With border now secure, US needs to boost legal immigration to strengthen economy, workforce, study finds

President Trump and Congress should approve new laws to boost legal immigration to strengthen the US economy and workforce in the coming decades now that the border is secure, a new study said.“Immigrants are likely to be more valuable than ever in achieving higher economic growth over the next several decades,” according to analysis by the right-leaning group Unleash Prosperity.The report recommends increasing the overall quota for annual immigration entries and expanding visas for high-tech foreign workers via the H-1B visa program.It also calls for expanding visas that allow companies to hire foreigners for seasonal work.“Due to profound demographic changes in the United States, expanding visas for programs ranging from high-tech H-1B workers, to seasonal H-2B workers, to EB-5 investor immigrants, combined with an increase in the overall quota for annual immigrant entries will benefit the U.S.economy,” the study insisted.Doing so will counter the demographic cycle of fewer young Americans entering the workforce and more Baby Boomers retiring and exiting the workforce.The study, co-authored by Richard Vedder, Matthew Denhart and Stephen Moore, comes as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration by tightening enforcement at the southern border and detaining and deporting illegal immigrants.Unleashed Prosperity was co-founded by Moore, an economic adviser who helped craft President Trump’s and the GOP’s “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” of 2017, which expires at year’s end.Other co-founders include Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media and former Republican candidate for president; economist Arthur Laffer and free market analyst Phil Kerpen.It has received funding from heavy hitters, including Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, who died over the weekend at age 80, the company said.

Moore praised the Trump administration’s actions that have ended massive border jumping and illegal immigration, making it time...