Employment and Wages

The enforcement of immigration laws is a complex and hotly-debated topic. Learn more about the costs of immigration enforcement and the ways in which the U.S. can enforce our immigration laws humanely and in a manner that ensures due process.

Recent Features

  • Blog

Immigrant Workers Enhance and Expand the U.S. Economy

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 different demographic profiles with them, both of which enhance and expand the economy as a whole.

All Employment and Wages Content

  • Fact Sheet

Power of the Purse: Contributions of Hispanic Americans in the Rio Grande Valley

June 3, 2022
This fact sheet underscores the crucial role Hispanic Texans play in the Rio Grande Valley’s labor force, population growth, and economy.
  • Fact Sheet

Power of the Purse: Contributions of Hispanic Americans in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metro Area

June 3, 2022
This fact sheet underscores the crucial role Hispanic Texans play in the metro area’s labor force, population growth, and economy.
Workers on a factory line
  • Special Report

Labor Market Series

May 4, 2022
This year’s Labor Market Series will explore a variety of issues at the intersection of the U.S. economy and immigration.
  • Fact Sheet

New Americans in Utah

May 3, 2022
This research brief highlights the key role that new Americans are playing in Utah as participants in the state’s workforce, taxpayers, consumers, entrepreneurs, international students, and more.
  • Fact Sheet

The Growing Demand for Physicians in Colorado

April 6, 2022
This research brief highlights the growing demand for physicians in the state and the need to reduce barriers for internationally trained professionals.
  • Fact Sheet

The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers in Illinois

March 24, 2022
This research brief highlights the growing demand for healthcare workers in the state and the need to reduce barriers for internationally trained professionals.
  • Fact Sheet

Workers with Temporary Protected Status in Key Industries and States

January 9, 2019
This fact sheet estimates the likely numbers of workers with TPS from these three countries, broken down by the states in which they reside and the industries in which they are employed.
  • Special Report

The Immigrant Success Story

June 11, 2018
Some confusion exists regarding the economic aspects of family-based immigration. To help unpack those aspects, this report focuses on one of them—namely, the earnings of family-based immigrants.
  • Fact Sheet

The Economic Blame Game: Immigration and Unemployment

June 12, 2013
One of the most persistent myths about the economics of immigration is that every immigrant added to the U.S. labor force amounts to a job lost by a native-born worker, or that every job loss for a...
  • Special Report

Allies, Not Enemies: How Latino Immigration Boosts African American Employment and Wages

June 12, 2013
Latino immigrants and African Americans fill complementary roles in the labor market—they are not simply substitutes for one another.
  • Advocacy

Comment on DHS Proposed Rule to Drastically Expand the Definition and Collection of Biometrics

October 13, 2020
The American Immigration Council, the Immigration Defense Clinic at Colorado Law, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association, submitted a comment in opposition to the Department of Homeland Security proposed rule on the "Collection and Use of Biometrics by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services."
  • Blog

Federal Court Restores Access to Work Permits for Many Asylum Seekers

February 9, 2022

A federal court issued a decision on February 7 invalidating two Trump-era regulations that restricted access to work permits for asylum seekers. In her decision, Judge Beryl Howell of the...

  • Blog

What Are the Benefits of the J-1 Visa?

February 25, 2021

Over the past year, sweeping orders have banned many non-immigrant visa holders from entering the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic gave many former Trump administration officials the...

  • Blog

Changes to Work Permit Eligibility Leave Asylum Seekers Without a Job

January 13, 2020

People who come to the United States in search of protection must be allowed to work during the often-lengthy asylum application process. They need to be able to support themselves and their...

  • Blog

Opposition Mounts to Trump’s Effort to Delay Work Permits for People Seeking Asylum

November 7, 2019

The Trump administration is proposing a new rule that would delay work authorization for people seeking asylum in the United States. The move is drawing opposition from advocates across the...

  • Blog

The Opportunity Immigration Presents to the Changing US Economy

September 5, 2019

The U.S. economy is changing—and immigration can play a major role in how it looks in the future. But how immigration shapes the future of the U.S. economy and its workforce is dependent on a...

  • Blog

Immigrants and Their Children Founded Almost Half of All US Fortune 500 Companies

July 30, 2019

From the highest levels of corporate America to virtually every level of the labor force, immigration creates new jobs in the U.S. economy. The businesses founded by immigrant entrepreneurs...

  • Blog

U.S. Policies Make It Harder for Mexican Graduates to Participate Fully in the Workforce

May 24, 2019

The post U.S. Policies Make It Harder for Mexican Graduates to Participate Fully in the...

  • Blog

Record Low U.S. Birth Rate and Retirements Will Result in Contracting U.S. Prosperity, If Unaddressed

April 26, 2019

The U.S. population is aging quickly. Baby boomers are retiring en masse and Americans are having far fewer children, on average, than any other time in our history. The median age in this country...

  • Blog

Taking H-4 Spouses out of the US Workforce Would Hurt Women the Most

March 19, 2019

The Trump administration is set to issue a proposed rule that would prevent the spouses of certain high-skilled temporary foreign workers from getting jobs while they are in the United States. The...

  • Blog

Immigrants and Native-Born Americans Get the Job Done – Together

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...

  • Press Release

New Data Reveals How Immigration Can Help Meet Labor Demands and Move the US Economy Forward

May 4, 2022
New data released today by the American Immigration Council examines how immigration can help meet labor demands and steer the U.S. economy back on track. The report, “Amid Rising Inflation, Immigrant Workers Help Ease Labor Shortages,” analyzes which occupations are expected to increase between 2020 and 2030.
  • Press Release

New Public Charge Rule Guts Legal Immigration Eligibility

August 12, 2019
The Department of Homeland Security announced a new regulation that redefines who can be considered a “public charge” under immigration law. The new regulation will likely have a chilling effect on America’s family-based immigration system, drastically limiting who will be permitted into the United States.
  • Press Release

The Immigrant Success Story: How Family-Based Immigrants Thrive in America

June 12, 2018
Through analysis of data from the decennial census and administrative data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, this special report examines the earnings gains over time of all immigrants, as well as the earnings gains experienced by family-based immigrants compared to employment-based immigrants.
  • Press Release

House Subcommittee Continues Assault on All Forms of Immigration

April 5, 2011

Washington D.C. - Opponents of immigration reform are often quick to differentiate their disdain for unauthorized immigration from their alleged support of legal immigration.

  • Fact Sheet

Power of the Purse: Contributions of Hispanic Americans in the Rio Grande Valley

June 3, 2022
This fact sheet underscores the crucial role Hispanic Texans play in the Rio Grande Valley’s labor force, population growth, and economy.
  • Fact Sheet

Power of the Purse: Contributions of Hispanic Americans in the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission Metro Area

June 3, 2022
This fact sheet underscores the crucial role Hispanic Texans play in the metro area’s labor force, population growth, and economy.
  • Press Release

New Data Reveals How Immigration Can Help Meet Labor Demands and Move the US Economy Forward

May 4, 2022
New data released today by the American Immigration Council examines how immigration can help meet labor demands and steer the U.S. economy back on track. The report, “Amid Rising Inflation, Immigrant Workers Help Ease Labor Shortages,” analyzes which occupations are expected to increase between 2020 and 2030.
Workers on a factory line
  • Special Report

Labor Market Series

May 4, 2022
This year’s Labor Market Series will explore a variety of issues at the intersection of the U.S. economy and immigration.
  • Fact Sheet

New Americans in Utah

May 3, 2022
This research brief highlights the key role that new Americans are playing in Utah as participants in the state’s workforce, taxpayers, consumers, entrepreneurs, international students, and more.
  • Fact Sheet

The Growing Demand for Physicians in Colorado

April 6, 2022
This research brief highlights the growing demand for physicians in the state and the need to reduce barriers for internationally trained professionals.
  • Fact Sheet

The Growing Demand for Healthcare Workers in Illinois

March 24, 2022
This research brief highlights the growing demand for healthcare workers in the state and the need to reduce barriers for internationally trained professionals.
  • Blog

Federal Court Restores Access to Work Permits for Many Asylum Seekers

February 9, 2022

A federal court issued a decision on February 7 invalidating two Trump-era regulations that restricted access to work permits for asylum seekers. In her decision, Judge Beryl Howell of the...

  • Letters

Coalition Letter Calling for Implementation of the Emergency Stopgap USCIS Stabilization Act provisions

December 16, 2021
The American Immigration Council and 13 other organizations urged USCIS to expand premium processing to ensure the agency remains solvent while efficiently and effectively adjudicating all...
  • Blog

What Are the Benefits of the J-1 Visa?

February 25, 2021

Over the past year, sweeping orders have banned many non-immigrant visa holders from entering the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic gave many former Trump administration officials the...

Most Read

  • Publications
  • Blog Posts
  • Past:
  • Trending