President
Joe
Biden
said
on
Wednesday
that
“xenophobia”
from
China
to
Japan
and
India
is
hobbling
their
growth,
as
he
argued
that
migration
has
been
good
for
the
U.S.
economy.
Kevin
Lamarque
|
Reuters
President Joe Biden said
on
Wednesday
that
“xenophobia”
from China to Japan and India
is
hobbling
their
growth,
as
he
argued
that
migration
has
been
good
for the
U.S.
economy.
“One
of
the
reasons
why
our
economy’s
growing
is
because
of
you and many
others.
Why?
Because
we
welcome
immigrants,” Biden said
at
a
Washington
fundraising
event
for
his 2024
re-election
campaign and marking
the
start
of
Asian
American,
Native
Hawaiian and Pacific
Islander
Heritage
Month.
“Why
is China stalling
so
badly economically,
why
is Japan having
trouble,
why
is
Russia,
why
is
India,
because
they’re
xenophobic.
They
don’t
want
immigrants.
Immigrants
are
what
makes
us
strong.”
The
International
Monetary
Fund
forecast
last
month
that
each
country
would
see
its
growth
decelerate
in
2024
from
the
year
prior,
ranging
from
0.9%
in
highly
developed Japan to
6.8%
in
emerging
India.
They
forecast
that
the
United
States
would
grow
at
2.7%,
slightly
brisker
than
its
2.5%
rate
last
year.
Many
economists
attribute
better-than-expected
performance
partly
to
a
migrants
expanding
the
country’s
labor
force.
Concern
about irregular
migration has
become
a
top
issue
for
many
U.S.
voters
ahead
of
November’s
presidential
election.
Biden,
who
has
condemned
the
rhetoric
of
his
Republican
opponent Donald
Trump as
anti-immigrant,
has
worked
to
court
broad economic and political
relations
with
countries
including Japan and India to
counter China and Russia
globally.
