Dowell Myers, a professor of urban planning and demography at the University of Southern California, authored “Old Promises and New Blood: How Immigration Reform Can Help America Prosper in the Face of Baby Boomer Retirement.”
Myers, who is neither a proponent nor an opponent for immigration, said he hopes his thoughts will help society plan ahead. He predicts the country will need many more immigrants in the next five years, compared to the last five years. The report does not make a distinction between legal and illegal immigration.
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In his report, he identifies three “perils” that will be the result of the anticipated surge in the number of seniors in the United States.
First, the nation will be challenged with the growing demand for retirement supports, like pensions and health care, and the costs to deliver the entitlements. Second, the high rate of retirements will cause growing needs for replacements in the work force. Third, the massive increase in older Americans will create a surge in the number of likely home sellers that potentially outweighs the amount of younger home buyers.
“As policy makers address fixing our broken immigration system, they must be cognizant of the perils presented by the retirement of the boomers and the vital role of a rational and forward-looking immigration policy for mitigating these threats and making America more resilient,” states the report.
More immigrants, who typically arrive at young ages, would help reduce the rise in the senior ratio, which is the number of residents 65 and older divided by the people in the prime working age group of 25 to 64. And they would contribute much needed retirement support, bolster work force growth and prop up housing markets, according to the report.
The Reform Institute, which is located in Alexandria, Va., advocates reform in areas of public policy including immigration policy, as well as homeland and national security, energy and environmental progress, economic opportunity and competitiveness, and governance and election reform.
“Everyone, I think, can agree that the current immigration system we have is broken and that it doesn’t work. We need to fix the dysfunctional system and reform the system in a comprehensive way that meets both the nation’s security needs and also the economic and workforce needs of the country,” said Chris Dreibelbis, communications and economic policy director for the Reform Institute.
Al Garza, national executive director of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a border watch group, said he thinks the U.S. permits enough legal immigration per year. And, he said, illegal immigrants are the cause of much of the country’s current economic problems.
“We allowed reform in 1965 and 1986, and it just continues to get worse. If it didn’t help then, how in the world is it going to help now?” he said.
Likewise, he said, the United States should not have entered into the North American Free Trade Agreement or the Central America Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA and CAFTA were supposed to create jobs in Mexico and Central America, but as a result people have come to the U.S. in search of work, he added.
Garza said instead of reforming immigration policy, government officials should enforce the current laws.
“Forget about all this nonsense that me and my neighbors are retiring at 65 and there is not going to be enough money. I’ve been hearing that crap since I was a kid,” he added. “There has always been enough money. If there is not enough money for retirement, then why are they allowing these illegal immigrants, as an example, to go on welfare and give them food stamps?”
Herald/Review reporter Jonathon Shacat can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathon.shacat@bisbeereview.net.
