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| George F. Will |
by George F. Will, Washington Post, March 15, 2026 - Two dissimilar government agencies have inadvertently combined to clarify the immigration debate. Stomach-turning excesses by Immigration and Customs Enforcement have turned many Americans’ abstract political preference into something uncomfortably concrete. And the Census Bureau has demonstrated that the nation needs immigrants as much as they need the blessings of American liberty. ....
... Prior to the Biden inundation, most undocumented immigrants had arrived before 2010, 43 percent as of 2020 had been here at least 20 years, about one-third were homeowners, and their 5 million children born here were citizens. Talk of sending them “home” is nonsensical.
They are home. For which, give thanks:
The Census Bureau reports that between July 2024 and July 2025, the U.S. population grew by just 0.5 percent, ... for the first time since relevant census data began being collected in 1850, immigration accounted for the entire U.S. population growth.
As the U.S. population ages, those leaving the workforce enter Social Security and Medicare. The nation’s birth rate is below the replacement rate, so immigration must replenish the workforce whose tax contributions fund the entitlements.
Immigrants are 23.6 percent of STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) workers. Nurses (15.9 percent foreign born) and health aides (28.4 percent foreign born) are crucial to an aging America.
... Immigrants “generated more in taxes than they received in benefits from all levels of government.” They “created a cumulative fiscal surplus of $14.5 trillion in real 2024 US dollars,” including $3.9 trillion in savings on interest that did not need to be paid on debt that was not added.
Immigrants were, on average, more than 12 percent more likely to be employed than the U.S.-born population. Cato: “In 1994, the immigrant share of government expenditures was 18 percent below their share of the population; in 2023, it was 25 percent below.”
In 2023, immigrants constituted almost 18 percent of the civilian labor force, and more than a third of them were in management, professional and related occupations, almost double the 21 percent in service occupations (e.g., hospitality). In 2023, immigrant median household income ($78,700) was slightly above that of U.S.-born households ($77,600).
.... As Cato notes, many illegal immigrants who are employed under borrowed or stolen identities have taxes withheld by employers but are ineligible for many government benefits. And they are less likely than others to file returns in order to claim refunds. This is another reason why Cato says:
“Immigrants have created an enormous fiscal surplus for the US government … The $14.5 trillion in savings from immigrants is the equivalent of 33 percent of the total inflation-adjusted combined deficits from 1994 to 2023 without immigrants.” (read it all)
George F. Will (born May 4, 1941) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American libertarian-conservative columnist and political commentator known for his erudite prose and long association with The Washington Post. He was one of the most respected voices in the conservative movement prior to its Trumpification.
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