In a recent article in Realtor Magazine, Peter Francese (Ogilvy & Mather’s demographer) discussed several issues — which I shall touch on over the next couple of days.
The question that was the most striking to me first off was "What fallout do you see from the current backlash against illegal immigration?" I completely agree with him saying that this is a backlash against all immigration, and that the result will hurt the economy in several ways.
I don’t think I need to remind anyone that America was founded on immigration. We owe our economy’s entrepreneurial spirit to immigrants. Immigrants come here to work.
I deal with business owners every day. People that have taken an empty shell of a building and created something bigger than themselves. Some are natural-born citizens, but most of these people have taken the biggest risk of their lives by coming from another country and starting over here. Taking the much smaller risk of starting a business is nothing compared to that.
Francese doesn’t address the political ramifications of illegal immigration, and that’s not what I’m here to do, either. If you want that, there are lots of people willing to spout their opinions on that. I am merely agreeing with Francese that this recent sentiment and political rhetoric is not only affecting the illegal immigrants, but the entire recent immigrant population — and that is bad for business, and the economy as a whole.
