Has New York City Gotten an Economic Boost From Its Immigrants?

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American Thinker:

 

 

New York's Mayor Bloomberg recently stated that "'opening the doors to all who want to come here and work' is a cost-free way to help the economy quickly."

Any discussion of immigrants and economic growth by Mayor Bloomberg needs to start with this fact: of all the cities in the U.S., New York has gained the most immigrants since 1990. New York's experience gives us an excellent, real-life laboratory for testing the thesis that immigration boosts the economy.

The first two sanctuary cities in the U.S. were Chicago and New York. Chicago's policy started with an executive order issued by Mayor Harold Washingtoni in March 1985, and New York's began shortly thereafter, in October 1985 with a memo issued by Mayor Ed Koch ordering all city agencies to make benefits available to residents regardless of immigration statusii. Mayor Koch formalized the Sanctuary policy with Executive Order 124, issued August 7, 1989.

Following these executive orders, the illegal immigration populations exploded throughout the U.S. Eighty-eight percent of illegal immigrants arrived after 1990iii.

In 2004, the New York City Dept. of City Planning published a report called "The Newest New Yorkers: 2000." The report documents the movement of immigrants to the city. By 1990, NYC had 2.9 million foreign-born residents, out of a total population of 8 millioniv. By 2010, New York's foreign-born had increased to 3 million, or 36.8% of the city population and 21.7% of the state total population.