Reports
A Rising Tide or a Shrinking Pie
Our national debate over urgently needed immigration reform is now careening through our state legislatures, city halls, and town councils due to political gridlock at the federal level. And nowhere is that debate more contentious than in Arizona, where in April of last year the state’s legislature sought to rid the state of undocumented immigrants with passage of S.B. 1070. The law is specifically designed to trigger a mass exodus of undocumented immigrants from the state by making “attrition through enforcement the public policy of all state and local government agencies in Arizona.” The economic analysis in this report shows the S.B. 1070 approach would have devastating economic consequences if its goals were accomplished. When undocumented workers are taken out of the economy, the jobs they support through their labor, consumption, and tax payments disappear as well. Particularly during a time of profound economic uncertainty, the type of economic dislocation envisioned by S.B. 1070-type policies runs directly counter to the interests of our nation as we continue to struggle to distance ourselves from the ravages of the Great Recession. Read More
Immigration and Temporary Labor
Across the country, American companies rely on immigrant workers to fill seasonal and labor-intensive jobs that cannot otherwise be filled. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has found that lowskilled immigrant workers help companies grow and create additional – often higher-paying – job opportunities for Americans.1 In 1986 under… Read More
Immigration and Temporary Labor
Across the country, American companies rely on immigrant workers to fill seasonal and labor-intensive jobs that cannot otherwise be filled. The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has found that lowskilled immigrant workers help companies grow and create additional – often higher-paying – job opportunities for Americans.1 In 1986 under… Read More
Immigration and Innovation
For generations, hard-working immigrants have come to the United States, started their own companies and created millions of American jobs. Foreign-born entrepreneurs, scientists and inventors have been vital to establishing America as a world leader in business, technology and innovation. Yet, America’s immigration system too often blocks future leaders from… Read More
Immigration and Innovation
For generations, hard-working immigrants have come to the United States, started their own companies and created millions of American jobs. Foreign-born entrepreneurs, scientists and inventors have been vital to establishing America as a world leader in business, technology and innovation. Yet, America’s immigration system too often blocks future leaders from… Read More
Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Starting American Companies and Creating American Jobs
New businesses are the single best creators of new jobs, and – even with current visa impediments – immigrants are among the leading drivers in creating new businesses: In 2010, immigrants were more than twice as likely to start businesses each month as natives. From 1995 to 2005, immigrants helped… Read More
Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Starting American Companies and Creating American Jobs
New businesses are the single best creators of new jobs, and – even with current visa impediments – immigrants are among the leading drivers in creating new businesses: In 2010, immigrants were more than twice as likely to start businesses each month as natives. From 1995 to 2005, immigrants helped… Read More
The Racial Blame Game
Immigrants Are Not the Cause of High Unemployment and Low Wages Among Minority Workers Some observers have suggested that immigrants are to blame for the high unemployment rates and low wages experienced by so many minority workers in the United States. However, the best available evidence suggests that immigration is not the cause of dismal employment prospects for American minorities. For instance, cities experiencing the highest levels of immigration tend to have relatively low or average unemployment rates for African Americans. This should come as no surprise; immigrants go where jobs are more plentiful. The grim job market which confronts many minority workers is the product of numerous economic and social factors: the decline of factory employment, the deindustrialization of inner cities, racial discrimination, etc. Immigration plays a very small role. However, that role is generally positive. Immigrant workers, consumers, and entrepreneurs help to create jobs and give a slight boost to the wages of the vast majority of native-born workers. Some unscrupulous employers do exploit undocumented immigrants to the detriment of wages and working conditions for both native-born workers and legal immigrants. But the most practical solution to this problem is an earned legalization program for undocumented immigrants and stronger worksite enforcement of wage and labor laws. Immigrants are not the cause of minority unemployment. Read More
Mandatory E-Verify without Legalization Would Hamper Economic Recovery and Cost U.S. Workers Jobs
Since 1986, controlling illegal immigration by regulating who is entitled to work in the United States has been a key component of U.S. immigration policy. The ritual of showing proof of one’s identity and work authorization and filling out an I-9 form is part of every new hire’s paperwork haze. Read More
Deeper into the Shadows
Before the onset of the Great Recession, immigrant labor was cited as a boom to the U.S. economy. In towns and cities across the country, immigrant labor—documented or otherwise—filled positions in growing businesses and industries where demand outpaced the supply of native-born workers. Since the onset of the economic downturn in 2008 and the rise in U.S. unemployment, some analysts and politicians—looking for a convenient scapegoat—have turned on that immigrant workforce and their employers, arguing that deporting eight million undocumented immigrant workers will create eight million new jobs for the native-born. This over-simplified equation ignores the complicated and inter-dependent roles that immigrants play in our economy. A 2010 study by the Fiscal Policy Institute on the economic contributions of immigrants in the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the United States makes the point well: The results were clear: immigrants contribute to the economy in direct relation to their share of the population. In the 25 largest metropolitan areas combined, immigrants make up 20 percent of the population and are responsible for 20 percent of economic output. Together, these metro areas comprise 42 percent of the total population of the country, 66 percent of all immigrants, and half of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product. Read More
Make a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
