The Investor Who Forgot How Markets Work
James Fishback calls himself a finance guy. But his worldview isn’t capitalist, it’s caveman. He talks like the market should close its borders and run on purity instead of performance.
Except… numbers exist.
Immigrants make up nearly one in five American workers, 19.2 % of the U.S. labor force, and they’re more likely to be working than native-born citizens (labor-force participation: 66.6 % vs 61.8 %). The CBO estimates that immigration will add $8.9 trillion to GDP and $1.2 trillion in tax revenue over the next decade. So no, they’re not “taking” anyone’s jobs. They’re literally keeping the lights on.
If you’re a foreigner in America, you have *no right* to our jobs or our homes. You are a guest. You’re free to go to Disney World, but we don’t have benefits or energy for anyone but our own. It's not racist, and we're not apologizing for it. Americans First. pic.twitter.com/gSySF0J3o7
— James Fishback (@j_fishback) October 28, 2025
The “Guest” Who Pays the Bills
Fishback says foreigners are “guests.” But guests don’t pay for the party. Immigrants do. Undocumented workers alone contributed $96.7 billion in taxes in 2022, almost $9,000 per person, and they fund programs they can’t even claim from, like Social Security and Medicare. If that’s freeloading, what’s paying more than you get back called? Patriotism, maybe?
The High-Skill Lie
Fishback wants to kick out high-skilled immigrants too, the very people who power the U.S. economy’s tech engine. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, without skilled immigration in the 1990s, U.S. IT output would’ve been 1.9–2.5 % lower by 2001. That’s billions in innovation left on the table. Cities with more foreign-born engineers see faster productivity growth and higher wages for everyone. The myth of the “stolen job” dissolves the moment you look at the data.
The Builders He Dismisses
Fishback’s version of “Americans First” leaves out the Americans who were once foreigners. 46 % of Fortune 500 companies, that’s 230 of them, were founded by immigrants or their children. Think Tesla, Pfizer, Google, AT&T. Immigrants are twice as likely to start a business as the native-born. These are the people Fishback thinks should be “guests.” Guests who employ millions.
The Housing Myth
Every xenophobe’s favorite deflection: “They’re making housing unaffordable.” No, zoning laws and corporate greed are. Immigration actually eases cost pressure, by providing the labor that builds new homes and infrastructure. Goldman Sachs found immigration helps lower inflation by expanding the workforce in exactly the sectors that were bottlenecked post-pandemic.
Immigrants don’t “steal” homes; they build them, paint them, wire them, and pay rent for them.
The Energy Argument That Falls Apart
Fishback says, “We don’t have energy for anyone but our own.” But America’s energy is people.
Cut immigration, and you cut growth. The Migration Policy Institute estimates immigration adds 0.2 %–0.4 % to GDP each year, that’s up to $72 billion annually. Without it, the U.S. workforce ages faster, the tax base shrinks, and innovation stalls.
That’s not patriotism- that’s self-sabotage.
The Math of Patriotism
Let’s summarize the real numbers:
The math doesn’t care about nationalism. It only cares about reality.
The Real Parasite: Ignorance
Fishback’s America is a gated community patrolled by insecurity. But the data say the opposite: immigration is the heartbeat of every modern economy. It’s what keeps the dollar strong, the companies growing, and the workforce young.
If Fishback really believes in capitalism, he should thank the immigrants who make it work, not lecture them from his bubble of entitlement. Because if there’s one thing worse than racism, it’s racism pretending to understand economics.
