Wednesday, June 09, 2021

Kind of Puts a Hole in the "Immigrants are Poor and Will End Up on Welfare" Claim, Doesn't it?

Per the Washington Times:

According to The Times’[s] data, Mexicans paid an average of about $7,900 [to be smuggled across the US border] in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended cross-border traffic. The average payment this February rose to about $8,900. Central Americans’ average payment increased from about $9,400 last year to $11,000. Rates have held fairly steady in the months since.

Presumably those Mexicans and Central Americans were earning a lot less at home than most Americans earn here, yet they were able to come up with thousands of bucks to relocate. Compare to Americans circa 2019, per ABC News:

Almost 40% of American adults wouldn’t be able to cover a $400 emergency with cash, savings or a credit-card charge that they could quickly pay off, a Federal Reserve survey finds.
Looks like "illegal" immigration probably brings thrifty savers into the country and thus increases aggregate US wealth.

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