Giving Compass' Take:

• In this story from Urban Wire, the authors assess the economic consequences of limiting legal immigration into the United States.

• Restricting legal immigration would reduce revenue for social security and likely produce labor shortages. What other unexpected consequences might arise if we tamper with the immigration system?

• To learn more about good, bad, and costly responses to migration, click here.

Immigrants have always played a critical role in America’s economy. Today, they may play a more important role than ever as the native-born workforce ages and its birth rate slows. In the coming decades, immigrants and their children are expected to make up a greater share of our labor force and contribute significantly to economic growth. One in four infants, toddlers, and preschoolers has at least one immigrant parent.

Despite these demographic and economic realities, the Trump administration has proposed or supported policies that would restrict legal immigration—either directly, through proposals to limit the number of green cards or temporary visas issued each year, or indirectly, through such measures as a proposed expansion of the “public charge” rule.

Curbing legal immigration could slow economic growth and deprive important public programs, including Social Security, of crucial tax revenue. In a recent analysis, for example, we found that the immigration reductions proposed by the RAISE (Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment) Act would reduce Social Security’s already-insufficient trust funds. Such potential consequences should be part of the larger discussion of how immigration policy changes affect not simply immigrant families and communities but the broader economy.

Read the full article about legal immigration by Damir Cosic, Richard W. Johnson, and Archana Pyati at Urban Institute