After several hours of dodging lawmakers’ attempts to get her to weigh in on the political issues of the day, Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen did comment Tuesday on the hottest hot-button issue of all: immigration.
“Slowing the pace of immigration probably would slow the growth rate of the economy,” Yellen told the Senate Banking Committee.
Yellen’s statement came in response to a question from Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., who tried to get her to address President Trump’s immigration policies, including his controversial immigration ban.
Yellen said she would leave immigration policy to Congress, but noted that population growth increases the size of the economy and that immigration increases population growth.
Asked about Trump’s calls for taxes on companies that move operations to Mexico, Yellen warned that the U.S. is “in many ways synchronous with the Mexican economy.”
Cortez Masto’s question came late in the hearing, after Yellen had already deflected inquiries from other senators about border taxes and immigration.
Yellen also studiously avoided talking about the possibility for major changes in taxing and spending under Trump or the possible reaction from Fed members to such moves.
Asked dirctly by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., the author of legislation to reduce low-skilled legal immigration, if increased low-skilled immigration might play a role in suppressing low-income families’ wage growth, Yellen simply responded, “I’m not certain.”
