By David Froshiesar

In the current American dialogue, immigration is often presented as a binary choice: a threat to be managed or a benefit to be embraced. For the local homeowner concerned about school budgets and the business leader worried about a shrinking workforce, these perspectives aren’t just political talking points—they are lived realities. To understand the true state of our nation in 2026, we must step out of the ‘either/or’ narrative and look at the ‘and.’ It is possible for immigration to be both a source of local fiscal strain and the primary engine of our national economic growth. Only by holding both truths at once can we see the reality of the American condition.

In today’s landscape, few topics are as polarizing as immigration. Whether in the boardroom or at the kitchen table, the debate often feels like a choice between two irreconcilable stories: one of a nation being overwhelmed and another of a nation being revitalized.

As an advisor, I believe the path to clarity requires looking past the rhetoric to the objective data of 2026. Here is a report on the current reality of immigration in America.

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The Local Strain: The Case for “The Negative”

The argument that immigration causes “harm” is often rooted in the very real, immediate pressures felt by local communities. While the federal government collects the majority of immigrant tax revenue, it is the cities and counties that provide the frontline services.

• Fiscal Imbalance: When a surge of new arrivals enters a specific region, local school districts must quickly find space for new students, and public health systems see a spike in emergency room visits. Because undocumented immigrants are ineligible for most federal aid, the “bill” for their basic survival often falls on local taxpayers.
• Infrastructure Pressure: In 2025 and 2026, “sanctuary cities” and border towns have reported significant budget deficits tied to housing and processing costs. This creates a perception of “harm” because the costs are highly visible and local, while the economic benefits are often dispersed and long-term.
• Labor Market Friction: While immigrants generally grow the economy, some research suggests that in specific, low-skilled sectors, an influx of new workers can lead to a temporary softening of wage growth for native-born workers with a high school diploma or less.

The Macro Engine: The Case for “The Positive”

On the national stage, the data tells a different story. Economists largely agree that immigration is not just a benefit, but a structural necessity for the American “business model.”

• Solvency and Growth: With an aging “native” population, the U.S. workforce would be in a state of contraction if not for immigration. In early 2026, reports show that nearly all net growth in the U.S. labor force over the last few years has come from foreign-born workers.
• The Tax Surplus: Undocumented immigrants paid nearly $100 billion in taxes in 2022 alone. Crucially, they pay into Social Security and Medicare—programs that are currently facing insolvency—without the legal right to ever withdraw those benefits.
• Public Safety: Despite the “migrant crime” narrative, 2026 data continues to show that undocumented individuals are arrested and incarcerated at significantly lower rates than native-born U.S. citizens. For many, the risk of deportation acts as a powerful deterrent against any legal infraction.

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The Ultimate Truth: An American Paradox

When we strip away the political leaning, we arrive at the “ultimate truth” of the American condition: We are a nation that is culturally conflicted by the very thing that makes us economically successful.

The “harm” people feel is rarely about the people themselves; it is about a policy failure. We have a system that welcomes the labor and the tax revenue at the federal level but fails to distribute that wealth to the local towns that bear the cost of integration.

The reality of 2026 is that the U.S. is currently facing its first period of “negative net migration” in half a century. We are beginning to see the result: a cooling economy, a labor shortage in agriculture and construction, and rising costs for the average consumer.

The Advisor’s Bottom Line

The truth of America has always been that we are a “work in progress.” Our strength has never been a static identity, but our ability to absorb and integrate new energy into our economic engine. The current friction isn’t a sign that immigration is “bad,” but a sign that our administrative systems are outdated for the scale of the 21st century.