Immigration is an extremely important issue these days, many politicians like it but others dislike it. What do the facts tell us about it? Is is good or bad? The best way to get the answer is to make a comparison of two societies with different immigration policies. The results show that countries that open their doors to foreigners grow faster. Those societies can avoid the aging of the population and have a more dynamic economy. Anyway, there must be some regulations to avoid potential problems, but in general, immigration is key and vital in a modern world.
The economy needs immigrants, they work in the agriculture, services and also in technology.
United States vs Japan
For a very long time, the Japanese economy grew faster than the American one, this could be seen in the 70s and the 80s. The Asian country was more competitive but in a certain moment its economy stopped growing and there were even some years of recession. This was linked to many factors but one of the most important ones was demographics. For many years Japan grew faster than the United States because Japan had a younger population, thus, production costs were lower than in America. But when the birth rate fell in Japan, the aging process began and the median age increased to almost 47 years, that is 9 years more than in the US.
This has changed completely the structure of Japanese population. In America, there are more than 120 people who are 14 years old or younger by every 100 people who are 65 or more. On the other hand, the Asian country has fewer than 50 young people by every 100 people of advanced age. It has put a lot of pressure on the Japanese finances.
How could the United States avoid this aging process? Due to immigration. The results are clear, today US has a stronger economy than Japan.
Many US companies are competitive because of immigrants
A big number of foreigners have moved to the United States and they have built powerful companies. The Silicon Valley has a huge number of tech companies and one of the highest per capita incomes in the US and it is full of skilled immigrants.
A few years ago about 50% of the workers in the area were born outside America. The most respected educational institution in India is the IIT, Indian Institute of Technology, and a lot of graduates from that university have moved to California. The IIT is the star factory in India, those brains come to America. We can also state that Apple was built by the son of an immigrant, Steve Jobs. One of the founders of Google is Sergey Brin, who was born in Russia. Elon Musk, one of the creators of Paypal and Tesla, is a South African. Immigrants are full of energy and dreams, America has the tools to make those dreams a reality.