According to US Census Bureau data, in 2009 12.5 percent or 38.5 million of the population were foreign-born people where foreign-born is defined as anyone who was not a United States citizen at birth. Over half of these immigrants entered the United States during the last 20 years. (Walters et al. October 2010) More recently, 7 million immigrants or 17 percent arrived in 2005 or later. (Walters et al. November 2011) Foreign-born people constituted 14.7 percent of the labor force in 2005, up from 5.3 percent in 1970. (Ottaviano et al. August 2006) This increase in immigration has rekindled the discussion about the effect of immigration on native-born workers. United States policy makers, economists and news outlets have been trying to quantify and report on the effect the increasing immigration numbers has on United States citizens. The resulting reports are conflicting; while some point to decreasing wages and increased unemployment for our native-born population, others conclude that the effect of immigration on wages and employment is minimal and possibly even beneficial. After exploring several reports , I conclude that immigration is good for the economy, the labor market and the native-born workers.
How large is the immigrant population? From where did they arrive? What is their educational background? Recent Census Bureau data shows that “nearly 14 million new immigrants (legal and illegal) settled in the country from 2000 to 2010, making it the highest decade of immigration in American history.” (Camarota October, 2011) Figure 1 depicts the immigrant population in the United States for the last 110 years with 2010 being the largest with 40 million total immigrants. Figure 1 also illustrates the percentage the Unit...
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...ed November 20, 2011. http://www.nber.org/papers/w12497. (Ottaviano et al. August 2006)
Shierholz, Heidi. Ecoomic Policy Institute, "Immigration and Wages metholological Advancements Confirm Modest Gains for Native Workers." Last modified February 4, 2010. Accessed December 3, 2011. http://www.epi.org/publications/bp255/. (Shierholz February 4, 2010)
Walters, Nathan P., and Rachel Cortes. U.S.Census Bureau, "Year of Entry of the Foreign-Born Population: 2009." Last modified October 2010. Accessed November 2, 2011. www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/acsbr09-17.pdf. (Walters et al. October 2010)
Walters, Nathan P., and Edward N. Trevelyan. U.S.Census Bureau, "The Newly Arrived Foreign-Born Population of the United States: 2010." Last modified November 2011. Accessed December 3, 2011. www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/acsbr10-16.pdf. (Walters et al. November 2011)
In the years from 1860 through 1890, the prospect of a better life attracted nearly ten million immigrants who settled in cities around the United States. The growing number of industries produced demands for thousands of new workers and immigrants were seeking more economic opportunities. Most immigrants settled near each other’s own nationality and/or original village when in America.
Early statistic provide from scholar article has proved that since the 1970s to 80s, Census by state has documented a high population of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Passel and Woodrow indicate that the estimation of undocumented immigrants is 2.06 millions in 1980s; most of the undocumented immigrants are Mexicans. By the year 2000, more than 1.6 million captures were along the U.S border. In southern California, “with almost 2.5 million unauthorized immigrants residing in the state, California is home to almost one fourth of the nations unauthorized” (Gonzales 473). This group can split into two major types, which are people who enter U.S illegally and people who enter through admission with their overstay visa.
The numbers of immigrants to United States has risen from thousands to a record high of one million immigrants by the year 2008. The table below can represent this information
The change in demographics in Mexico is labeled as one of the larger reasons for the increased number of immigrants coming to the United States from Mexico. Ojeda cites that, over the past forty years, one-third of the immigrants come due to high birth rates in Mexico. Howe...
Among world regions, the number of unauthorized immigrants from Asia, Central America and sub-Saharan Africa rose between 2009 and 2014. The number of immigrants from Mexico has steadily declined since 2007, the first year of the Great Recession, but Mexicans remain more than half (52%) of U.S. unauthorized immigrants. ”(Jeffrey Passel). “Population growth is influenced by three factors: mortality (the death rate, which has been steadily decreasing in the U.S.), birth rates or fertility (children per woman) and net immigration (immigration minus emigration). “ (USPS).
The United States cannot afford to lose the economic gains that come from immigrant labor. The economy would be suffering a greater loss if it weren’t for immigrants and their labor contributions, especially during the 2008 U.S. recession. The U.S. economy would most likely worsen if it weren’t for the strong labor force immigrants have provided this country. Despite the mostly negative views native-born Americans have towards immigrants and the economy, their strong representation in the labor forces continues today. Immigrants aren’t taking “American” jobs, they are taking the jobs that Americans don’t want (Delener & Ventilato, 2008). Immigrants contribute to various aspects of the economy, including brining valuable skills to their jobs, contributing to the cost of living through taxes, and the lacked use of welfare, healthcare, and social security when compared to native-born Americans, showing that the United States cannot afford to lose the contribution immigrants bring into the economy.
The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2).
"Population Bulletin Update: Immigration in America 2010." - Population Reference Bureau. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. .
U.S. Census Bureau, (2010). Cumulative Estimates of the Components of Resident Population Change by Race and Hispanic Origin for the United States. Retrieved from http://www.prb.org/Publications/PopulationBulletins/2010/latinosupdate1.aspx
Nadadur, Ramanujan. “Illegal Immigration: A Positive Economic Contribution to the United States.” Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies 35.6 (July 2009): 1037-1052. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 March 2011.
Erika, Lee. "U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues." Journal of American Ethnic History. Vol. 20. Issue 2 (2001): n. page. Web. 18 Apr. 2013.
Vincent, G. K., & Velkoff, V. A. (2010, May). Retrieved MJune 2010, from U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p25-1138.pdf
Economically, immigrants greatly boost an economy by providing new job outlets, more money to companies, and reducing the unemployment rate. A large influx of immigrants will help many companies because of supply and demand, more people equals more needs to be provided. With the average immigrant worker working at lower wages, immigrants reduce the amount of money a company loses when paying their employees. A writer at The Fiscal Times connects this idea by claiming, “Without the immigrant labor, prices consumers pay for hotels and restaurants would be substantially higher (Furchgott-Roth).” Other than keeping vacations and dinners cheaper, immigration has yielded great results in the field of education. With a majority of immigrants relocating with their family or having a family in the new country, it is highly likely for them to send their offspring to school so that they can have a good education. This bodes well for the high school and/or college they attend because the children increase the graduation rate, which is one of many factors people use to determine how good a school is. Once acquiring a higher education, many of them will decide to open up their own business or wander into the job market. The former option has yielded excellent results for the United States, with immigrants owning almost one in five of the small businesses in America (Bass). The latter keeps a
During the last 10-15 years of the Progressive Era, more than 15 million immigrants arrived in the United States— a number equal to the total number of immigrants that arrived in the previous 40 years. In 1910, three-fourths of New York City's population was made up of either immigrants or first generation Americans. Unlike earlier immigrants, the majority of the newcomers during this time came from non-English speaking European countries. Immigrants mostly traveled in from...
Lynch, R., & Oakford, P. (2013, March 30). The Economic Effects of Granting Legal Status and Citizenship to Undocumented Immigrants. American Progress. Retrieved July 2, 2014, from http://americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/report/2013/03/20/57351/the-economic-effects-of-granting-legal-status-and-citizenship-to-undocumented-immigrants/