Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has a problem: Her constituents don’t want to stay in Michigan. In coming years, outbound migration from the state will contribute to a decline in Michigan’s population, bolstered by demographic decline.
Throughout her time as governor, Whitmer’s progressive policies have tightened the screws on families and businesses in Michigan — and some people have called it quits. In 2019, Michigan lost 20,000 people, net, to other states. The flight has slowed somewhat in recent years, to 15,000 people in 2021 and nearly 10,000 people in 2022, but Michigan’s population continues to fall.
As Michigan residents either move out or grow old, a study by the Michigan Center for Data and Analysis identifies the key to reversing the state’s population problem: net-positive migration. Reversing a decades-long trend is easier said than done. As the demographic study notes, Michigan has generally had net-negative migration since the 1970s. But that’s not going to stop Gretchen Whitmer from trying to attract new residents at any cost.
Last fall, state Democrats established the Newcomer Rental Subsidy program, which provides up to $500 per month in rental assistance for refugees and “other Newcomer population-eligible households.” The program, which provides application materials in Arabic, Dari, Haitian Creole, Kinyarwanda, Pashto, Spanish, and “Ukranian [sic],” is only one of several programs aimed at attracting international migrants.
In February, Whitmer announced that more than $700,000 would be used to “support newcomer integration” across the state. These funds are designed to connect migrants with government programs in hopes of making Michigan “the state of choice for many newcomer populations,” according to the Midwesterner. Additionally, Whitmer’s budget for the next fiscal year includes $8 million to provide migrants with legal services, including funding for asylum claims. (RELATED: Border Is Big Issue for 2024)
Michigan Republicans have scrutinized Whitmer’s newcomer program, voicing concerns about “lax eligibility requirements and loopholes” in the program’s administration. In particular, Republicans are concerned that the program would incentivize illegal immigrants to make frivolous asylum claims on the taxpayer dime in order to receive funding for housing.
State Republicans point out that the “vast majority of asylum claims are defensive claims, filed by illegal immigrants caught in the country to avoid deportation,” the Midwesterner reports. Under the Biden administration, illegal immigration has ballooned, straining legal pathways to citizenship and integration. The majority of immigrants traveling over the U.S.–Mexico border are not detained, and most don’t have legitimate standing to claim asylum.
As Center for Immigration Studies resident fellow Andrew Arthur explained last year, “The average time that it takes to hear a non-detained asylum claim is more than four years — twice as long as it had been nine years prior.” Whitmer’s policies would provide funding for these prolonged asylum claims.
“They could get a year of taxpayer-funded housing — an incentive to stay in the country and in Michigan after making a frivolous asylum claim,” said Republican state House Leader Matt Hall. “Michiganders shouldn’t have their dollars taken to reward those who broke our immigration laws.”
Hall and a fellow Republican legislator requested information from the Office of Global Michigan (OGM), the department responsible for the rental assistance program, on March 27. Poppy Sias-Hernandez, Michigan’s chief equity and inclusion officer and director of the OGM, allegedly promised to provide answers by April 1 but didn’t follow through.
Undeterred, Hall and his colleague requested an official audit of the rental assistance program by Michigan auditor general Doug Ringler. Ringler’s office faces a 28 percent cut in funding in Whitmer’s proposed 2024-25 budget after audits “repeatedly exposed mismanagement in her administration,” the Midwesterner reports.
Whitmer’s program caught the attention of former President Donald Trump, who posted a video to Truth Social, saying:
She’s calling this scam the Newcomer Rental Subsidy. In other words, she’s calling illegal immigrants, many coming from jails, many coming from mental institutions, many … terrorists … newcomers. Isn’t that wonderful?
As usual, Trump’s flair for hyperbole hits on a bit of truth. Though Michigan is a northern-border state, Whitmer’s plan to boost the state’s population by attracting immigrants runs the risk of introducing similar problems to those already experienced by southern-border states.
In his visit to Grand Rapids, Michigan, earlier this month, Trump spoke about the recent murder of Michigan resident Ruby Garcia by Brandon Ortiz-Vite, an immigrant who had been deported during Trump’s presidency but had reentered the country illegally under Biden’s lax border policies. Ortiz-Vite confessed to shooting Garcia, 25, with an illegally purchased handgun before dumping her body and escaping in her car.
And Ortiz-Vite is far from alone. Illegal immigrants have been accused of violent crimes throughout Michigan this past year, including murders and the assault of minors. In Oakland County, which encompasses most of Detroit’s northern suburbs, members of a Chilean gang committed a string of robberies, “stealing millions in cash, jewelry, and other high-end items from dozens [of homes] in recent months.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Michigan is already a top destination for refugees and immigrants, both legal and illegal. Today, immigrants make up nearly 7 percent of the state’s population — nearly double the national rate of 3.6 percent.
Stabilizing Michigan’s population could be as simple as attracting workers and families from other states with good jobs, good schools, and lower taxes. Income-tax-free states like Florida, Tennessee, South Dakota, and Texas have all recently experienced consistent population growth of more than 1 percent per year.
But dispensing with Whitmer’s pet progressive policies and making Michigan livable for Americans would be too straightforward. It’s easier for Whitmer to throw taxpayer money at the problem, shore up Democratic support in the state, and then ditch Michigan for the national political scene.
Mary Frances Myler is a contributing editor at The American Spectator. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2022.
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