As this immigration debate heats up the first principle to keep in mind is that we need to avoid static analysis. The latest study from the Heritage Foundation, by Robert Rector, a senior research fellow, concludes that the proposed Senate immigration bill would “impose massive costs on the U.S. taxpayer” by granting amnesty to low-skill illegal immigrants and allowing others into the country. He reckons low-skill immigrants cost Americans $20,000 a household a year, or $89 billion total, more in public spending than they pay in taxes, warns Mr. Rector. His solution? “U.S. immigration policy should encourage high-skill immigration and strictly limit low-skill immigration.”

Our own reaction to the report is that it begs for more dynamic analysis, which Heritage itself, during the Reagan revolution, helped pioneer in detailing with the effects of marginal tax cuts. There’s no discussion in the Heritage study of the fundamental benefits that immigrants bring to the economy as a whole. Yet the macroeconomic benefits of low-skill immigration include a larger, more productive economy, a more flexible labor market, and enhanced opportunities for native-born Americans. Low-skill immigrants have skills complementing those of others already here, reducing bottlenecks in the economy. Immigrant children grow into productive tax-paying citizens. Immigrants buy goods and services, which help expand American businesses.

Whereas many native-born Americans used to be gardeners or housecleaners, today many such households can be upper-income due to immigration. Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Diana Furchtgott-Roth, whose economics columns are published weekly on these pages, says that “The availability of low-skill labor allows Americans with these skill sets to be entrepreneurs, owners of landscaping or contract cleaning companies.” Without low-skill immigrants, many more native-born Americans would be trapped in low-skilled jobs while other such jobs might disappear altogether, as has been the case in Europe.

The availability of low-skill immigrant labor enables native-born Americans to be more productive. Men can work longer at the office — or spend more time in front of the TV — if they don’t have to take care of the yard and home maintenance. Women can join the labor force knowing that there will be household help to take care of their children. Partly due to immigrant labor, America has some of the highest hours of work in the industrialized world. It’s not just that immigrants help native-born Americans become entrepreneurs, but many of them are entrepreneurs themselves, providing jobs for native-born Americans.

A recent Kauffman study concludes that “Asians, Latinos, and immigrants far outpaced native-born Americans in entrepreneurial activity last year.” Whites have entrepreneurships rates of 0.29%, compared to rates of 0.33% and 0.32% for Latinos and Asians respectively. There’s nothing wrong with low-skill work, and America benefits from immigrants who do it. The proposed Senate bill would put in place an orderly process for admitting immigrants and taxing them to pay for public services. We don’t suggest the bill is without flaws — and there will be much debate about them — but whatever the bill’s flaws and merits, the most important thing to keep in mind is the need to avoid static analysis and comprehend that immigration itself is a catalyst of growth.