The correlation between illegal immigration and unemployment in America is striking
More legal immigrants seem needed
Statista reports that as of April 2024, there are 6.49 million Americans who are unemployed.
While hard data are difficult to obtain and verify, some reports indicate that 10 million people have entered United States illegally since Biden was elected. Some of those have been deported, some have left on their own, and there are legions of “gotaways” not captured in the data.
If 10 million people came into the U.S. and only 6.49 million are unemployed, I can only conclude that at least 3.5 million of the illegal immigrants found work. The corollory is that without those immigrants, one might expect a labor shortage of several million people.
The problem with illegal immigrants is that they are poorly vetted, and include criminals, terrorists and drug runners. In the absence of a well-organization immigration system that properly vets people applying to enter United States, many problems crop up. Pressure on schools, hospitals, the housing market and the costs of welfare and other social services are example of the problems a lack of organization creates.
Rather than deal with the problem, both Democrats and Republicans turn it into political talking points with Democrats claiming the border is closed when it is not and Republicans alleging it is a mess which is obvious. The rhetoric advances nothing.
Without an adequately sized labor force, wage pressures would add to the rate of inflation and economic growth would be curbed. Without a well-organized process to evaluate potential immigrants and match them with the skill sets in high demand and short supply, the result is not just sub-optimal but also chaotic.
In my opinion, it its time for both political parties to craft laws that work and make the process of immigrating to America make sense and be tailored to the development of infrastructure (housing, schools, hospitals, etc.) available to host them and welcome them into the country. Instead, the issue of immigration has made immigrants pawns in a destructive confrontation betweent he political parties over who gets to be in power. Common sense has been set aside in favor of political benefit. No one wins.