Special to The Truth
New data suggest mass deportations could harm working Ohioans of all backgrounds
Immigrant workers and business owners in Ohio generate about $53 billion of Ohio’s economic output, according to the Immigration Research Initiative (IRI), Economic Policy Institute, and Policy Matters Ohio. The finding is among data provided in a new resource [3] highlighting immigrants’ roles in Ohio’s economy.
“Ohio’s population is shrinking, and the losses are expected to get worse,” said Policy Matters researcher Heather Smith. “As our population ages, we’ll have fewer people working and more people who need help,” Smith said, observing that 12 percent of Ohio’s home health aides are
immigrants. “We should be doing all we can to attract people to our state, and give residents reasons to stay.”
Smith added, “Working Ohioans of all backgrounds are paying the price for decades of trickle-down policy that primarily serves a few of the wealthiest Ohioans and major corporate interests. Scapegoating immigrants for the resulting policy failures harms everyone’s quality of life by
pitting neighbor against neighbor. Instead, policymakers should prioritize education and public services in growing communities, so newcomers and long-time residents have a foundation for economic security.”
“Immigration is not just about economics, but it’s good to know that the U.S. economy benefits when immigrants come to this country, and so do American workers, whatever you may have seen on social media,” said IRI director David Dyssegaard Kallick. “If the goal is to improve conditions for Ohio workers, there are clear ways to do that, from protecting workers’ rights to investing in infrastructure or the care economy. Deporting immigrants doesn’t help Ohio workers, in fact it just shoots overall economic growth in the foot.”
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Policy Matters Ohio is a nonprofit, nonpartisan state policy research institute with offices in Cleveland and Columbus.