New York Congressman Thinks the City is Underpopulated
In a recent C-SPAN appearance, New York City Congressman Adriano Espaillat gave Americans a glimpse of the open-borders lobby’s real priorities. When challenged by a caller concerned about uncontrolled immigration, Espaillat, a former illegal alien himself, wrongly claimed that the U.S. is “underpopulated” and that a constant influx of people is necessary to “strengthen our economy.” This claim ignores the grim reality of uncontrolled, low-skilled migration already wreaking havoc with the budgets of “sanctuary” jurisdictions.
This bizarre assertion seems odd coming from Congressman Espaillat in particular; his 13th Congressional District is the geographically smallest and most densely populated in the country. Additional residents are an especially sore spot, as his district is experiencing controversial mass gentrification and residents mobilizing against housing construction. New York City in general is experiencing an unprecedented housing affordability crisis, made worse by more than 50,000 illegal aliens seeking “sanctuary” and taxpayer-funded aid in just the last year. With his district and city unable to pay for the influx, where exactly does Congressman Espaillat think more people should go?
The answer, naturally, is somewhere else. The leaders of “sanctuary” cities like Chicago and Espaillat’s own New York City are upset that they have to make good on their promises of “sanctuary.” Mayors beholden to the open-borders lobby are fine with mass illegal migration, as long as they don’t have to pay for it. The past few years have made it clear that an influx of migrants is a huge additional cost to cities already losing population, not the boon Espaillat promises. After experiencing firsthand just how costly unskilled, uncontrolled migration is, it’s no wonder politicians want to export the problem.
The areas that Espaillat derides as “underpopulated” and in need of “strengthening” are also the least equipped to handle the increases he wants to impose on them. Illegal immigration is extremely expensive, costing American taxpayers more than $150 billion annually. Furthermore, taxes and other contributions from migrants cited as “benefits” by the open-borders lobby only cover around one-sixth of the costs they generate. In rural areas and outside traditional migrant destinations, the cost per migrant can actually be much higher because services are already stretched thin for Americans. Unskilled migrants moving into places like New York City as taxpaying citizens leave has been a recipe for fiscal disaster, and there’s no reason to think those migrants would do any better elsewhere.
The United States’ success is not determined by how many people of dubious qualification it can pack in, and thoughtlessly adding more people just creates liabilities for existing communities that don’t want “sanctuary” city troubles. New York City chose to welcome illegal aliens during the Biden migrant crisis, and its taxpayers will be shelling out an additional $4.2 billion for the “privilege.” This and other cities’ experiences are cautionary tales, not a selling point for Espaillat’s dreams of overpopulation in every city and county across the U.S.
Mass migration is not an inevitability, but a result of inadequate enforcement of immigration laws and bad policy decisions. Congressmen like Mr. Espaillat should be working to address the problem at the root, not making sure it’s equitably distributed.