Immigration has always been a part of American culture; in fact, it is the basis of how our country was formed. Immigration, both legal and illegal, has become a key focal point in today’s society. The arguments surrounding immigration and the legal -or illegal- standing of the immigrants, are various and vast in their quantities. Many concerns with immigration involve the social implications, economic impacts, and the possible discrepancies with national unity. In particular, the economic impact that immigrants have in our economy is one of the most widely debated subjects across news outlets and social media sources. Americans must realize that immigration itself is not an issue- the issue lays in the illogical fear of our country accommodating immigrants into our education and economic systems, thus interfering with the livelihoods of natural-born citizens.
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Although the economic impacts of immigrants are extensively debated, many sources prove that the net effect of immigrant work is positive for the economy, and helps pave the way for natural-born citizens to increase their station in the workforce. The economic benefits of immigration include, but are not limited to: new innovations, contribution to taxes, increased mobility of the workforce, and lowered costs of domestic help and consumer products generally for middleclass families. In a developed country such as the United States, medical doctors, engineers, and other highly educated personnel, are in great demand due to their contributions to innovation. According to Hanson (2012), “immigration helps relax this constraint” (pp. 26). As can be noted by many references, the amount of degrees in these high demand areas of expertise are increasingly going to foreign students. Tamar Jacoby, senior researcher at the Manhattan Institute, states that although Asian-Americans are only four percent of the population, “they make up between 15 and 20 percent of the students at most Ivy League colleges” (pp. 419). To further support the notion that immigration of highly-skilled immigrants leads to more innovation is when Jacoby (2004) compares the barbell pattern of working immigrants, from the bottom to top of the job ladder, and states that “the percentage of patents that are held by foreigners ([is] an equally astonishing 26 percent)” (pp. 419). Nearly thirty percent of patents are granted to individuals born in other countries. Relative to the amount of our population that are foreign-born versus native-born, that is a significant statistic. To better understand the idea of immigration impacting innovation in the Unites States, Carey (2011) uses an example of Russian-born Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, stating: While at Stanford he [Sergey] and a friend rented a garage in Menlo Park and founded a new company, Google, which now employs nearly 20,000 people and ranks #4 on Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 Top Companies to Work For. Had Sergey and his family stayed in Russia, perhaps Google would now be based in Moscow instead of California’s Silicon Valley. Or more likely, it wouldn’t exist at all, and those 20,000 workers would be competing for jobs somewhere else (pp. 6). Although such circumstances as Sergey’s do not become the typical immigrant’s story, it does provide much evidence that immigrants are capable of contributing a great deal towards the innovation in our country. Immigrants not only create an impact on the innovations within the Unites States, contrary to widespread belief, they also make notable contributions towards taxes. According …show more content…
Superficially, this seems like a feasible option for employers; however, it is quite illogical that it should ever happen. According to Chavez (2006), in an evaluation on the economic impact of immigration, there was “only a small negative impact on the earnings of Americans, and even then, only for workers at lower skill and education levels” (pp. 436). Many immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, have low education levels and often times strong language barriers preventing them from moving higher up the job ladder. According to Carey (2011), “immigrants and native-born Americans play complementary roles in the American economy, rather than directly competing for the same jobs” (pp.7). Unless immigrants become proficient in English, and complete a significant amount of schooling, the displacement of American workers due to low-skilled immigration influx does not seem
Although the economic impacts of immigrants are extensively debated, many sources prove that the net effect of immigrant work is positive for the economy, and helps pave the way for natural-born citizens to increase their station in the workforce. The economic benefits of immigration include, but are not limited to: new innovations, contribution to taxes, increased mobility of the workforce, and lowered costs of domestic help and consumer products generally for middleclass families. In a developed country such as the United States, medical doctors, engineers, and other highly educated personnel, are in great demand due to their contributions to innovation. According to Hanson (2012), “immigration helps relax this constraint” (pp. 26). As can be noted by many references, the amount of degrees in these high demand areas of expertise are increasingly going to foreign students. Tamar Jacoby, senior researcher at the Manhattan Institute, states that although Asian-Americans are only four percent of the population, “they make up between 15 and 20 percent of the students at most Ivy League colleges” (pp. 419). To further support the notion that immigration of highly-skilled immigrants leads to more innovation is when Jacoby (2004) compares the barbell pattern of working immigrants, from the bottom to top of the job ladder, and states that “the percentage of patents that are held by foreigners ([is] an equally astonishing 26 percent)” (pp. 419). Nearly thirty percent of patents are granted to individuals born in other countries. Relative to the amount of our population that are foreign-born versus native-born, that is a significant statistic. To better understand the idea of immigration impacting innovation in the Unites States, Carey (2011) uses an example of Russian-born Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, stating: While at Stanford he [Sergey] and a friend rented a garage in Menlo Park and founded a new company, Google, which now employs nearly 20,000 people and ranks #4 on Fortune magazine’s list of the 100 Top Companies to Work For. Had Sergey and his family stayed in Russia, perhaps Google would now be based in Moscow instead of California’s Silicon Valley. Or more likely, it wouldn’t exist at all, and those 20,000 workers would be competing for jobs somewhere else (pp. 6). Although such circumstances as Sergey’s do not become the typical immigrant’s story, it does provide much evidence that immigrants are capable of contributing a great deal towards the innovation in our country. Immigrants not only create an impact on the innovations within the Unites States, contrary to widespread belief, they also make notable contributions towards taxes. According …show more content…
Superficially, this seems like a feasible option for employers; however, it is quite illogical that it should ever happen. According to Chavez (2006), in an evaluation on the economic impact of immigration, there was “only a small negative impact on the earnings of Americans, and even then, only for workers at lower skill and education levels” (pp. 436). Many immigrants, especially illegal immigrants, have low education levels and often times strong language barriers preventing them from moving higher up the job ladder. According to Carey (2011), “immigrants and native-born Americans play complementary roles in the American economy, rather than directly competing for the same jobs” (pp.7). Unless immigrants become proficient in English, and complete a significant amount of schooling, the displacement of American workers due to low-skilled immigration influx does not seem