John C. Austin is the Exec. Dir. of the Michigan Economic Center and a co-author of the recently released report. (Photo: courtesy of John C. Austin)

Ann Arbor’s Michigan Economic Center Study Reveals Anti-Immigrant Policies Could Derail Michigan’s Economy

By The Ann Arbor Independent Editorial Team Last updated Jul 13, 2017 0

by Akaash Kolluri

The Michigan Economic Center (MEC) released a new study yesterday titled “Michigan: We Are All Migrants Here,” that details the history of immigrant contributions to Michigan’s economy, and the critical contributions immigrants make today to the state’s rebounding population and economic growth.

The Michigan Economic Center is a center for ideas and networking to develop and promote key policies and practices for advancing our economic future and promotes and facilitates the adoption of the policies and practices by Michigan citizens and leaders.

“Michigan’s immigrant community punches above its’ weight in terms of new innovation and business development, raising the education and skill level of our workforce, and increasing population in our communities – all of which drive job growth,” said MEC Director John Austin, lead author of the study. “Michigan relies on legal immigrants to grow our economy, and we literally can’t afford policies that discourage them from coming, or that chase away those that are here.”

The study updated similar findings from the 2010 report by Steve Tobocman that launched Global Detroit, the immigrant economic development initiative for Metro Detroit. The new report also details the negative economic impact of Trump Administration immigrant rhetoric and policies, which threaten to undercut this work, and undermine efforts of Republican Governor Rick Snyder, many Michigan mayors, local elected leaders, business organizations, and civic leaders who – for economic reasons—have been working to make Michigan an immigrant-friendly state.

”Travel bans, immigration raids, walking back immigrant visa policies, all work together to freeze and ultimately reverse the flow of new people, new ideas, new entrepreneurial energy, and new global connections that have been Michigan’s economic lifeblood in recent years,” said Global Detroit Director Steve Tobocman, a study co-author. “Michigan and Detroit would have kept losing population in the past decade if not for immigrants, and we depend on them to rebuild communities, start new businesses, and put people to work.“

Among the economic contributions of Michigan’s immigrant community detailed in the report:

Population Gain: Over the last fifteen years Michigan’s legal immigrant population, today totaling 650,000 foreign born residents, has grown 24.5 percent, while the native born population has declined 1.5 percent. Detroit’s immigrant population grew 13 percent between 2010 and 2014, while other populations declined.

Entrepreneurship: Despite making up only 6 percent of the population, immigrants constitute 8 percent of all entrepreneurs; own 31,000 firms employing 150,000 other people, and are responsible for all the net new growth in main street businesses in communities like Detroit.
Innovation: Michigan’s immigrants are responsible for 25 percent percent of all Michigan’s high- tech startups; 76 percent of all patents issued to top research universities (including 74 percent of the 95 patents filed from the University of Michigan in 2011); and nearly 25 percent or more of all the software developer, doctor, and engineering jobs.

Talent Pool: Defying conventional wisdom, Michigan immigrants are better educated than native born Michiganders. More than 40 percent of Michigan’s immigrants (and 65 percent of those arriving since 2010) have a bachelor’s degree or higher, versus only 27 percent of native-born Michiganders. While making up 6 percent of Michigan’s population, immigrants account for 15 percent of Michigan’s much needed STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) workers; 1 of 3 students earning a STEM Master’s degree and 39 percent of STEM degree Ph.D. students are international students on temporary visas.

The report details the combined negative economic effects of the Administration’s travel ban, ICE crackdowns purportedly targeting Michigan’s very small illegal immigrant community (less than 1 percent of all non-native Michiganders are here illegally), and Visa reforms.

“These actions sent a chilling message to Michigan’s legal immigrants, current, and future: you are not welcome here,” said Austin. “It’s a message that jeopardizes the contributions of Michigan’s Muslim community, who make up 15 percent of Michigan doctors, 10 percent of our pharmacists, and a lot of our entrepreneurs. A message that is already discouraging our 32,000 international students and their $1 billion contribution to our economy and telling them to go away, and stay away.”

“These policies deny Michigan businesses, from high-tech firms to farmers, the technical skills and guest workers they rely on,” said Tobocman. “They deny our communities the immigrants they need to rebuild and revitalize empty neighborhoods. And worst of all they send a message that Michigan is not a land of refuge (we have settled 50,000 refugees in the last decade- 4th highest in the country), but rather force Chaldean Christians to repatriate and perhaps lose their lives in a hostile Iraq.”

The report makes recommendations for Michigan to grow its economy by becoming the most welcoming immigrant state, through a set of formal actions by state and local officials, strong business community leadership, and support for organizations that do the work of immigrant welcoming.