Why JD Vance’s Latest Immigration Claim About Springfield, Ohio, Is Just Plain Wrong

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JD Vance spoke this week about how the influx of migrants to Springfield, Ohio, has impacted the city’s prosperity. The one problem: he got it wrong.

“If the path to prosperity was flooding your nation with low wage immigrants, then Springfield, Ohio, would be the most prosperous country in the prosperous city in the world,” Vance said. “What’s actually happened is that over the past three-and-a-half years, while we’ve had this massive influx of illegal labor, what’s happened is we’ve had skyrocketing inflation, lower take home pay, Americans more dissatisfied with direction of the country and the economy than they’ve been in a generation. This is not the path to prosperity no matter how much a Wall Street bank says that it is.”

The city—which hit the headlines this week after former president Donald Trump suggested immigrants there were eating people’s pets—has seen an influx of about 20,000 migrants over the past four years. But as The New Abnormal breaks down in this week’s Bonus Podcast, the move has actually improved Springfield’s economy.

“First of all, I’ve said this a number of times and all folks need to do is Google. Springfield, Ohio, was in economic turmoil prior to four years ago. The city was on the verge, I think of just crumbling because of the lack of labor, because of the dying factory industry,” The New Abnormal co-host Danielle Moodie said. “Do you know what is happening in Springfield, Ohio? They’re seeing an economic boom that they have not seen in decades. So that’s number one. Number two, America only thrives on not f–king Dunking Donuts coffee, but immigrant f–king labor and is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. So what we need to do is invest in education because clearly that is something that JD Vance does not utilize at all.”

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“It’s good to have immigration because it does make us more prosperous and even if it didn’t, it’s good to have immigration because immigrants come here because they want a better life, and we should let them do that,” said fellow co-host Andy Levy. “It doesn’t have to enrich me for them to come here to make it a good thing. It’s just morally a good thing, in my opinion, to let people come here. Let people who want to leave a place that is dangerous to them or where they’re not prospering to come here.”

“Sometimes think we miss this, and this is one of the things that I have a little bugaboo about with the Democratic Party is that they always sound Republican-lite on immigration,” he continued. “It’s always like, ‘Oh, they’re good for the economy.’ I believe all of that is true. I just think it’s also a sign of moral goodness when you say, ‘Hey, come here if you want a better life, you’re a person, you deserve a better life, and hopefully we can help make that happen.’”

Plus! Journalist Jessica Pishko joins the podcast to talk about her new book, The Highest Law In The Land: How The Unchecked Power Of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy.

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, and Stitcher.