"Impeding the path of immigrants—throwing up roadblocks that allow immigrants to come to the United States—is going to create some real economic problems in the future," warns Humphrey School of Public Affairs Associate Professor Ryan Allen.
Allen has been researching the potential economic impacts of immigration policies in the United States and Minnesota, focusing on the role of immigrants in the workforce and the resulting net fiscal effects.
"We're actually losing more of our native-born residents than we're gaining," says Allen. "More people tend to leave the state of Minnesota than move here from other states. And so, we're going to have to rely on international immigrants. If instead of increasing the flow of international immigrants we're reducing it, that's going to have an enormous impact on our labor force, and potentially, a large impact on the kinds of economic growth we expect in the state."
