We need immigrants

Not only is the current Trump administration refugee policy cruelly inhumane, it also courts long-term economic disaster for our country.

Japan already suffers greatly from the problem of too few young workers to support its aging population. At least two other major countries, the U.S. and China, are approaching the same problem with their similarly low birth rates.

So where to get more young workers? By increasing refugees rather than burdening the world with more population problems by raising birth rates. The throngs seeking asylum, predominantly young people, are hungry for education and employment. We need these typically hard-working people to fund our popular programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

We may not need the million-plus new refugees that Germany’s economy recently absorbed in just two or three years. But for our economy’s long-term health, we certainly need more than the current theoretical limit of 30,000 per year, a figure probably not to be reached this year. We even need to exceed the yearly 110,000 of the Obama era. Otherwise we’ll lose our way of life by having to increase retirement age to 70 or higher. This will rob many people of their entire retirement.

Norm Luther

Spokane