In demonizing the Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, J.D. Vance and Donald Trump have forgotten what makes an economy work.
This is the problem with industrial policy. It might benefit the government-picked “winners” but it does nothing for the places that don’t get to host ribbon-cutting events and campaign speeches. It leaves everywhere else behind.
Even though immigration is ultimately overseen by the federal government, it’s a bottom-up rather than a top-down solution. Let people into the country, let them work, and they’ll go where the jobs are available and where the housing is cheap. They’ll go to Springfield, and places like it.
And they’ll show up.
https://reason.com/2024/09/19/immigration-is-better-than-industrial-policy