More Unsubstantiated Claims About Immigration Producing Economic Growth

MoneyWatch, September 12, 2013 has an article about a new employer-sponsored study by Duke public policy and economics professor Jacob Vigdor that claims “Immigrants are a key part of the American success story at the community level, revitalizing local areas and creating economic growth and jobs for U.S.-born workers.”Among the assertions in the article is this by Jeremy Robbins, director of the Partnership for a New American Economy – one of the organizations that commissioned the study, “…communities with higher rates of immigration retain more manufacturing jobs than areas with fewer immigrants.”Think about that. Which seems more logical; immigrants generate more manufacturing jobs, or manufacturing jobs attract more immigrant workers? If the latter is more likely, the statement by Robbins is senseless.