Economics of Immigration

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.

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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 26, 2016
In an aging society such as ours, immigrants and their children are an integral part of our economic future.
September 22, 2016

Immigrants and their descendants make valuable contributions to the U.S. economy, according to a new report just released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine entitled...

September 21, 2016

This election, there has been much discussion about what to do about unauthorized immigration. While candidate Hillary Clinton proposes a plan to eventually legalize most undocumented immigrants,...

September 19, 2016

Americans hold dear the ideal that the United States is a nation of immigrants. In fact, most Americans can easily recount their own family’s immigration history, and while we may hold differing...

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 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.
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...

April 30, 2019
A new report by the American Immigration Council finds that Americans’ attitudes toward unauthorized immigrants are, among other factors, deeply related to their personal values and to the type of contact they have with immigrants in their daily lives.
Publication Date: 
April 30, 2019
This report uncovers the degree to which contact with immigrants and personal values are associated with views about unauthorized immigrants.
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...

April 22, 2019

Attending a four-year public college or university is out of reach for many students without U.S. citizenship. But thanks to a growing number of new state laws—which make certain students eligible...

April 15, 2019

The survival of the nation’s Social Security system depends upon the taxes paid by each new generation of workers. As older workers enter retirement and draw upon Social Security, the continued...

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...

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