Immigration and Economics

By Chantel Castrejon, Staff Reporter

Courtesy of FORBES

The displacement of people from their home nation or territory to another country, of which they are not resident, to live is referred to as immigration. There are specific economic reasons that contribute to immigration, such as the ability to earn a higher income, increase one's quality of life, provide more work prospects, and pursue an education.

With President William McKinley's assassination in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest person to hold the office as the 26th president. Roosevelt served as president during a period of massive immigration, with America welcoming over 15 million immigrants between 1900 and 1915, more than it did in the previous 40 years.

“We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else," Roosevelt said. "For it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin."

Economic immigrants are one of the largest communities in America. When anyone travels from one place to another in search of improved living conditions or work prospects, this is referred to as economic migration. We typically discuss economic migration between countries, or whether citizens move from one country to another.

"Our Nation depends on immigrants’ labor, and I hope we can create an immigration system as dependable as they are." former Illinois Representative Luis Gutiérrez said during a House of Representatives hearing on immigration. "Regardless of the challenges, undocumented immigrants recognize that those who work for excellence are champions. They would have had a long-lasting impact on their own lives, the lives of their relatives, and even the lives of their descendants. Immigrants account for about 17% of the labor force in the United States, or about one in every six jobs."

Economic migrants are often criticized for rising labor competition which may reduce pay and livelihood opportunities for some domestic workers.

In most cases, immigrants contribute to the American economy in a variety of areas. They work in large numbers and account for more than a third of the population in some sectors. Their regional mobility assists local markets in responding to labor shortages, smoothing out bumps that would otherwise weaken the economy.

Immigrant workers are uniquely mobile, moving around the globe quicker than native-born jobs in response to labor shortages in their home countries. This benefits native-born employees by filling in the holes that would otherwise make their employment difficult and reduce their competitiveness and wages.

“Immigration improves labor market efficiency," Harvard economist George Borjas said. "Moreover, it turns out that part of this efficiency gain accrues to natives, suggesting that existing estimates of the benefits from immigration may be ignoring a potentially important source of these benefits.”

Denying the assistance of immigrants or having families afraid to contribute would have significant implications for immigrant families, as well as native-born workers and the U.S. economy as a whole.

If immigrants did not exist, there would be fewer working-age adults and workers, and they would make up a smaller proportion of the total population.