WE NEED IMMIGRANTS

We Need Immigrants

They say the Minneapolis “Metro Surge”, the ICE immigrant purge, is over. Well maybe, but some sources say the ICE agents are moving to another city. Maybe they just can’t take the unrelenting heat of irate, righteous Minneapolis citizens.

Why is this administration hell-bent on mass deportations? The White House Deputy Chief of Staff, and the orchestrator of mass deportations, Stephen Miller asserts that immigrants have “sucked us dry”. Just about everyone I speak to agrees with immigration legislation and deportation of criminals. But I haven’t spoken to anyone who agrees with quota driven roundups, or housing detainees in “detention centers” (a euphemism for concentration camps) while they wait for due process that may never come. According to the CATO Institute there are 73,000+ folks, including children, in ICE detention as of January 2026. Of those 73% have NO criminal convictions and those with violent crime convictions is 5%. So “the worst of the worst” criminal number is around 3650. Why are we deporting the other 69,350?

Immigrants are vital to our economy. In another CATO Institute study published February 3, 2026, “Immigrants Reduced the Deficit by $14.5 Trillion Since 1994”, their contributions are explicitly detailed. This 29-year study (1994-2023) shows the amount of taxes paid by immigrants both legal and undocumented, even those with low wage jobs, far exceeds the amounts of services and benefits they received. The study’s bottom line? Not only do immigrants as a whole support themselves and use little of our social safety net resources, but they also actually subsidize our economy….to the tune of TRILLIONS! (https://www.cato.org/white-paper/immigrants-recent-effects-government-budgets-1994-2023)

I think folks who are here seeking work, paying taxes, abiding by our laws, and seeking citizenship should be given expedited work visas while they go through the process of naturalization. Read these reports. Decide for yourself.

Janet Jeffery, Gold Beach