Donald Trump, the new US President, through his various anti-migrant rules and laws, has once again ignited the debate does the US need migrants?

The US requires immigrants in the same manner the latter requires the former. But it is not that only the US needs migrants; all leading global economies need them to grow and prosper.

The nations that have embraced migrants have flourished and grown further and those who haven’t stagnated and lost steam and been left behind in the race.

Take the example of any leading global economy! For example, the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand they all, by and large, have been pro-migrant, and welcomed them, and the result shows that now they are the leading global economies, and an inspiration for other countries.

And, the nations that have not been very welcoming have lagged behind and faced a severe shortage of the skilled and young workers.

For example, let’s take the classic example of Japan! Here, the acceptance of immigrants is very low, and so, no wonder, the Japanese are facing some big problems, such as deficiency of manpower, and old aged employees.

Coming back to the US, the Trump’s alleged rigorous rules on visa and immigration stands entirely opposite of his Republican predecessor, President George W. Bush, who, reportedly, supported robust immigration laws, and promoted migrant-friendly immigration rules. No wonder, now, under Trump, the US is slowly but gradually losing out to its rivals such as Canada and Australia in the race to stay on the top.

In this blog, we will dissect the different reasons and try to figure why the US requires immigrants, especially at this crucial juncture.

Demand & Supply

The US has very high requirement for trained manpower and so it requires immigrants to grow and flourish. The key reason why immigrants are so useful for the US and others is yes, you guessed it right demand and supply.

The US needs migrants in every domain from agriculture to medicine, from IT to highly specialized research jobs.

As per the available information, immigration has been expanding the population of the US at a rate of nearly 1 million people a year over the preceding 10 years.

It’s not known how much Trump’s policies will cut down the net intake of immigrants, since he has still to come out with a broad-based immigration scheme.

The incumbent UK Premier Theresa May has, reportedly, been clearer, pledging to reduce the net intake to the “sustainable level” of under 100,000 immigrants per annum, down from an average of 250,000 during the preceding 10 years.

For these politicians, though delivering on these anti-immigrant messages may presently be politically vital, the same will, allegedly, seriously harm their economies.

There is no dearth of the examples of the emerging nations that have failed to generate enough jobs for a booming young population. But virtually no nation has ever continued quick economic development, minus robust population growth. And at a time when every top nation, comprising the US, faces continued drop in population increase, employees, especially the skilled ones, are a growingly treasurable source of national economic strength.

Outsiders more open to change & relocation

Since the migrants are more open to change and relocation, they offer flexible manpower to the US. Immigrants will, allegedly, settle, without any hesitations, in the areas where there are additional opportunities and more possibilities to grow for them. Migrants are not much bothered about areas and weather, since their main goal is to do well at any cost. What’s more: several times, immigrants even overlook prejudice & discrimination, at times, thanks to no safety net, they just keep moving ahead.

More economic opportunities have been made since these migrants, over the years, are building resilient societies & family structures. Migrants have explored the less appealing & profitable areas and made unknown opportunities in that region.

Rustbelt waking up from its slumber, making employment opportunities in the US

Rustbelt is basically the bunch of regions in the US, where industry decline kick-started since 1980. Now since such areas are no less than any big cities in the US, making more job opportunities and maintaining the economic growth are vital.

Now the question what lead to this change in these remote places? The possible response is that immigrants find opportunities where others fail.

Migrants transport merit-based culture

Immigrants come loaded with motivation and merits. Their keen desire to do well and succeed makes them do even certain difficult and tough things. Based on their fierce longing and competitive nature, they are doing a great job in their chosen domains. This fierce feature is then further inherited by their kids.

Post this much contribution, the immigrants are usually deprived of the benefits enjoyed by the native people until the latter manage to obtain citizenship.

Individual merit is their safety net, and the readiness to do well against all odds is their biggest competitive advantage. Hence, through immigrants, a nation receives two extremely treasured virtues motivation and the craving to succeed.

In view of the all this, one can say, yes, the US needs migrants much like the latter needs the former. In fact, the US requires migrants more since while the latter has many other good options, the former does not have any such advantage.

If the US still fails to read the writing on the wall, it stands to lose in a big way.