Immigrants and North Carolina’s economy

This week at Prosperity Watch, we featured analysis of the role that immigrants are playing in communities that would otherwise be experiencing population decline. Immigrants represent not only a benefit in changing the demographic picture in a county.  Since immigrants are more likely to be of prime-working age, participate in the labor force and own a business than the native-born population, immigrants can make a powerful economic contribution to North Carolina’s rural counties in particular. Research has shown that immigration supports employment growth, that immigrant integration into diverse occupations delivers greater resiliency to a region and that immigrant-owned businesses can have a powerful revitalization force in communities.

Now new analysis from the Center for American Progress finds that, not surprisingly given the work referenced above, that the Executive Orders on immigration that would provide temporary status to parents of children born in the United States (DAPA) and enhance the program for childhood arrivals would generate economic benefits for the country.  From their analysis:

DAPA would result in a cumulative gross domestic product, or GDP, increase of $164 billion, an $88 billion increase in incomes for all Americans, and create 20,538 jobs per year over the next 10 years. Moreover, DAPA would result in payroll tax increases of $16.7 billion over five years.