Here’s something to think about as a new presidential administration contemplates pulling up the gangplank to opportunity for the refugees and immigrants who still clamor to our shores:

In ... Lancaster County, foreign-born residents were single-handedly responsible for $1.3 billion of the county’s $25 billion economic activity in 2014.

That’s according to a new study by a group called New American Economy that was jointly conducted with the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce and the Lancaster County Refugee Coalition.

Here’s the key line from the report, which found that Lancaster County’s population of 23,094 immigrants and refugees had a huge impact on the local economy “through their high rates of workforce participation, large tax contributions, and spending power.”

Among other things, the study concluded that the county’s foreign-born population paid $52.5 million in state and local taxes in 2014; $103.3 million in federal taxes; $62.8 million in Social Security contributions and $16.4 million in Medicare contributions.

Foreign-born Lancaster residents also had $440.5 million in spending power, or about 4.3 percent of the entire Lancaster metro region’s spending power, the study found.

To be clear, this isn’t about giving a free pass to those who enter the country illegally or not thoroughly vetting refugees from regions where terrorism and violence are a fact of life.

In fact, data analysis showed many of the foreign-born residents who set roots in Lancaster County have become naturalized as of 2014. There were 13,570 immigrants who are now naturalized citizens, meaning 58.8 percent of the foreign-born population had naturalized as of 2014.

Of the 9,524 remaining residents, 3,698 are eligible for naturalization. Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Germany and Cuba are the top five countries from which people emigrated to come to Lancaster County.

If there’s one thing we know is true from the recent presidential election, it is that foreign-born Americans and Americans of color sometimes felt singled out and unsafe. Lancaster County went 57 percent for President-elect Donald Trump, who raised the specter of mass deportations and a Muslim registry on the campaign trail.

But guess what happens when immigrants and refugees are welcomed into the community instead of being viewed with suspicion and fear?

They stay and build businesses.

According to the study, 1,081 immigrants in Lancaster County are self-employed and their businesses generated $37.7 million in 2014.

That’s a future worth building by encouraging them and their children to stay:

“If Lancaster retains one-half of its international students after graduation with bachelor’s degrees or higher, 98 local jobs will be created within six years, 15 boosting the county’s real GDP by $19 million in 2014 terms within the next 30 years, and increasing its population by 766 people within the next 50 years,” the study concluded.

Americans are rightfully proud of being part of a nation of immigrants.

The story of Lancaster County and the vibrancy brought to Central Pennsylvania by a new generation of immigrants is a vivid reminder of that legacy and of our shared responsibility to make sure that immigrants continue to feel welcomed among us.