The problem with the Reason article, Immigration Better Than Industrial Policy, is the allegation that immigration is a “bottom-up rather than a top-down solution.” I disagree. Over the last couple of years, I have wondered where the money came from for the housing subsidies and debit cards for the immigrants. I do not remember anyone in Congress debating this subject, but my gut says this looks like the heavy hand of the Federal government at work. I found the answer. The article, Chaos in Aurora, says:

the Biden administration, in partnership with Denver authorities and publicly subsidized NGOs, provided the funding and logistics to place a large number of Venezuelan migrants in Aurora

The same top-down solution that brought Venezuelan migrants to Aurora brought Haitian migrants to Springfield. The money came from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package. Immigration is a top-down solution, until it isn’t. Both Aurora and Springfield will have to figure out what to do when the subsidies run out.

Here is the comment I made on the Reason article.

I have a couple of points to make.

The nearest Honda plant is located in Marysville, 35 miles away from Springfield and much closer to Columbus than Springfield. A job at the Honda plant sounds great if you are fluent in English, have relevant work experience, and have a car. However, I suspect a small portion of the Haitians have these qualifications. The Dole plant is in Springfield and employs about 900. The Dole plant has more unskilled jobs than Honda. Even if Dole fired all of its unskilled employees and replaced them with Haitians, I doubt it would make much of a difference in the unemployment problem. So where are the 10,000 to 25,000 Haitians going to get a job?

Many of the complaints to the Springfield council members are about the overwhelmed welfare system. Non-Haitian residents are being squeezed out of the food banks and medical services. This is the same problem being faced by large cities like New York and Denver. Unfortunately, Springfield’s immigrant population is a higher percentage than that of New York or Denver.

The most important question yet to be answered is what happens when the subsidies go away. In Aurora, Colorado, the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package, subsidized migrant housing. I would not be surprised if this bill also provided housing subsidies for Haitians. Since this bill is unlikely to be renewed, what happens to the large population of unemployed immigrants in New York, Denver, Aurora, and Springfield?