By PAUL WISEMAN, GISELA SALOMON and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Associated Press

MIAMI (AP) — Having fled economic and political chaos in Venezuela, Luisana Silva now loads carpets for a South Carolina rug company. She earns enough to pay rent, buy groceries, gas up her car — and send money home to her parents.

Reaching the United States was a harrowing ordeal. Silva, 25, her husband and their then-7-year-old daughter braved the treacherous jungles of Panama’s Darien Gap, traveled the length of Mexico, crossed the Rio Grande and then turned themselves in to the U.S. Border Patrol in Brownsville, Texas. Seeking asylum, they received a work permit last year and found jobs in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

“My plan is to help my family that much need the money and to grow economically here,” Silva said.

Her story amounts to far more than one family’s arduous quest for a better life. The millions of jobs that Silva and other new immigrant arrivals have been filling in the United States appear to solve a riddle that has confounded economists for at least a year:

How has the economy managed to prosper, adding hundreds of thousands of jobs, month after month, at a time when the Federal Reserve has aggressively raised interest rates to fight inflation — normally a recipe for a recession?

Increasingly, the answer appears to be immigrants — whether living in the United States legally or not. The influx of foreign-born adults vastly raised the supply of available workers after a U.S. labor shortage had left many companies unable to fill jobs.

More workers filling more jobs and spending more money has helped drive economic growth and create still-more job openings. The availability of immigrant workers eased the pressure on companies to sharply raise wages and to then pass on their higher labor costs to their customers via higher prices that feed inflation. Though U.S. inflation remains elevated, it has plummeted from its levels of two years ago.

“There’s been something of a mystery — how are we continuing to get such extraordinary strong job growth with inflation still continuing to come down?’’ said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute and a former chief economist at the Labor Department. “The immigration numbers being higher than what we had thought — that really does pretty much solve that puzzle.’’

Workers tend to cows in the milking parlor at the Flood Brothers Farm, Monday, April 1, 2024, in Clinton, Maine. Foreign-born workers make up fully half the farm’s staff of nearly 50, feeding the cows, tending crops and helping collect the milk — 18,000 gallons every day. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

While helping fuel economic growth, immigrants also lie at the heart of an incendiary election-year debate over the control of the nation’s Southern border. In his bid to return to the White House, Donald Trump has attacked migrants in often-degrading terms, characterizing them as dangerous criminals who are “poisoning the blood” of America and frequently invoking falsehoods about migration. Trump has vowed to finish building a border wall and to launch the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” Whether he or President Joe Biden wins the election could determine whether the influx of immigrants, and their key role in propelling the economy, will endure.

The boom in immigration caught almost everyone by surprise. In 2019, the Congressional Budget Office had estimated that net immigration — arrivals minus departures — would equal about 1 million in 2023. The actual number, the CBO said in a January update, was more than triple that estimate: 3.3 million.

Thousands of employers desperately needed the new arrivals. The economy — and consumer spending — had roared back from the pandemic recession. Companies were struggling to hire enough workers to keep up with customer orders.

The problem was compounded by demographic changes: The number of native-born Americans in their prime working years — ages 25 to 54 — was dropping because so many of them had aged out of that category and were nearing or entering retirement. This group’s numbers have shrunk by 770,000 since February 2020, just before COVID-19 slammed the economy.

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Filling the gap has been a wave of immigrants. Over the past four years, the number of prime-age workers who either have a job or are looking for one has surged by 2.8 million. And nearly all those new labor force entrants — 2.7 million, or 96% of them — were born outside the United States. Immigrants last year accounted for a record 18.6% of the labor force, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s analysis of government data.

And employers welcomed the help.

Consider Jan Gautam, CEO of the lodging company Interessant Hotels & Resort Management in Orlando, Florida, who said he can’t find American-born workers to take jobs cleaning rooms and doing laundry in his 44 hotels. Of Interessant’s 3,500 workers, he said, 85% are immigrants.

“Without employees, you are broken,” said Gautam, himself an immigrant from India who started working in restaurants as a dishwasher and now owns his own company.

“If you want boost the economy,” he said, “it definitely needs to have more immigrants coming out to this country.”

Or consider the workforce of the Flood Brothers farm in Maine’s “dairy capital’’ of Clinton. Foreign-born workers make up fully half the farm’s staff of nearly 50, feeding the cows, tending crops and helping collect the milk — 18,000 gallons each day.

“We cannot do it without them,” said Jenni Tilton-Flood, a partner in the operation.

For every unemployed person in Maine, after all, there are two job openings, on average.

“We would not have an economy, in Maine or in the U.S. if we did not have highly skilled labor that comes from outside of this country,” Tilton-Flood said in a phone interview with The Associated Press from her farm.

“Without immigrants — both new asylum-seekers as well as our long-term immigrant contributors — we would not be able to do the work that we do,” she said. “Every single thing that affects the American economy is driven by and will only be saved by accepting immigrant labor.”

A study by Wendy Edelberg and Tara Watson, economists at the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, has concluded that over the past two years, new immigrants raised the economy’s supply of workers and allowed the United States to generate jobs without overheating and accelerating inflation.

In the past, economists typically estimated that America’s employers could add no more than 60,000 to 100,000 jobs a month without overheating the economy and igniting inflation. But when Edelberg and Watson included the immigration surge in their calculations, they found that monthly job growth could be roughly twice as high this year — 160,000 to 200,000 — without exerting upward pressure on inflation.

“There are significantly more people working in the country,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said last week in a speech at Stanford University. Largely because of the immigrant influx, Powell said, “it’s a bigger economy but not a tighter one. Really an unexpected and an unusual thing.’’

Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden’s immigration policy over the surge in migrants at the Southern border. Only about 27% of the 3.3 million foreigners who entered the United States last year did so through as “lawful permanent residents’’ or on temporary visas, according to Edelberg and Watson’s analysis. The rest — 2.4 million — either came illegally, overstayed their visas, are awaiting immigration court proceedings or are on a parole program that lets them stay temporarily and sometimes work in the country.

“So there you have it,’’ Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former CBO director who is president of the conservative American Action Forum, wrote in February. “The way to solve an inflation crisis is to endure an immigration crisis.”

Many economists suggest that immigrants benefit the U.S. economy in several ways. They take generally undesirable, low-paying but essential jobs that most U.S.-born Americans won’t, like caring for children, the sick and the elderly. And they can boost the country’s innovation and productivity because they are more likely to start their own businesses and obtain patents.

Ernie Tedeschi, a visiting fellow at Georgetown University’s Psaros Center and a former Biden economic adviser, calculates that the burst of immigration has accounted for about a fifth of the economy’s growth over the past four years.

Critics counter that a surge in immigration can force down pay, particularly for low-income workers, a category that often includes immigrants who have lived in the United States longer. Last month, in the most recent economic report of the president, Biden’s advisers acknowledged that “immigration may place downward pressure on the wages of some low-paid workers” but added that most studies show that the impact on the wages of the U.S.-born is “small.”

Even Edelberg notes that an unexpected wave of immigrants, like the recent one, can overwhelm state and local governments and saddle them with burdensome costs. A more orderly immigration system, she said, would help.

The recent surge “is a somewhat disruptive way of increasing immigration in the United States,” Edelberg said. “I don’t think anybody would have sat down and said: ‘Let’s create optimal immigration policy,’ and this is what they would come up with.”

Holtz-Eakin argued that an immigration cutoff of the kind Trump has vowed to impose, if elected, would result in “much, much slower labor force growth and a return to the sharp tradeoff’’ between containing inflation and maintaining economic growth that the United States has so far managed to avoid.

For now, millions of job vacancies are being filled by immigrants like Mariel Marrero. A political opponent of Venezuela’s authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro, Marrero, 32, fled her homeland in 2016 after receiving death threats. She lived in Panama and El Salvador before crossing the U.S. border and applying for asylum.

Her case pending, she received authorization to work in the United States last July. Marrero, who used to work in the archives of the Venezuelan Congress in Caracas, found work selling telephones and then as a sales clerk at a convenience store owned by Venezuelan immigrants.

At first, she lived for free at the house of an uncle. But now she earns enough to pay rent on a two-bedroom house she shares with three other Venezuelans in Doral, Florida, a Miami suburb with a large Venezuelan community. After rent, food, electricity and gasoline, she has enough left over to send $200 a month to her family in Venezuela.

“One hundred percent — this country gives you opportunities,’’ she said.

Marrero has her own American dream:

“I imagine having my own company, my house, helping my family in a more comfortable way.”

Wiseman and Rugaber reported from Washington, Salomon from Miami.

Emanuel Reynoso was at the heights of his playmaking powers during the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs.

In his first year with Minnesota United, the Argentine attacking midfielder had six primary assists and a wonderful free-kick goal in a three-match postseason run to the Western Conference final.

Reynoso continued to dazzle across the following three MLS seasons, including two MLS All-Star invitations and status as one of six players league-wide to have double digit goals and total assists in 2022.

But Reynoso’s cornerstone position within MNUFC has cracked over the last two years. Three unexcused absences where he has remained in Argentine have damaged his standing within the Loons organization and across its fan base.

It’s a shame. If the 28-year-old would remain committed to the Loons, he could be solidifying his status as a club legend and one of the best players in MLS.

Reynoso’s third defection from MNUFC in two years came to light this week when new Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad shared Reynoso did not attend a U.S. green card meeting on March 25 and has remained in Argentina. The club directed Reynoso to seek permanent resident status in the U.S. in order to to vacate one of its eight international roster spots, so the club, in turn, can be more active internationally in the summer transfer window.

First-year head coach Eric Ramsay has been adjusting midseason to his new team within a foreign league and the Welshman has to manage a squad around the glaring absence of its best player.

“The strength of this group is the group and the team, and the maturity that a big chunk of the group have, so I don’t really want to get too drawn into the intricacies of the administrative side of it or how it’s perceived elsewhere,” said Ramsay, who is preparing for Saturday night’s match against Houston Dynamo at Allianz Field. “… I want to focus on this group and these players and the staff that are here as the club has also said.”

MNUFC has been in direct communications with Reynoso, and it’s possible he returns to Minnesota soon. But if and when he does arrive, Reynoso could be subjected to a longer route to return to MLS action. That path might include a training stint with MNUFC2, the club’s developmental team.

This time away from the MLS team would potentially go behind the necessary build up he would need to get fit after missing three weeks of training. The last line of El-Ahmad’s statement might be the most revealing window into his thinking and lack of star-player treatment: “Our entire focus is on the players and staff who are here.”

When Reynoso didn’t report to Minnesota until May last season and he missed the opening 40 percent of games, MLS suspended him without pay. His salary was $2.1 million in 2023, according to MLS Players Association. Withholding paychecks is a lever at the league’s disposal this time around as well and might have already been pulled.

When Reynoso returned to the Loons last season, he was sidelined only long enough to get fit and he was cheered when he stepped onto the grass at Allianz Field in June. He said family issues kept him in Argentina; no reason for his absence has been shared so far this time.

Fans, however, don’t appear to be as forgiving now. With news of his latest absence dropping Tuesday, some supporters on social media called for his contract to be bought out.

There is no advantage for MNUFC to ditch him like that. He is signed through the end of the 2025 season and he is too talented and still too valuable to be that rash.

The Loons paid Argentina club Boca Juniors a $5 million transfer fee for Reynoso in 2020 and this latest drama will likely depress his price on the open market and drive potential suitors to seek a discount.

But selling him for, let’s say, a quarter instead of a dollar would obviously be better than just letting him walk for nothing.

If this is the beginning of the end of Reynoso’s tenure in Minnesota, the club might consider a trade within MLS, but that would most likely come in exchange of General Allocation Money (GAM), a pool of funds MNUFC is believed to have an abundance.

Plus, an intra-league trade, especially to a Western Conference competitor, would also result in the need to play against Reynoso and be subject to his playmaking prowess at their own expense in the standings.

A transfer outside of MLS — possibly to Mexico’s Liga MX? — would come with a fee of actual dollars and no need to play against the dangerous central attacking midfielder on a regular basis.

But would the Loons be swayed to sell Reynoso to a club in Mexico for, say, $1 million, or be more inclined to trade him within MLS for a hypothetical figure of $1.5 million in GAM?

The MLS primary transfer window is open until April 23, but nothing is expected to happen that quickly. The summer transfer window, however, opens July 18 and closes Aug. 14; that would be the first feasible option for the Loons to move Reynoso. Or they could wait and send him elsewhere after the season.

There remains a need within United for player of Reynoso’s exceeding on-ball skills. Take the 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake last weekend: the Loons clearly missed Reynoso’s ability to create scoring chances, and they don’t have a player that can regularly rise to that pulling-strings level.

The club saw Reynoso’s buy-in to the team and the new leadership pair of El-Ahmad and Ramsay to start this season and don’t see him as some sort of diva when he is Minnesota. But when he goes to his hometown of Cordoba, Argentina, he appears to allows himself to gets sucked in.

The best course of action for MNUFC appears to be a combination of patience for Reynoso to return to Minnesota and work his way back into the MLS team, and meanwhile, the club can take time to explore a wider range of options for a possible divorce with the most-talented player in club history.

Measles outbreaks in the U.S. and abroad are raising health experts’ concern about the preventable, once-common childhood virus.

One of the world’s most contagious diseases, measles can lead to potentially serious complications. The best defense, according to experts? Get vaccinated.

Here’s what to know about the year — so far — in measles.

How many measles cases has the U.S. seen this year?

Nationwide, measles cases already are nearly double the total for all of last year.

The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention documented 113 cases as of April 5. There have been seven outbreaks and most of U.S. cases — 73% — are linked to those flare-ups.

Still, the count is lower than some recent years: 2014 saw 667 cases and 2019 had 1,274.

Why is this a big deal?

The 2019 measles epidemic was the worst in almost three decades, and threatened the United States’ status as a country that has eliminated measles by stopping the continual spread of the measles virus.

The CDC on Thursday released a report on recent measles case trends, noting that cases in the first three months of this year were 17 times higher than the average number seen in the first three months of the previous three years.

While health officials seem to be doing a good job detecting and responding to outbreaks, “the rapid increase in the number of reported measles cases during the first quarter of 2024 represents a renewed threat to elimination,” the report’s authors said.

Where is measles coming from?

The disease is still common in many parts of the world, and measles reaches the U.S. through unvaccinated travelers.

According to Thursday’s report, most of the recent importations involved unvaccinated Americans who got infected in the Middle East and Africa and brought measles back to the U.S.

Where were this year’s U.S. measles outbreaks?

Health officials confirmed measles cases in 17 states so far this year, including cases in New York City, Philadelphia and Chicago.

More than half of this year’s cases come from the Chicago outbreak, where 61 people have contracted the virus as of Thursday, largely among people who lived in a migrant shelter.

The city health department said Thursday that cases are on the decline after health officials administered 14,000 vaccines in just over a month.

How does measles spread?

Measles is highly contagious. It spreads when people who have it breathe, cough or sneeze and through contaminated surfaces. It also can linger in the air for two hours.

Up to 9 out of 10 people who are susceptible will get the virus if exposed, according to the CDC.

Measles used to be common among kids. How bad was it?

Before a vaccine became available in 1963, there were some 3 million to 4 million cases per year, which meant nearly all American kids had it sometime during childhood, according to the CDC. Most recovered.

But measles can be much more than an uncomfortable rash, said Susan Hassig, an infectious disease researcher at Tulane University.

“I think that people need to remember that this is a preventable disease,” Hassig said. “It is a potentially dangerous disease for their children.”

In the decade before the vaccine was available, 48,000 people were hospitalized per year. About 1,000 people developed dangerous brain inflammation from measles each year, and 400 to 500 died, according to the CDC.

Is the measles vaccine safe? Where do vaccination rates stand?

The measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine is safe and effective. It is a routine and recommended childhood vaccine that is split into two doses.

Research shows it takes a very high vaccination rate to prevent measles from spreading: 95% of the population should have immunity against the virus.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, national vaccination rates for kindergartners fell to 93% and remain there. Many pockets of the country have far lower rates than that. The drop is driven in part by record numbers of kids getting waivers.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

This is the moment Vikings general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell have been waiting for since they sat alongside each other during their introductory press conference on Feb. 17, 2022.

They talked all about collaboration at the time as they helped the Vikings usher in a new era. They projected how good they could be in the present with Kirk Cousins under center, while still making sure to focus on the future. They kept their eye on this draft class, in particular, knowing that’s where they would potentially be able to select their next quarterback.

Now all they have to do is go out and execute a plan that has been a couple of years in the making.

As the Vikings prepare for the 2024 NFL Draft on April 25-27, they do so in possession of the No. 11 pick of the first round, with the No. 23 pick in their back pocket. That should be more than enough ammunition to make a blockbuster deal.

That’s important because they are probably going to have to trade up to have a chance at drafting one of three quarterbacks — LSU’s Jayden Daniels, North Carolina’s Drake Maye or Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy.

Though it’s unclear which quarterback the Vikings have ranked the highest, Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell should be willing to do whatever it takes to make sure they get the guy they want.

It’s impossible for the Vikings to overpay in the pursuit of their next quarterback.

Let’s say they like Daniels or Maye and either the Washington Commanders, who have the No. 2 pick, or the New England Patriots, who have the No. 3 pick, are asking for a king’s ransom in return.

Doing a deal shouldn’t even be a question for the Vikings if they can get somebody of that caliber.

Let’s say they also like McCarthy, and either the Arizona Cardinals, who have the No. 4 pick, or the Los Angeles Chargers, who have the No. 5 pick, agree to move back if the price is right.

It would be worth it for the Vikings to do a deal rather than run the risk another team jumping them in line.

You can’t afford to settle at this point. Not with a decision of this magnitude.

Look no further than the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs for a case study in how trading up can pay off. They honed in on Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes ahead of the 2017 draft, and they made sure they got him. It was a similar story for the Buffalo Bills the following year. They fell in love with Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen ahead of the 2018 draft and didn’t sit back and wait for him to fall into their lap.

It’s safe to assume neither the Chiefs nor the Bills are thinking about the draft picks it took to make those deals happen. They are both set at the most important position in sports for the foreseeable future. That’s the only thing that matters.

Sure, for every Mahomes and Allen, there’s the other side of the spectrum, like when the San Francisco 49ers gave up the farm for North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance, or when the Carolina Panthers mortgaged their future for Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.

Just because something is risky doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. The fear of striking out shouldn’t stop the Vikings from trying to hit a home run.

That’s something Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell need to remember as they contemplate how much they’re willing to give up to to make sure they get the guy they want. If they get it right, it won’t matter, because nobody is going to care how much it cost. If they get it wrong, it won’t matter, because they probably won’t be around to see it through.

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