RUNNING HEAD

How Immigration Affects the United States Economy

Aileen Quinones
The University of Texas at El Paso

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Immigration has been a major topic of discussion in the United States. Some people think
that immigrants only bring problems to the country while others think that they contribute for
many positive things. Immigration brings good to the country by immigrants improving the
economy but it can also hinder it in some other ways, also an immigration reform can be
expected in order to make the United States a better country. In my report I will be talking
about how immigration improves the economy as well as what problems that it has caused, and
also how an immigration reform can be of key importance for the economys future.
Some people argue that immigrants come to steal Americans jobs but, economic
analyzers, argue that, Although many are concerned that immigrants compete against
Americans for jobs, the most recent economic evidence suggests that, on average, immigrant
workers increase the opportunities and incomes of Americans (Greenstone, 2015). Immigrants
do not cause U.S native-born citizens to have a decrease in their wage or in their employment
opportunity. The main reason for this is stated in the website, that U.S. born workers and
immigrants normally do not compete for the same jobs (Greenstone, 2015). A large number of
immigrants are low-skilled workers who come to take minimum-wage jobs in agricultural,
craftsman and contractors (USA-job.org., N.D). This allows the U.S born farmers and employers
to expand production and build more houses, buildings, etc. Not only are immigrants taking the
positions that are needed in the work force that others dont want but they are also creating more
jobs by starting their own business as The Washington Times states, The Partnership for a New
American Economy estimates that immigrants are nearly 50 percent more likely to start a
business than native-born workers, (The Washington Times, 2015); this immigrant
entrepreneurs are bringing jobs, including customers in the supply chain, and creates more

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revenue for local governments and resources for the community . Michael Greenstone also
agrees with this by writing, Another way in which immigrants help U.S. workers is that
businesses adjust to new immigrants by opening stores, restaurants, or production facilities to
take advantage of the added supply of workers; more workers translate into more business
(Greenstone, 2015). Taking the jobs that people from the United States dont want, they improve
productivity for businesses and they push for and immigration reform that address economic
concerns about the U.S. immigration system. Below, Figure 1 represents how many jobs will be
creates in the future years which is increasing since the Great Recession began, thus U.S born
citizens should not fear the loss of jobs for them.

HOW IMMIGRATION AFFECTS THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY

Figure 1

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Immigrants and their families are pushing for an immigration reform that in the long run
benefits the whole country. Michael Greenstone says, Our current immigration system has
myriad challenges: dozens of overlapping visa categorieseach with different quotas, costs, and
durationscharacterize the system of legal immigration, supplemented by country-specific caps,
and even a randomized visa lottery (Greenstone, 2015). This means that the country faces many
problems without an immigration reform, mainly because the government is not in full control of
what happens with immigrants.

HOW IMMIGRATION AFFECTS THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY

Immigration also hinders the United States by causing a few problems that affects U.S.
citizens. One of this problems is that illegal immigrants are ready to work for less amount of
money than U.S. citizens, they settle for less which attracts employers who want to keep more of
the earnings for themselves. Not only this but their cheaper labor cost will, in the long run, make
the minimum wage go lower if the others want to compete for the jobs; Friedberg and Hunt also
express this by writing, Immigration will lower the wage more if immigrants are prepared to
work for less than natives, as seems plausible in the case of illegal immigrants (Friedberg, &
Hunt, 1995). Also, not only will the wage of unskilled labor decrease, skilled labor will also
change; like the article states, If the immigrants are skilled, they will lower the skilled wage,
causing an ambiguous effect on the unskilled wage, due once again to competing substitution and
scale effects. This means that due to the fact that theres competition for jobs and wages, people
have no choice but to settle for another wage.
In conclusion, Immigration is a really important topic to discuss in the United States, but
most people are not well informed about the actual effects that it applies to the country.
Whichever way immigrants come to the country, legal and illegal, they have a way to change the
economy either positively or negatively. My report demonstrates both, as well as how an
immigration reform can help the country more efficiently.

Bibliography

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Friedberg, R. M., & Hunt, J. (1995). The impact of immigrants on host country wages,
employment and growth. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23-44.
Greenstone, M. (2015, october 5). What Immigration Means For U.S. Employment and Wages.
Retrieved from The Hamilton Project:
http://www.hamiltonproject.org/papers/what_immigration_means_for_u.s._employment_
and_wages/. Hanson, G. H. (2012). Immigration and economic growth. CATO Journal,
25-34.
The Washington Times. (2015, October 5). Why immigration is good for U.S growth. Retrieved
from The Washington Times: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/nov/18/whyimmigration-is-good-for-us-growth/.
USA-job.org. (n.d.). why we believe immigrant workers are a good thing. Retrieved from Jobs in
the USA: http://www.usa-job.org/why-we-believe-immigrant-workers-are-a-goodthing.php.