Steve Tobocman

Cities and regions do not grow without immigrants. Immigration accounts for all of Michigan’s net population growth. Businesses are feeling the effects.

Immigrants are a bright spot in our state’s population stagnation. We must stop thinking of new arrivals as a humanitarian challenge or domestic threat and recognize them as an integral part of our history, economy and future.

Former state Sen. Morris Hood III, who died of the coronavirus this spring, was a revolutionary leader who pushed against hyper-partisanship and never strayed from fighting for the people who put him in office.

President Trump cut off one of Michigan’s only sources of population growth — resettlement — but pure outrage and righteousness directed at his stance on immigrants can be polarizing.

Many places in Michigan are losing population. The solution: Visas specifically for skilled immigrants willing to move there. It’s an idea based on successful programs in Canada and Australia.

Look at the data, and you’ll see how much immigrants contribute to Michigan’s economy, and the state’s future.

That the city has lost U.S.-born residents isn’t news. That the foreign-born are taking their places – and improving the city in the bargain – might be