In the radiant crucible of individual liberty, where the unyielding spirit of man forges his destiny, immigration stands as a towering testament to the power of human potential.
The Cato Institute’s recent study, a beacon of empirical clarity, illuminates an indisputable truth: immigrants are not a burden but a dynamo of economic vitality, generating $5.7 trillion in housing wealth and $110 billion in property taxes in 2023 alone. This is no mere statistic—it is the resounding echo of rational self-interest at work, a symphony of voluntary exchange that enriches the nation.

The housing market, that concrete embodiment of man’s desire to claim his place in the world, thrives under the influx of immigrants. Far from draining resources, they pour their ambition into the soil of America, driving demand for homes and apartments. This surge in demand has preserved or created $5.7 trillion in property value—a staggering sum that fortifies the wealth of American homeowners. Each immigrant who signs a lease or buys a house is not a thief of prosperity but a creator of it.

Local governments, too, reap the rewards of this virtuous cycle. In 2023 in the US, immigrants contributed $110 billion in property taxes, a lifeline for schools, roads, and public services. This is not charity; it is the logical outcome of their economic activity. By renting or owning homes, immigrants fuel the tax base, enabling communities to flourish without raising taxes on others. In high-immigration counties, the fiscal impact is profound: state and local governments see revenues rise by thousands of dollars per immigrant, a silent rebuke to those who claim newcomers strain public coffers. The data is clear—immigrants are not parasites but pillars of fiscal stability.

Yet, there are those who, blinded by collectivist dogma, decry immigration as a threat to the nation’s wealth. They cling to the myth that immigrants diminish the pie, ignoring the radiant truth that wealth is not a fixed sum but a creation of human ingenuity. The Cato study dismantles this fallacy with unassailable evidence: immigrants do not displace native-born workers or depress wages in the housing market. Instead, they expand the market, creating jobs in construction, real estate, and beyond. Their economic contributions ripple outward, lifting all who participate in the free market.

To oppose immigration is to oppose the very essence of human achievement. It is to deny the right of the individual to seek a better life, to trade value for value, to build and prosper. The immigrant, like any rational man, is driven by the pursuit of his own happiness. In coming to America, he offers his labor, his dreams, his potential—and in return, he strengthens the nation. To bar him is to stifle the engine of progress, to shackle the creative force that has made America the envy of the world.

Let us cast aside the chains of fear and embrace the boundless potential of immigration. The Cato Institute’s findings are not just numbers—they are a clarion call to uphold the principles of a free society. Immigrants are not a problem to be solved but a force to be unleashed. They bring wealth, they bring vitality, they bring the unyielding spirit of man. In their pursuit of a better life, they remind us of the virtue of selfishness—not the looting of others, but the creation of value through reason, effort, and trade. America’s greatness lies in its openness to those