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US immigration: economics vs. politics
A mother and her two children walk to one side of the United States wall after crossing the Rio Grande.
February 28, 2024
Immigration has overtaken the economy atop the list of Americans’ biggest concerns. In part that’s because the economic future is getting brighter, and as it happens, immigration is part of that story.
The upside: According to a CBO study, the surge in irregular migrants seen under Joe Biden will lead to 1.7 million more workers in 2024, and will grow the economy by about $7 trillion over the next decade.
The downside: Irregular immigration is straining social services, even in Democrat-run “sanctuary cities.” And over the longer term, experts say that the lower skill levels of this wave of migrants could undermine productivity and depress wages in low-skilled sectors.
The politics: Notwithstanding the findings about undocumented immigrants’ contributions to the future economy, Americans views are hardening. 80% of Americans say the current administration is doing a bad job managing the border, and a Gallup poll found that 28% of voters named immigration as the country’s biggest problem, up from 20% last month.
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Members of the Green Bangla Garment Workers Federation hold a protest rally demanding the immediate reconstitution of the wage board for garment workers and the announcement of a minimum wage of Tk 30,000 in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on October 9, 2026.
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As AI creates new opportunities, the people who understand a community best play an important role in determining how those opportunities take shape. Across the US, Microsoft is supporting AI literacy classes as part of a new program developed in collaboration with the Public Library Association, working through trusted local institutions to help people build practical AI skills. By pairing new technology with local knowledge, the initiative is helping communities explore how AI can support their needs and open new possibilities, while putting local leaders and organizations at the center of that work. Read the full story here.
People cast ballots inside the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections during early voting ahead of the midterm elections in Cleveland, Ohio, US, November 1, 2026.
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
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