“Aside from the strong moral arguments against letting poor people go hungry and sick, no rational government would want immigrant communities to, for example, forgo vaccinating their children in order to avoid a punitive reaction from immigration authorities; that has all the makings of a public health catastrophe. No rational government of a country with millions of immigrants would want millions of immigrant children to show up at school hungry each morning because their parents are afraid to apply for food stamps. No rational government would want hundreds of thousands of immigrant families to risk homelessness because of a temporary dip in their financial situation. Simply out of self-interest, a country such as the United States cannot afford to drive millions of legal immigrants entirely outside the social safety net.”
Sasha Abramsky, The Nation

“The Labor Department reports that seven million jobs are going unfilled even as the economy is slowing… Foreign-born workers include surgeons, computer engineers and financiers, and also those working in restaurant kitchens and driving cabs, doing the less desirable jobs at the lowest wages. But they contribute to the growth of the nation, and if some of them need help at some point with housing or food stamps, it’s a bargain in the long term. The economic return makes immigration a great investment for the nation. Which is why Mr. Trump’s public charge rule is bad for all Americans, not just those who strive to become one.”
Bill Saporito, New York Times

“[The rule] won’t attract greater numbers of better-heeled, success-bound applicants. But it will radically slash the total number of immigrants gaining legal admission. And it will deprive the U.S. economy of badly needed workers of the sort who have a long track record of upward mobility… The fact remains that less-well-heeled immigrants fill jobs for which there are insufficient native-born applicants; they perform well in those jobs and move up the income bracket. The administration’s new rules, while complex — they exempt pregnant women, asylum seekers, refugees, military service personnel and others — would drastically expand the pool of those who could be denied legal permanent residency based on poor predictors of future success.”
Editorial Board, Washington Post

“By signaling that the huddled masses are no longer welcome while others in the administration (particularly Jared Kushner) continue to advocate for the types of visas favored in Silicon Valley, Team Trump spins this as advocating not for ‘zero immigration,’ but for the ‘right kind of immigration’… [But] ‘the president has made it more difficult—and expensive—to hire high-skilled tech workers from other countries. The administration has throttled a program that encouraged entrepreneurs to come to the U.S. It’s also ending work permits for spouses of H-1B holders, who are often highly skilled professionals themselves.’ As a result of the administration’s efforts, there was a 10 percent decline in H-1Bs issued last year… It isn’t just about dissuading the tired and poor from coming, it’s about telling everyone to stay away.”
Alex Shephard, New Republic

“The long-run structure of the American welfare state, which is heavily focused on providing health care and retirement security to the elderly, requires a growing population and economy. Immigrants contribute to both goals… Going forward, demographers forecast that immigration — both the people it provides directly and the children that immigrants bear and raise — is the only reason America’s working-age population isn’t declining. This is doubly true when you consider that immigrants’ work in the household and child care sectors likely serves to increase native-born Americans’ childbearing as well… That hundreds of millions of people around the world would like to move to our shores — and that America has a long tradition of assimilating foreigners and a political mythos and civil culture that is conducive to doing so — is an enormous source of national strength. It’s time we started to see it that way.”
Matthew Yglesias, Vox