Immigration Policy

 Immigration Policy

Capacity for Ensuring a Good Life

My book, Regenerating America with Sustainable Economics, addresses this issue in the context of the nation’s capacity for ensuring a good life for all, and I add, for citizens and immigrants. 

Before embarking on “immigration,” one must ask, is the US Government doing enough to eliminate poverty and to ensure all citizens an equal opportunity? 

As of this moment, the US Census Bureau reports, “the official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5 percent, with 37.9 million people in poverty.” 

Using the 2021 poverty data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as an example, the official poverty measure, a family of four would be considered in poverty if their annual household income was $26,500 or less before taxes.

“More than a quarter of the people living in poverty in the United States receive no help from food stamps and other nutrition programs, subsidized housing, welfare, and other cash benefits, or child-care assistance, according to a new Urban Institute analysis examining the reach of the social safety net.

The analysis found that 13 million people living below the poverty line — a household income of less than $25,100 a year for a family of four — were disconnected from federal programs for the neediest Americans."

13 million people in poverty are disconnected from the social safety net. Most of them are white.

By Tracy Jan, February 4, 2019 at 11:42 a.m. EST

The Washington Post

The first question is, are we Americans and our government obliged to take responsibility for ensuring that all citizens and persons living in America have the means to live above the poverty line?  This means ensuring children have proper housing, clothing, food, and shelter. It means ensuring that adults with children have work and work opportunities commensurate with their responsibilities. 

The answer should be yes; however, this affirmation is essential on an annual basis as a reminder and reinforcement to citizens about our obligation to humanity.

The obligation to humanity begins at a higher level than the US government alone. It begins with The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which our nation is a signatory. 

If persons such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the indicted former President Trump are obliged to know, actions against the free movement of people are a violation of human rights. That also extends to Israel and Palestinians, and to Ukraine. People are protected from tyranny, such as from Russian President Putin and many members of the Republican Party.

“Immigrants in the United States make up approximately 1-in-7 residents and 1-in-6 workers, creating about 1-in-4 new businesses.1 Immigrants are diverse in many ways: country of origin, race and ethnicity, education, and occupation.2 Nearly half of all immigrants are naturalized citizens (20.7 million), 27 percent are lawful permanent residents (12.3 million), and 5 percent are temporary residents with legal status (2.2 million).3 Less than one-fourth of the foreign-born population (10.5 million) are undocumented.4 Immigrants are more likely to be of prime working age (between 25 and 54 years old), balancing out the relatively older native-born population.)” Joint Economic Committee 

“Immigrant labor sustains the U.S. food supply. Foreign-born workers account for more than 1-in-5 of all workers spread across the U.S. food supply chain — growing crops, harvesting fruits and vegetables, processing meat, transporting products and materials, and engaging in wholesale and retail sales. 8 Immigrants comprise more than 30 percent of many of the most physical of these jobs: farm laborers, graders and sorters, crop production, meat processing and commercial bakeries.9 In some states, the majority of workers in these jobs are immigrants. Foreign-born workers make up: 69 percent of the agricultural workers in California, 70 percent of the seafood processing workers in Alaska and 66 percent of the meat processing workers in Nebraska.” JEC

This essay is the start of a discussion to answer the question about our capacity to manage immigration. Moreover, the discussion needs to expand to consider our policy toward nations on our southern border who are the source of many immigrants.