The Hot Topic of Immigration

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Recommended: Effects of immigration on the economy

Immigration remains to be a hot topic. There are many issues to consider but let’s look at stereotypes and regulatory control issues. Just what are some of the stereotypes about the economic impact of immigration in the United States? We have all heard that immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans. This stereotype is based on two fallacies: that there are a fixed number of jobs to go around, and that foreign workers are direct substitutes for citizens (Dangelo 236). The truth is that immigrants fill the low-end jobs that increasingly the well-educated and comfortable citizens do not want (Dangelo 234). Another stereotype is that immigrant population is responsible for the rising costs of health care, education, and other human services that immigrants require. (Dangelo 233) The fact that about 70 percent of illegal immigrant workers pay taxes of one type or another but never receive the refunds of benefits from the system they have paid into goes unaddressed (Schaefer 104). “Philippe Legrain argues that immigrant labor is essential to the maintenance of economic vitality and the continuing prosperity of societies” (Dangelo 236) Study after study fails to find evidence that immigrants harm American workers. A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study by Ottaviano and Peri finds that the influx of foreign workers between 1990 and 2004 raised the average wage of U.S.-born workers by 2 percent. Nine in ten American workers gained; only one in ten, high school dropouts, lost slightly, by 1 percent (Dangelo 236). Recent studies found that immigrants are a net economic gain for the nation in times of economic boom as well as in recession. Despite national gains, immigration may be an economic burden or create unw... ... middle of paper ... ...ly. “In the United States, we may not like lawbreakers, but we often seek services and low-priced products made by people who come here illegally” (Schaefer 87) By hiring internationally, the United States is not encouraging our subordinate groups to enter desirable fields of employment and we are taking the best and brightest away from their native county (Schaefer 95). Immigration is a complicated and ever changing issue. Some regulations work and some don’t. Stereotypes abound so the immigrant is an easy scapegoat for our ills. There are also unexpected consequences for every regulation. Like everything in life, there is good and bad. Works Cited D’Angelo, Raymond and Douglas, Herbert. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Race and Ethnicity (8th Edition). New York: Contemporary Learning Series group within the McGraw-Hill Higher Education division, 2011.

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