It is hard right now to quantify the impact that immigrants leaving the country are having on the national economy.  Soon enough, though, a think tank will put pencil to paper and we should have a better idea.  But it stands to reason that those of us who through the years have seen cities revitalized from one coast to the other will not be surprised at the data that will show a downtick in economic activity and increased joblessness across the board.  Indeed, entire towns and industries in the Midwest and in the South are being saved from extinction by immigrants who do work no one else wants.

We seem to forget so quickly that a growing population drives an economy forward.  It is a simple lesson.  The term ‘ghost town’ might invoke scenes from old western movies but it also is an economic epitaph:  No people, no economy.  No economy, no city.

Such was the case in many parts of many cities throughout the nation when the retrenchment in the manufacturing base began forty years ago.  Without jobs, towns – especially their downtowns – began to crumble.  The same was true in towns around which agriculture continued to mechanize.  Those forces occurred simultaneously with an upsurge in the HispanicLatino population that then went about to buoy the fortunes of cities from Los Angeles to New York.

Having seen those forces at work across the country in my many travels, I can only assume that the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction.  It makes sense that even without the economic data yet being assembled that local stores will sell less groceries, fewer cars, not as many television sets or washers and dryers and a minimum number of homes in a depressed housing market.

But there you have it.  Angst about immigrants and a changing population and new technologies that allow for better enforcement at the border and at the workplace are going to end up hurting everyone’s bottom line.

The converse argument – that immigrants cost taxpayers critical funds that are needed elsewhere – has never been proven to be true in its entirety.  And even were it a wash, any kind of economic activity that is generated by a new immigrant population is better than none.  It is counterproductive to engage in any debate that pits the economic good immigrants generate against the tax revenues they might consume.  It is like having a conversation with Michele Bachman.

Entering into that argument is a financial numbers game that is hardly instructive, especially when the national economy turns sour.  But in specific locations where the immigrant population boosted cities and towns – such as in Iowa and Nebraska and even in such places as downtown Los Angeles or the old mill towns of Massachusetts – there the economic impact of a retreating population will be evident soon enough.

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