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After a campaign based around anti-immigrant sentiments, President-elect Donald Trump’s victory has created worries over the future of new Americans and those considering immigrating. However, immigrants play a vital role in the Ohio economy.

According to the American Immigration Council, “about 4.9% of the state’s residents are foreign-born, and 2.4% of its U.S.-born residents live with at least one immigrant parent.”

The AIC found immigrants make up 6.1% of Ohio’s labor force, while also accounting for 8% of entrepreneurs, 11.7% of STEM workers and 5% of nurses in the state.

“As neighbors, business owners, taxpayers, and workers, immigrants are an integral part of Ohio’s diverse and thriving communities and make extensive contributions that benefit all,” the council stated.

In addition, Ohio farmers say they depend on immigrant workers and say they’re desperate for government reforms to ease labor flows.

In Springfield, Haitian immigrants have been credited with filling warehouse jobs and helping to revitalize what had been a struggling economy. 

Even so, Trump and his vice president-elect, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, this summer pushed the racist lie that Haitian newcomers were stealing their neighbors pets and eating them.

But what roles do immigrants actually play in Ohio? According to the Immigration Council, in 2022 they:

• Paid $7 billion in taxes
• Spent $18.6 billion
• Primarily were from India, 11%, Mexico, 7.7%, China, 5.1%, the Philippines, 3.1%, and Canada, 2.5%
• 37,200 were entrepreneurs earning $944 million
• Made up 26.9% of Ohio’s doctors, 26% of software developers, 16.6% of postsecondary teachers, 10.3% of cooks, 5% of nurses and 8.6% of health aids
• 34,204 of Ohio’s college students were immigrants who made a $1.2 billion economic contribution
• Ohio’s 103,900 undocumented immigrants paid $616.2 million in taxes and 9,600 of them were entrepreneurs
• 52,600 immigrants were refugees with a 97% employment rate, and who paid $405.3 million in taxes 

Research has shown that immigration also boosts innovation, with increasing numbers of immigrants to an area correlating to increased patent applications.

However, it can come with downsides. For example, a 2016 paper published by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School said that strong immigration can initially depress the wages of the native-born.

“Most empirical studies indicate long-term benefits for natives’ employment and wages from immigration, although some studies suggest that these gains come at the cost of short-term losses from lower wages and higher unemployment,” the paper said. “Standard economic theory implies that while higher labor supply from immigration may initially depress wages, over time firms increase investment to restore the amount of capital per worker, which then restores wages.”