A New Economic Growth Strategy for the Election Year: Integrate Immigrants

This seems obvious to some of us: help immigrants get better jobs, become business owners, get involved in their communities and it will lead to economic growth for them and the country.   - - Donna Poisl

FROM MANUEL PASTOR

This election season, I have a suggestion for strengthening our economy that might not be something typically heard on the campaign trail: immigrant integration. Yes... you read that right.

A recent analysis -- the California Immigrant Integration Scorecard -- conducted by my team at USC's Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration scores ten of the Golden State's regions by their ability to integrate their newcomers. And we couldn't help but notice that it was regions with the most resilient economies - Santa Clara topped the list -- that also scored high on immigrant integration.

For those of us in this field, this isn't particularly surprising -- and it's not just a matter of stronger economies attracting immigrants (although that can play a role). Previous research looking at immigrant presence and metropolitan economies has found that the share of the foreign-born at the beginning of a period is associated with more rapid GDP growth in the years that follow.
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