Immigrants represent the backbone of Massachusetts’ economy.
They contribute over 103 billion dollars to the Greater Boston economy annually.
This contribution represents more than 25% of the local economy, while immigrants make up 21% of the state’s population.
They also represent 28% of small and medium-sized business owners in Greater Boston, according to a report that also revealed that over 40% of businesses on main streets are owned by immigrants. Immigrants mainly dominate the sectors of restaurants, beauty salons, car washes, and convenience stores.
This was revealed in a report conducted in partnership with the Immigration Research Initiative on the economic impact of the immigrant population in the urban region of the state of Massachusetts, located in the northeastern United States, according to an article published this week by WBUR, a public radio station and member of the “National Public Radio NPR”.
This report published Wednesday by “Boston Indicators” has highlighted the crucial importance of immigrants in the economic development of Greater Boston.
Luc Schuster, executive director of Boston Indicators, emphasized the dynamism of immigrants.
“They are extremely entrepreneurial and have contributed to the revitalization of many of our downtown areas throughout the region,” said Mr. Schuster, the leader of the Boston Foundation’s research arm, as reported by WBUR-FM.
Mr. Schuster added that immigrants have remarkable rates of economic mobility, noting that the median salary varies around 50,000 dollars for those who have lived in the United States for less than five years, then 60,000 dollars after ten years, and 70,000 dollars after twenty years.
“In the first few years of an individual’s professional career, incomes increase very rapidly, but incomes also increase significantly from one generation to the next, with children of immigrants often faring much better than residents born in the country,” Mr. Schuster said.
The United States as a whole benefits from this energy infused by immigrants, however, data show that “the magnitude of this economic mobility is even greater in Greater Boston than in the rest of the country,” Mr. Schuster pointed out.
Haiti is part of the largest group of newcomers along with China, the Dominican Republic, India, and Brazil according to the Boston Indicators report. While Greater Boston has over time become the home to a series of different ethnic enclaves, immigration has helped offset population losses due to the departure of long-time residents from the region over the past decade, the report concludes.
This study is published at a time when immigrants are facing unprecedented attacks from Republicans criticizing the Biden administration’s handling of the migration crisis.
Thousands of newcomers to the United States are welcomed by the state of Massachusetts. Many of them are forced to seek refuge in temporary shelters set up by the State of Massachusetts and the City of Boston.
The Malnea Cass recreational park in the Roxbury locality, in the center of Boston, has recently been transformed into a temporary shelter to accommodate some of the immigrants who were sleeping at Boston’s Logan International Airport.
A decision by Governor Maura Healey’s office that has been severely criticized by conservatives and some residents of the area who see this decision as a way to further impoverish Roxbury residents already grappling with serious economic and social difficulties.
But Governor Healey does not see it that way. These are newly arrived individuals who are doing their best to find employment and leave the temporary shelter system as soon as possible, Maura Healey responded, criticizing Republicans who use immigrants for electoral purposes.