The Rust Belt Needs What America Has Too Much Of
What we have heard recently is how immigrants are besieging border towns and cities such as New York and Chicago.
That is undoubtedly true when there are hundreds of thousands of people descending on a spot with little notice or planning. Cities and towns that are already growing without this recent influx are not crying out for more people, especially the unskilled. But there are plenty of places in the U.S. that are continuing to lose population. These are cities and towns that need an influx of new residents.
Commonly known as the Rust Belt cities, they have lost population due to their industrial base shrinking. As manufacturers closed, the existing residents fled to greener pastures. Cities such as Pittsburg and Detroit which have seen population declines have the infrastructure and the willingness to aid migrants.
Once established, migrant communities begin to develop their own economies. Small businesses open to serve the community. Schools that had shrinking enrollment begin to rebound. Neighborhoods are revitalized as housing that was neglected takes on new life.
The problem we have now is that the migrants streaming across the border are processed and dumped in the nearby border towns. There is no concerted effort to resettle them in places that could benefit from additional residents. The federal government has been totally negligent in this regard, leaving the states to cope as best as they could.
And then add the political hijinks of movement of migrants by red state governors to blue state big cities, there is a transfer of the problem without any thought to a solution. Detroit has lost almost 80,000 residents in the past decade even though the city has enjoyed an economic renaissance of sorts. What the city desperately needs is people to keep the progress made from slipping away.
While not quite so dramatic, Pittsburgh has lost 10,000 residents in the past decade. That city is very proud of the strides it has made to remake itself as an educational and medical center after the steel industry collapsed. Those gains are now threatened by a dearth of workers to service the city.
From Wheeling, West Virginia to Erie, Pennsylvania, the rustbelt needs new residents. It should be the federal government that is stepping in to make sure the migrants land in the places that need them. New York and Chicago can only absorb so many new arrivals.
Entire neighborhoods in rust belt cities are crying out for new cultures and new businesses to revitalize economies. With the addition of taxpayers to add to their coffers, these places can once again be productive local engines of economic growth. We should take advantage of the opportunity to the fullest extent by making sure that the potential of immigrants is harnessed to enhance our nation.
