight’ amnesty bill and refuse to reform the US Refugee Admissions Program, here it is—the Camber of Commerce wants the laborers and the new consumers!

The ongoing failure of both Republicans and Democrats to fix the system frustrates Bill Blazar, a longtime executive at the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. About a decade ago, the chamber, concerned about looming worker shortages, formed the Minnesota Business Immigration Coalition. The alliance, which works with business lobbies, unions, attorneys, religious groups, social service agencies and professional groups—43 organizations in all—continues to press for an overhaul of the immigration system.

Blazar points to a stream of reports showing that newcomers, who often take big risks coming to the U.S., are generally more likely to start companies than native-born Americans are. (Minnesota is a notable exception to this trend.) But he says the number of Minnesota businesses founded and/or led by immigrants has grown since the 1990s.

[They love to talk about immigrants starting little businesses because that sounds so all-American, but they really want the sweat laborers such as poultry workers who then rent apartments, buy used cars, and buy stuff at Walmart!—ed]

[….]

Brower and Blazar’s concerns are based on data that underscore the importance of workforce growth to the state’s economy. In January, a University of Minnesota analysis predicted the state will fall to zero growth after 2020. This forecast assumes that robust numbers of newly arriving immigrants will continue, but doubts are growing about that assumption. The report also showed that Minnesota has become more dependent on immigrants for workforce growth in recent years.  [Of course they don’t have to pay higher wages when a steady supply of labor is always arriving—ed]

“Immigration has been fueling our growth,” says Brower. “We would expect to see increases in immigration to Minnesota, overall, under the projections we have out right now.”

But she notes pointedly that if the flow of foreign-born workers tails off, “we’d see no growth, or contraction” in the workforce.

Thus, she concludes, the new hard line doesn’t square with the needs of employers or the prospects for the state’s economy.

There is even more here. And, there is lots of data!

 

***Federal contractors/middlemen/propagandists/lobbyists/community organizers paid by you to place refugees in your towns and cities (and to find them jobs at places like airports!).

Because their income is largely dependent on taxpayer dollars based on the number of refugees admitted to the US, they work very hard to promote news that refugees fuel the economy, start businesses etc.

The only way for real reform of how the US admits refugees is to remove the contractors/propagandists from the process.