The cost of education and healthcare for minority youth is not an “expense”; it’s an investment in the future work force and tax base of the U.S. economy. And it’s an investment in the future security of an aging white population that will become increasingly dependent upon minority workers and taxpayers in myriad ways.

Viewed from this perspective, the anti-immigrant movement looks sadly self-defeating. At the heart of the anti-immigrant agenda is a desire to somehow turn back the demographic clock to the 1950s, when native-born whites were at the top of the social hierarchy and outnumbered everyone else. But the past half century of immigration and ethnic diversification cannot be undone. Even if it could be undone, what would we gain? A smaller workforce unable to support a burgeoning population of elderly retirees? We would find ourselves in the same position as Japan, where the government is desperately trying to lure workers from abroad because one-quarter of the population is age 65 or over.

Immigrants and the children of immigrants, Latinos and Asians, are an economic resource upon which the entire U.S. economy depends. Policymakers would be well-advised to recognize this fact and invest in that resource to ensure that today’s minority students are tomorrow’s successful and productive workers. And aging white workers who are approaching retirement should recognize that this new generation of workers is an ally, not an enemy.