Migration, Quality of Life & the Municipal Spending Crisis

Migrants move to improve their quality of life. This is true of a “Yankee” moving to South Carolina, a Californian moving to Colorado or a Venezuelan coming to the United States. When the numbers get too high, when the demands on infrastructure and resources become too great, the quality of life at those destinations diminishes for everyone.

Our immigration system is in overshoot. The numbers are greater than our capacity to sustain them while meeting our goals of widespread economic opportunity and environmental quality of life. Private interests want the increased consumption that immigration creates, while society bears the costs.

The record surge in illegal immigration exacerbates the situation. Texas, Florida, Colorado, and Arizona were overwhelmed last year and started to bus migrants to Washington D.C. and New York. New York declared a state of emergency and is busing migrants to destinations further north, aggravating international relations.

Communities need not be entirely at the mercy of how the DHS has mishandled immigration. E-Verify, which can be implemented at the state and/or federal level, is a simple tool that can determine whether a prospective employee is authorized to work.

Americans (and Canadians, for that matter) like immigrants and immigration – they just want the system managed within reasonable limits. New York City’s Mayor Adams says each border migrant is costing his city $65,000 over the next year. 3.1 million migrants have made it to the interior since 2021. Andrew Arthur does the math:

“The reason the mayor of the world’s financial capital is speaking out about the border is that even NYC can’t pay its migrant costs anymore,” Arthur writes.

“Soon, no other city or town will be able to bear those costs, either.”

JEREMY BECK is a V.P., Deputy Director for NumbersUSA