“This country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world. And the average immigrant comes from a less benign environment, and indeed that’s the reason they’ve come here. And I think they appreciate the benefits of this country more than those of us who were born here. And it shows in their entrepreneurship, their enterprise and their willingness to do the types of work that makes this economy function.”
– then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, to the House Financial Services Committee in 2001
Art imitates life. James Michener’s “Centennial” and Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation” are probably the two most celebrated books set in Colorado in the last 50 years. The former, historical fiction, takes place around 1876; the latter is a nonfiction account researched in the last decade. Each book features Mexican immigrants in Weld County.
Likewise, the historical reality is that Mexican immigrants, documented and undocumented, have participated in – and catalyzed – Colorado’s economy since, well, Colorado changed hands from Mexico to the United States in 1848. In the time since, the golden rule has always been net migration equals net economic growth, and it remains true today.
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