JALSA in The Boston Globe on Seeing the Value of Immigration

Full letter to the editor of The Boston Globe at this link.

Seeing the value, not the cost, of immigration

We’re letting anti-immigrant rhetoric seep into our consciousness

The article “Concerns on migrants shift Mass. politics” (Page A1, Oct. 20) was extremely painful to read and shows just how deeply anti-immigrant rhetoric has seeped into our consciousness.

Think about your day and all of the ways immigrants affect and enrich your life — say, your elderly parent’s caregiver in assisted living, your child’s preschool teacher, the scientist conducting life-saving research, the staff making your morning coffee or preparing your meal at your favorite restaurant, or the entrepreneur who opened up the new creative shop in the neighborhood. So many components of your daily life are supported by immigrants and immigration.

There were about 185,000 unfilled jobs in our Commonwealth in August, and unless we find people to come into our state and fill them, our economy is going to shrink.

The short-term investments we make in encouraging immigrants to build their lives and careers in Massachusetts will pay off in the long term. Immigrants are future employees, consumers, taxpayers, and neighbors. The states that realize this will be the winners.

Kira Khazatsky
President and CEO
JVS

Cindy Rowe
President and CEO
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action

Boston