Tyler Cowen: A Conservative Case for Liberal Immigration

“If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” So spoke Don Tancredi to his uncle in Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s famous novel The Leopard. Few truths are more important for understanding the current American predicament when it comes to immigration policy.

The issue cuts in the exact opposite direction of how many critics understand it. Opponents of immigration often picture a rosy image of American life to which they want us to “retvrn”: the widely shared prosperity of the 1950s, backed by a growing economy, and leavened by an optimistic culture focused on family life. But if we wish to keep a dynamic, pro-wealth, pro-family American ethos in place, we will need a liberal immigration policy.

Unfortunately, we seem to be tightening. The migration inflow into the U.S. has declined precipitously, and it is not just because illegal border crossings have been curtailed (I do support that particular development). For instance, net inward migration was 2.7 million in 2024, but only 1.3 million by 2025.