Giving Compass' Take:

• Rajshree Agarwal debunks five immigration fallacies that are used to derail conversations around immigration.

• How can funders help to encourage productive conversations around immigration? 

• Read more about immigration's impact on the economy. 

A lose-lose scenario is moving toward the Southern U.S. border at a rate of 25 miles per day. No good solutions for either side will emerge when families finally arrive in caravans from Central America.

The pending confrontation is tragic, considering the U.S. tradition of win-win outcomes for immigrants like me and the nation that receives our creative energy and industry.

  1. Some are more equal than others: The first error occurs when people frame the debate in terms of skilled versus unskilled labor, or legal versus illegal status. The implication, often stated directly, is that immigrants create value for the United States only when they arrive with money, education and paperwork. Multiple studies debunk this elitist view.
  2. They don’t assimilate: Elitist attitudes lead to a second error — the notion that somehow today’s immigrants are not as good as the ones who came before.
  3. They come to consume, not produce: Cato data show that immigrants are less likely to consume welfare benefits than native-born Americans. When immigrants do receive benefits, they generally consume a lower dollar value than native-born Americans.
  4. They steal jobs: Many people see wealth like a fixed pie that magically appears on the table ready for consumption. They have no idea from where it came, so they bicker over distribution of what they assume is a limited resource. People who understand markets worry less about distribution and more about innovation. They see the potential for new and different pies. They might even expand services to include cakes and cookies.
  5. They will always pick the U.S. first: The final fallacy is that the United States will forever get first choice of the world’s best talent. Although Silicon Valley remains a big draw as an innovation hub, more and more countries are offering alternatives based on the principles of enterprise and markets.

Read the full article about immigration fallacies by Rajshree Agarwal at Cato Institute.