Economics of Immigration

While updating our immigration system has been a slow process, over the last decade, there have been efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform legislation and the DREAM Act. Other reform efforts include executive actions such as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). Learn more about the ways America can upgrade its immigration system.

Recent Features

All Economics of Immigration Content

Publication Date: 
April 1, 2002
A study by the Pew Hispanic Center suggests that new immigration initiatives must find a balance between controlling labor flows and homeland security. The report shows immigrant workers provide most...
Publication Date: 
March 1, 2002
A recent 2000 Census Bureau report finds an increase in foreign-born residents who are naturalized citizens. Survey data shows the foreign-born percentage of the U.S. population remains constant...
Publication Date: 
February 2, 2002
U.S. officials expect this year's Winter Games to promote greater international cooperation and peace. Immigrant athletes realize their Olympic dreams as members of the U.S team.
For the undocumented in America there is little doubt that the iniquities of the father are visited upon the child. On November 7th, for instance, an astounding 71 percent of voters in Arizona passed...
America’s strength lies in its openness and dynamic character. Current concerns about the U.S. economy should not distract from an understanding that in the long term America’s economic success...
Immigration is inextricably part of the American national identity and always has been. Immigrants are an integral part of the structural fiber that has kept the great melting pot flowing with...
September 16, 2016

September 17 marks the day the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the U.S. Constitution. Constitution Day and Citizenship Day is dedicated to all U.S....

September 6, 2016

Serious economists know that immigrant and native-born workers cannot simply be swapped for one another like batteries. On average, immigrants and the native-born differ in terms of formal...

September 6, 2016

Serious economists know that immigrant and native-born workers cannot simply be swapped for one another like batteries. On average, immigrants and the native-born differ in terms of formal...

August 22, 2016

This year, nearly 50 foreign-born athletes proudly represented the U.S. as part of the Olympic team in Rio de Janeiro, and eight of them won medals. Kerron Clement, born in Trinidad and Tobago,...

August 5, 2016
The U.S. is well-represented by its citizens – both native and foreign born. Forty-seven of those competing on Team USA were born outside of the country.
August 4, 2016

The economic and political impact of immigration is often discussed at the national level. This makes sense, especially since immigration is a nationwide issue and a federal responsibility. Yet...

August 1, 2016

Khizr and Ghazala Khan appeared at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia last week to honor their son Capt. Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq in 2004 while serving in the U.S. Army...

July 1, 2016

More than 50 U.S. cities and counties were honored at the White House on Thursday, for their work in creating inclusive and welcoming communities that engage in local immigrant integration efforts...

June 29, 2016

Over the years, more and more economists have come to the conclusion that immigrant workers “complement” the native-born majority of the labor force by bringing different sets of skills and...

June 21, 2016

The U.S.-Mexico border is not simply the dividing line between two separate nations. It is a vast expanse of communities that span both sides of the border, integrating the United States and...

November 21, 2018

“What if this is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb?” asked Valerie Kaur in her famed “Sikh Prayer for America.” In this prayer, she contemplates an America that is not on...

November 12, 2018

The United States Armed Forces has done some of its greatest work when it has dismantled barriers to service and opened its ranks to Americans of different backgrounds and identities. Inclusivity...

November 8, 2018

Jeff Sessions resigned as Attorney General on Wednesday, less than two years after the Senate narrowly confirmed him to the post. Sessions’ tenure as the nation’s highest-ranking law enforcement...

October 25, 2018

With the midterm elections fast approaching, immigration has become—yet again—one of the hottest political topics among candidates and likely voters. Much of the public debate over immigration is...

October 24, 2018

When people feel welcomed into a community, great things often happen that benefit the receiving community and even the nation. When newcomers feel accepted and included in a society, it provides...

October 17, 2018

Insurers have always depended on large numbers of participants to pay into a pool so that those with the highest rates of usage are covered by those with lower rates. In other words, everyone in...

September 23, 2018
The Trump administration is proposing sweeping new regulations that could lead to the largest decline in legal immigration in generations. The new regulations propose to redefine the meaning of the legal term “public charge."
September 20, 2018

Every year, the Census Bureau releases new data from its American Community Survey (ACS), which contains a wealth of information about the characteristics of the U.S. population. Without fail,...

August 29, 2018

The power of the U.S. workforce is that both native- and foreign-born workers complement one another with different and equally needed skill sets. They cannot simply be substituted for one another...

August 14, 2018

America’s generosity is reflected in our immigration system. Throughout our nation’s history (with some shameful exceptions), we have allowed individuals to come to the United States to reunite...

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