Afghan Refugees Are No Economic Threat to Americans
Far from becoming a drain on public coffers, decades of research has shown refugees, over time, will pay back much more than they receive.
Refugees aren’t the threat.
Photographer: Armando Babani/AFP via Getty Images
As the Taliban reconquers Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal, the U.S. has a moral obligation to allow in refugees. Many Afghans worked for the U.S. during the occupation, often risking their lives to do so; they've earned the right to a safe home in the country they chose to support. Opponents of immigration will marshal many arguments for keeping them out , including economic ones. But letting in Afghan refugees poses no danger to the livelihoods of Americans.
One economic worry is that refugees take American jobs; after all, Afghans living in America will need to find work. But the number of jobs in the world is not fixed; when you add more people to a country, and they start doing work, it means more jobs have been created. Employers simply find new things for the new people to do. Even if an immigrant does take a native-born person’s job, employers will find something new for the displaced native-born worker to do — often for a higher salary.