Economics of Immigration

The U.S. immigration system is complex and can be difficult to understand. These resources provide key data points, historical information, and background on hot topics in immigration. Learn the basics about immigration.

Recent Features

All Economics of Immigration Content

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July 11, 2022

New research from the American Immigration Council, The Economic Contributions of Immigrants in Texas, highlights the crucial role of immigrants in the state’s workforce across the manufacturing,...

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June 14, 2022
This fact sheet highlights the crucial role that new Americans play in Arizona’s economy, including in some of the state’s fastest-growing and most in-demand fields, like healthcare, education, and...
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June 14, 2022
Foreign-born workers make up a growing share of the country’s STEM workforce and are critical to the country’s innovation, and STEM workers are responsible for many of the cutting-edge ideas and...
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June 8, 2022
Some of the largest and most recognizable American companies were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.
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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.
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June 3, 2022
This fact sheet underscores the crucial role Hispanic Texans play in the metro area’s labor force, population growth, and economy.
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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.
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March 14, 2022
The Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) is a tax-processing number issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to ensure that people—including undocumented immigrants—pay taxes.
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April 29, 2021
This report analyzes the most significant changes to the legal immigration system made by the Biden administration during its first 100 days in office, and makes recommendations to foster a fair and...
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September 30, 2020
This report identifies disruptions throughout the immigration system because of the COVID-19 pandemic and makes recommendations for improvements to the federal government’s response.
July 27, 2022

As immigration bills languish in Congress, state legislatures continue to pave the way in welcoming immigrants and refugees in 2022. With the majority of the 46 state legislatures that convened...

June 2, 2022

Located on the U.S.-Mexico border at the southern tip of Texas lies the Rio Grande Valley, or as Texans call it “the Valley” or “RGV.” While the RGV–made up of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr, and Willacy...

May 3, 2022

Local communities across the country have long experienced the positive effects of growing immigrant and refugee communities.  As a result, many local governments, chambers of commerce, and...

April 14, 2022

As Tax Day approaches, it’s a good time to bring the significant tax contributions of immigrants—including undocumented immigrants—into the spotlight. These contributions are indispensable to the...

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...

February 25, 2021

President Biden has ended a 10-month ban on immigrant visas—the COVID-19 immigrant visa ban. The Trump administration issued the ban in April 2020 in the name of “protecting” American jobs during...

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...

October 1, 2020

The Trump administration is successfully using the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to alter the U.S. system of legal immigration. New government data makes clear that these changes will...

May 5, 2020
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is currently proposing significant changes to the Affidavit of Support (Form I-864), and related forms I-864A and I-864EZ.
April 29, 2020

In recent years, states have increasingly embraced their role in immigration by exploring and enacting policies and positions to address the needs of their communities. States are doing what they...

September 8, 2022
The Biden Administration published new public charge regulations, ensuring that immigrants from all walks of life are welcomed to the United States. The new regulations codify long-standing public charge policy that are reasonable, fair, and legally sound.
July 20, 2022
The American Immigration Council released a report that examines the impact and contributions of immigrant workers in the United States’ meat and dairy industries.
July 13, 2022
New research on released today by the American Immigration Council–in partnership with the Texas Association of Business and the Texas Business Leadership Council–underscores the crucial role immigrants in Texas play in some of the state’s fastest growing and most in demand fields.
June 9, 2022
The American Immigration Council released today a report that examines the role of immigrant entrepreneurs and their children in America’s economic success story. The report, “New American Fortune 500 in 2022: The Largest American Companies and Their Immigrant Roots,” found that 43.8%, or 219 companies, in this year’s Fortune 500 list were founded by immigrants or their children.
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.
April 1, 2022
National nonprofits American Immigration Council and Welcoming America announce a new level of support through Implementation Technical Assistance and seed grant funding for six communities as part of Round IV of the Gateways for Growth Challenge (G4G)
February 4, 2022
The U.S. House of Representatives passed an economic competitiveness bill focused on advancing the United States’ innovation and global competitiveness, which also proposes reforms to U.S. immigration law to help attract and retain immigrant talent.
January 21, 2022
The Biden administration announced new efforts to modernize parts of our immigration system, and remove barriers to legal immigration. DHS will add 22 new fields of study in the STEM Optional Practical Training program through the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, and will implement a series of additional changes to allow foreign students, scholars, and researchers to come to the United States and make meaningful contributions to America’s scholarly, research and development, and innovation communities.
January 19, 2022
President Biden announced a welcoming and inclusive vision for immigration in a legislative proposal and a series of executive actions signed on his first day in office. But one year into Biden’s presidency, his promises on immigration remain unfulfilled.
July 21, 2020
President Trump issued an executive order to prevent undocumented immigrants from being counted as part of the 2020 Census. This policy would unlawfully exclude 10.7 million undocumented immigrants, despite the clear requirement of the 14th Amendment to count “the whole number of persons in each state.”
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January 19, 2024
This fact sheet provides an overview of the benefits of obtaining naturalized citizenship in the United States, as well as information about the naturalized population and those who meet the...
December 8, 2023

Many migrants, after being released from government custody, resettle in interior communities. These individuals and families often need immediate support in the form of housing, food, and...

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November 15, 2023
New research from the American Immigration Council shows that immigrants in Santa Fe County paid over $122 million in taxes and held over $365 million in spending power in 2019.
November 13, 2023

Written by Robin Lundh, Research Manager and Anna Shepperson, Research Associate. Immigration—long central to the American experience—has dominated news coverage in recent years. Between 2016 and...

November 10, 2023

States hoping to provide support to their immigrant and refugee residents are taking part in the Office of New Americans (ONA) network. This network has established a forum for state policy...

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October 10, 2023
New research from the American Immigration Council shows that immigrants in Greater Salem paid over $200 million in taxes and held over $536 million in spending power in 2019. The new report, New...
September 22, 2023

Co-Authors: Rich André, Asma Easa, Micaela McConnell, Paloma Ramos Last week, communities across the United States participated in Welcoming America’s Welcoming Week. The annual campaign has...

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September 20, 2023
The American Immigration Council appeared before Congress to address the economic contributions of immigrants in the U.S. and the American economic system.
Cover for Immigrants in East Texas report
Publication Date: 
September 20, 2023

New research from the American Immigration Council highlights the crucial role immigrants play in the East Texas region as taxpayers, consumers, entrepreneurs, and more. Collectively, immigrants...

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