Immigration 2016:

Why America Needs Immigrants For Innovation Rather Than

Threatening Them With Deportation.

Moises Casilla
Salt Lake Community College

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Immigration is not new to the United States, since the first European settlements in
the 1600s individuals have chosen to come to this country in pursue of religious and
economic freedom. Attitudes toward immigration have cycled between favorable and hostile
since the 1790s. In recent years resentment against immigrants is on the rise, with terrorist
attacks and middle class citizens feeling the pressure of new competition, the country faces
a president-elect that thrives on racist and oensive remarks against immigrants. Individuals
should not forget that at one time or another their folks came here as immigrants
themselves and that this country was based on the ideal of being the land of opportunity
where all men are created equal. Because of the increasing resentment and hatred towards
immigrants I have decided to show how immigration boosts the U.S economy by bringing
diversity and innovation and how a broken immigration system can be fixed with a
comprehensive immigration reform.
Before diving into numbers, it is important to point out the cultural diversity that
immigration brings and that has been so important in the history of this country, ranging
from dierent foods like Italian, Asian or Mexican to dierent styles of music like bachata
or reggae. It is also important to know that some of the most influential individuals in our
history have come here from dierent countries as immigrants, Alexander Hamilton, Albert
Einstein, Sergey Brin, Nikola Tesla and Elon Musk to name a few.
So if we owe immigrants for a great part of our diversity and some of the great
inventions in history why do some people resent them? There is several reasons why, too
many to point out and most of the them being on an individual basis and based on personal
experiences. In the research performed for this paper I have chosen what I think are the
two major reasons why some individuals dislike immigrants.
First, individuals just feel plain fear for what is dierent and they feel threaten by what
is new. A poll conducted in 2015 by Rasmussen Reports found that 51% of likely U.S voters
believe illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from U.S citizens, 39% disagree and 11% were
unsure (Rasmussen Reports, 2015). Acts of terrorism and religious illiteracy are behind the
increasing resentment and fear as well, specially against Muslims. Ali Asani, a professor of
Harvard university explained that the rising anti-Muslim sentiment was caused by a deep
polarization between Muslims and no-Muslims mainly caused by Americas religious
illiteracy and fueled by terrorist organizations (As cited by Laidler, 2016).
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Second and last, racism is real and still very alive today. There is many examples of
racism in America and if you are a minority you dont have to look very far to realize that
you are going to be discriminated against at one point or another. Looking at an specific
example, in this chart below published by The Hungton Post we can see how employers
are more likely to turn down job applicants if they have an African-American sounding name
(The Hungton Post, 2014).

The chart represents a minor example considering other stories concerning race like
police brutality against people of color, the racial increasing wealth gap, minorities being
more likely to be incarcerated and turned down for conventional mortgage loans and many
more. Being part of a minority myself I have experienced name calling, stereotypes and
rejection just for not being white or for having an accent. The point is that America is still
very racist whether you realize it or not.
By focusing on these feelings and emotions of many dissatisfied Americans, the
president-elect was able to rise to the top and win the election. There is a lot of uncertainty
as to what will happen under a Trump administration because of the remarks and rhetoric
used during his campaign, however, my intent with this paper is not to make predictions or
get to deep into a political discussion but rather show why immigrants are an essential part
of this country and our economy and why it is in our best interest to fix our broken
immigration system.

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Immigration represents a significant economic advantage to the United States, many

immigrants are natural entrepreneurs with an immense ambition, they establish companies,
create jobs and drive innovation. In a study performed for the U.S Small Business
Administration, it was found that immigrants have higher business ownership and formation
rates than non-immigrants, 1 out of 10 immigrant workers owns a business and 0.62% start a
business each month (Fairlie, 2012). Not only do they take the initiative of owning
businesses but the highly trained and educated ones are inventive and productive. A 2008
study published by the University of Harvard Business School found that immigrants
accounted for almost half of all scientist and engineers who have a doctorate and
represented a 67% increase in the U.S science and engineering workforce (Kerr and Lincoln,
2008).
Surprisingly and contrary to popular belief, immigrants are not taking jobs away from
Americans but rather complementing native-born workers. As Tamar Jacoby the CEO and
president of Immigration-works USA explains (Jacoby, 2006),
immigrants complement, rather than substitute for, native-born workers. In
other words, the more dierent the foreigners arethe less interchangeable
with Americansthe more they add.
Because immigrants are so dierent from native-born Americans either less or more
educated they are not in competition with natives but rather take jobs that Americans do
not want to take or are not skillful enough to take. Think of a corporation, if all the
employees were the same adding more of them would expand the business until reaching
the maximum capacity of output in the production function. This is true unless the
employees have a dierent set of skills and are dierent than the other employees, that is
why corporations benefit so much from immigrant workers.
Immigrants do not only substantially expand our labor force but economic growth is
increasingly driven by Hispanic and Asian consumers with a purchasing power of nearly $2
trillion (Weeks, 2015). By being workers and consumers themselves they only make America
stronger and drive the U.S economy forward. As president Obama said at a naturalization
ceremony held at the white house in 2012 (As cited by Furman and Gray, 2012),

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The lesson of these 236 years is clear immigration makes America stronger.
Immigration makes us more prosperous.And immigration positions
America to lead in the 21st century. And these young men and women are
testaments to that.No other nation in the world welcomes so many new
arrivals. No other nation constantly renews itself, refreshes itself with the
hopes, and the drive, and the optimism, and the dynamism of each new
generation of immigrants.You are all one of the reasons that America is
exceptional.Youre one of the reasons why, even after two centuries,
America is always young, always looking to the future, always confident that
our greatest days are still to come.
It is evident that one of the reasons America is the most powerful nation in the world
is because it serves as the host of the talent of many individuals that come here in pursue of
opportunity and freedom. We serve as the example to other nations, welcoming many
individuals to this country every year and we should make sure that it remains that way. Not
everything is perfect and our immigration system has many flaws but it is in the best
interest of the government to fix the broken system because immigrants represent a major
part of our economy and are also a great part of the population.
Immigrants actually represent 13.3% of the total population which is approximately
42.1 million individuals. A major part of the 42.1 million people include approximately 11.5
million that are considered unauthorized workers or simply illegal immigrants (Camarota
and Zeigler, 2015). The majority of these illegal immigrants come here from Mexico while
the rest come here from other Latin American or Asian countries were people are often
oppressed and there is no real opportunity.
The U.S government has attempted for decades to put a stop to the influx of
unauthorized immigrants from Mexico by putting in place enforcement-only measures
along the border. Measures that have failed to solve the problem and have resulted in a
downward pressure on wages for Americans since illegal immigrants represent cheap labor.

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A comprehensive immigration reform that legalizes these workers and creates more
flexible limits on future immigration will benefit the U.S economy but also U.S workers by
raising the wage floor. A white house report published in 2013 outlines all of the benefits
that a comprehension immigration reform will have for our country as we can see in this
chart below,

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Source: Executive Oce of the President, prepared by the National Economic Council, the
Domestic Policy Council, the Presidents Council of Economic Advisers and the Oce of
Management and Budget. (2013).
It is clear that the benefits of a comprehensive immigration reform outweigh any
potential costs. A comprehensive immigration reform is the answer to our broken
immigration system. By recognizing and acknowledging the importance of immigration we
could work together as a country to make sure that the U.S is benefitting as much as
possible from the talent of immigrants and that we keep being the country that leads in
innovation for many centuries to come.
Whether you are a republican or democrat or whether you support President Obama
or not, it is undeniable that immigration is of highly importance for the country and the
economy and that our immigration system needs to be fixed. Rather than threatening
millions of immigrants with deportation and proposing that as a solution, we should work
together to find a better path that leads to the benefit of all. That path is a comprehensive
immigration reform, which could potentially raise the wage floor, bring innovation, diversity
and billions of dollars into our economy. These are more than enough reasons and incentives
to take a look at the issue and move forward with a plan of action. We should stand up
against the oensive remarks of the president-elect and not let ignorance and anger be the
driving force of our decisions. I hope Americans can realize that immigration makes us
stronger and that instead of looking for division we should look to unify the country and
come together to work toward progress.

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References
Camarota, S. Zeigler, K. (2015). Immigrant Population Hits Record 42.1 Million in Second
Quarter of 2015. Center for Immigration Studies.
Retrieved from: http://cis.org/Immigrant-Population-Hits-Record-Second-Quarter-2015
Executive Oce of the President. The National Economic Council. The Domestic Policy
Council. The Presidents Council of Economic Advisers. The Oce of Management and
Budget. (2013). THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF FIXING OUR BROKEN
IMMIGRATION SYSTEM. The White House Report.
Retrieved from: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/report.pdf
Fairlie, R. (2012). Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners and their Access to
Financial Capital. U.S Small Business Administration.
Retrieved from: https://www.sba.gov/content/immigrant-entrepreneurs-and-small-businessowners-and-their-access-financial-capital
Furman, J. Gray, D. (2012). Ten Ways Immigrants Help Build and Strengthen Our Economy.
The White House Blog.
Retrieved from: https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/07/12/ten-ways-immigrants-helpbuild-and-strengthen-our-economy
Jacoby, T. (2006). Immigration Nation. ImmigrationworksUSA.
Retrieved from: http://immigrationworksusa.org/uploaded/file/Immigration%20Nation%20%20Foreign%20Aairs%202006.pdf
Kerr, W. Lincoln, W. (2008). The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and US
Ethnic Invention. Harvard Business School.
Retrieved from: http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/09-005.pdf

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Laidler, J. (2016). The fears of American Muslims. Harvard gazette.

Retrieved from: http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2016/03/the-fears-of-americanmuslims/
Rasmussen Reports. (2015). Americans Think Illegals Are Taking Their Jobs. rasmussenreports.
Retrieved from: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/
general_business/august_2015/americans_think_illegals_are_taking_their_jobs
The Hungton Post. (2014). 15 Charts That Prove Were Far From Post-Racial.
hungtonpost.
Retrieved: http://www.hungtonpost.com/2014/07/02/civil-rights-act-anniversary-racismcharts_n_5521104.html
Weeks, M. (2015). 2015 MULTICULTURAL ECONOMY REPORT REVEALS TRENDS
IN U.S. SPENDING. UGA Today.
retrieved from: http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/2015-multicultural-economy-report/

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