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Utah economists sign letter challenging feds on immigration

Posted at 5:39 PM, Apr 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-12 19:39:14-04

SALT LAKE CITY -- Seven Utahns joined nearly 1,500 economists in signing a letter asking the President and Congress to reconsider their stance on immigration.

Thomas Maloney, Chair of the Department of Economics at the University of Utah, is in the group.

"This is sort of a topic where there's pretty widespread agreement," Maloney said.

The list of signatories backs him up, with six Nobel laureates and advisers to every President from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama.

The letter says immigrants tend to be entrepreneurial, they provide youth to an aging workforce, and they are more likely than native-born Americans to have skills in science, technology, engineering and math.

Along with Maloney, the other Utah economists who have signed the letter are:

• Amir Kia, Utah Valley University
• Arthur J. Caplan, Utah State University
• Arthur T. Denzau, Utah State University
• Brigham Frandsen, Brigham Young University
• Larry T. Wimmer, Brigham Young University
• Mark H. Showalter, Brigham Young University

The text of the letter can be found here.