The Positive Contributions Of Immigrants In Colorado

With Tax Day fresh in our rearview mirror, it’s a good time to reflect on the contributions immigrants make to our economy. Nationally, immigrants earned $1.4 trillion in 2016 and contributed more than $117 billion in state and local taxes, as well as almost $262 billion in federal taxes. This left them with more than $1.0 billion in spending power. Immigrants in Colorado play an important role in contributing to the state’s economy both as consumer and as taxpayers.

According to research, there are more than half a million immigrant residents in Colorado, representing 10 percent of Colorado’s population. They pay almost $4 billion in taxes and hold over $12 billion in spending power. There are 36,354 immigrant entrepreneurs in Colorado and 83,794 people employed by immigrant-owned firms in Colorado.

Immigrants are people with big dreams and big plans, who are willing to take risks and make sacrifices for the betterment of their families and their adopted countries. These are also some of the very characteristics that are valuable in business, particularly in states like Colorado with booming startup and tech communities.

That’s why it is so important that we give young immigrants an opportunity to learn and use the skills needed to become the next generation of entrepreneurs in our country. Both the immigrants who dream of coming here and those who are already here. Dreamers are the young adults who were brought here illegally as children and through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program have been granted the opportunity to study, work, and start businesses here.

Our economy is fueled by immigrants, and, in Denver alone, 22 percent of ‘main street’ businesses are owned by immigrants. In fact, modernizing our outdated and burdensome immigration system could create upwards of 4,700 new jobs and add $2.7 billion to Colorado’s economy. Instead, we have laws on the books that prevent skilled immigrants from actively participating in our economy. This is a disservice to our state.

Providing an earned pathway to citizenship for the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. would increase their wages and spending power, U.S. GDP by $1.4 trillion over 10 years, generate $184 billion in additional state and local and federal tax revenue from currently undocumented immigrants, and add more than 2 million jobs to the U.S. economy.

We should protect current immigration levels and work to pass immigration reform that makes it safer, faster and more efficient for prospective immigrants to enter the U.S. and begin contributing to our society.

Kaytia King

FWD.us Colorado Organizing Manager