Post by Bonnie Chin. Colgate Class of 2022.

“Immigrants help the economy – even 100 years later”, MarketWatch, Nicole Lyn Pesce, March 12, 2019

Amidst the debate over the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, Oxford researchers released a new study^[1] suggesting that immigration boosts the economy in both the short-run and the long-run. After studying the effects of European immigration to the U.S. during 1850 and 1920 (the Age of Mass Migration) on economic prosperity, they found that areas with more historical immigration have higher incomes, less poverty, and less unemployment today. The effects seen are due to the persistence of benefits that occurred almost immediately after the influx of immigrants, in which local receiving economies saw an increase in industrialization, innovation, and agricultural productivity. Since most of the immigrants were low-skilled, they were a source of labor for the industrial development.

While a common argument found in modern rhetoric is that immigrants drain a nation’s resources and deprive opportunities from nonimmigrants residing in the nation, 30 years of data compiled and studied by the French government research organization in 2018^[2] found an association between an increase in asylum seekers who become permanent residents with economic benefits in the residing nation. This included an increase in GDP, an increase in tax revenues, and a decrease in the unemployment rate. Furthermore, data provided by the New American Economy (NAE) shows that many U.S. industries depend on immigrant labor. For example, 50% of workers in the apparel manufacturing industry are immigrants. Immigrants also make up roughly 14% of nurses and nearly a quarter are health aides.

Another 2017 report released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine^[3] also found immigration to have a positive impact on U.S. economic growth in the long-run, as children of first-generation immigrants are more likely to complete college and less likely to live in poverty than native-born Americans. As a result, they become fiscal and economic contributors. In fact, they end up contributing roughly $1,700 per person per year, which is $400 more than native born Americans. This can perhaps be attributed to the fact that there is a greater incentive for the immigrant children to obtain a higher education.

It is important, however, to acknowledge that immigration is a multifaceted issue. The flow of immigrants poses a political and economic challenge to both the destination and origin countries, which can perhaps be eased with the coordination of national policies affecting international migration.

^[1] Sandra Sequeira, Nathan Nunn, Nancy Qian, Immigrants and the Making of America, The Review of Economic Studies, rdz003, https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdz003

^[2] Paul, Karl. 2018. “Economists say 30 years of data show asylum seekers are not a burden on European countries.” MarketWatch. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/economists-say-30-years-of-data-show-asylum-seekers-are-not-a-burden-on-european-countries-2018-06-22

^[3] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/23550

Works Cited

U.S. Airforce. Twins – officers, dentists and U.S. immigrants. Dover Air Force Base. Digital image. 4 November 2019.