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Bernard Mathis

Professor Batty

English 28

November 1, 2018

The Business of Immigration

With the immigrant population at a record 43.7m in 2016, the topic of immigration, both

legal and illegal, is now front and center in America. Even President Trump has been pushing his

own “America First” agenda. This agenda attempts to reverse the forward progression of

immigration, in order to restore resources back to native-born Americans.. Some people have

been misled to believe that immigration is to blame for, job scarcity and crime; others don’t

understand American immigration laws and the rest don’t care either way as long as it doesn’t

affect them while forgetting that America is a nation of and built by immigrants. Simply put,

there’d be no America without immigrants. They bring diverse skills and develop businesses that

provide employment opportunities for all people which results in helping the economy continue

to grow.

Imagine a world without Google, Yahoo!, eBay, or Tesla. Now imagine a neighborhood

without a nail salon, a gas stations or the local Chinese restaurant. These are only a few of the

18% (Fiscal Policy Institute) of overall business companies founded by immigrants but benefit

and provide employment opportunities to many different types of people. Several studies and

reports including one by CNN have shown that immigrants are twice as likely than American

born citizens to become business owners. Take for instance the study done by The National

Foundation for American Policy which determined that 44 out of 87 startup companies valued at
more than $1 billion had at least one immigrant founder. It further estimated that each of these

immigrant-founded companies created 760 jobs per company, (Anderson 2016) bringing the total

to 33,440, which were made available to native-born Americans.

Despite such positive gains brought by immigrants’ businesses, there's still a strong belief

among native-born Americans that all immigrants are criminals infesting “ghetto” areas like Mac

Arthur Park. In as recent as 2017, a Gallup poll revealed close to fifty percent of Americans

believe immigrants worsen crime(ANNA FLAG), despite many studies disproving this myth.

Among these studies, is one by the University of New York Buffalo, which concluded that while

a large majority of the metropolitan areas have more immigrants today than they did in 1980

violent crimes are fewer. (ANNA FLAGG) in fact, according to The New York Times: The

Myth Of The Criminal Immigrant, “The ten places with the largest increase in immigrants, al had

lower levels of crime in 2016 than in 1980.”

Even after more and more studies continue proving the benefits of businesses started by

immigrants and other research disproving the myth of the of all immigrants as criminals, some

people especially politicians, always find new ways to perpetuate stereotypes. One such

stereotype is arguing that immigrants undercut American workers by working more for less pay.

This is not the case as immigrants actually have a positive impact on wages in metropolitan

areas. In a lot of urban cities, immigration has helped to raise productivity and wages overall.

Between 1990 and 2011, the city on San Antonio, TX. saw an increase in the number of legal

immigrants. During this time, wages increased between 16 and 25 percent across the board. It’s

important to note that immigrants starting businesses alone is not a magic pill injected into the

economy. It is the collective effort of the immigrant businesses, support of the local

communities, political leaders, non-profit organizations, corporations, and labor, among other
things that helped cities like Philadelphia, Nashville, and Minneapolis rebound and/or grow

(FPI).

Businesses started by immigrants are no doubt a large part of the American economy, thanks

to the diverse skills and employment opportunities they create. Allowing people, especially

politicians to pander unproven stereotypes instead of encouraging American born citizens to

support and accept immigrants’ contributions goes against how was built. Whether it was by

Englishmen looking for better opportunities, slaves brought by force, the Irish and Italian

immigrants who came later or the Chinese and Mexican immigrants recently, they have all have

made this country the strong vibrant economy it continues to be.


Bernard Mathis

Professor Batty

English 28

November 1, 2018

Work Cited

Anderson, Stuart. “IMMIGRANTS AND BILLION DOLLAR STARTUPS.” NATIONAL

FOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN POLICY, Mar. 2016, nfap.com/wp-

content/uploads/2016/03/Immigrants-and-Billion-Dollar-Startups.NFAP-Policy-Br ief.March-

2016.pdf.

Furman, Jason. “Ten Ways Immigrants Help Build and Strengthen Our Economy.” National

Archives and Records Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, Jan.

2012,

obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/07/12/ten-ways-immigrants-help-build-and-

strengthen-our-economy.

Misra, Tanvi. “CityLab.” Immigration Boosts Wages in U.S. Metros - CityLab, 17 Jan. 2017,

www.citylab.com/amp/article/512504/.
Mobarak, Ahmed. “Does Immigration Create Jobs?” Yale Insights, 30 Mar. 2017,

insights.som.yale.edu/insights/does-immigration-create-jobs.

VARAS, Jacqueline. “How Immigration Helps U.S. Workers and the Economy.” AAF, 20 Mar.

2017, www.americanactionforum.org/insight/immigration-helps-u-s-workers-economy/.

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