Immigrants Make Big Contributions to Minnesota Economy, Study says
By Brandi Powell
Monday, December 23, 2014
Immigration is always a divisive debate and a new, non-partisan study shows its benefits for Minnesota.
It shows new numbers about how immigrants are contributing to the state’s economy.
Sharing African recipes, with up to 600 customers a day in the West Bank and Cedar Riverside communities; It’s what makes this Minneapolis small business owner Abdirahman Kahin proud.
“Our positive impact into the economy, and to the labor, and into a lot of aspects of life,” Kahin said. He’s glad to see those are some of the results from a new study out on Immigrant Contributions to Minnesota’s Economy.
Sarah Radosevich is a Policy Research Analyst with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Radosevich is part of the Minnesota Business Immigration Coalition, which helped author the report. “We found that immigrant purchasing power more like $7.7 billion a year,” Radosevich said. The study also found they contributed more than $22 billion to the state’s GDP. And more than $1 billion in state and local taxes. Radosevich said it’s good for the state’s economy.
KSTP asked Radosevich what she would say to people who argue people in immigrant communities take jobs away from non-immigrants. Radosevich said, “You know, on a case by case basis, that might be happening at the very micro level, but what the evidence shows, and this has been widely studied across the U.S., is that over time having immigrants here leads to more job opportunities for everyone.”
Some of those jobs are right here in the Twin Cities. Kahin, a Minnesota resident and Somali American, is opening a second restaurant at 5 West 7th Place in St. Paul, at the end of January. “I believe there is an opportunity there.”
The study is by three groups: The Minnesota Business Immigration Coalition, Americas Society Council of the Americas, and the Partnership for a New American Economy, which brings together more than 500 Republican, Democratic and Independent mayors and business leaders who support sensible immigration reform.
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