Migration as Employment Policy
High on the to-do list of the executive and legislative branches of the federal government is immigration policy. Who is allowed entry to the country, what is their reason for entering, the circumstances of entry, legal or otherwise, are subject to myriad regulations so complex as to be almost incomprehensible.
Migrants have various reasons for leaving their native countries: better work opportunities; better living conditions; better education; safety from persecution and violence; escape from devastation of natural disasters or environmental danger; reunification with family; marriage.
For a country with extremely contentious politics and polarization, the choice of the U.S. for the million or so people arriving as migrants annually is remarkable. The U.S. is home to over 43 million immigrants, more than any other country, by a factor of at least 3:1. As a percentage, 14% of the U.S. population is foreign born, less than Canada with 22%, and Australia with 28%. Over 12 million U.S. immigrants were born in Mexico, 2.4 million in China, and 2.3 million in India.
Three-quarters of immigrants are as likely as U.S.-born residents to have a bachelor’s degree or more. Immigrants from South Asia are most likely to have at least a bachelor’s degree. Immigrants from Nigeria and South Africa are more likely to have post-graduate degrees than other immigrant groups. The percentage of immigrants employed in STEM occupations is higher than U.S.-born residents. Immigrants accounted for 26% of U.S.-based Nobel Prize winners from 1990 through 2000.
Immigrant-led households contributed a total of $330.7 billion in federal taxes and $161.7 billion in combined state and local taxes in 2019. Residents of immigrant-led households had $1.3 trillion in collective spending power (after-tax income) in 2019. There were 3.2 million immigrant business owners, accounting for 22 percent of all self-employed U.S. residents, and generating $86.3 billion in business income.
Pew Research finds 66% of adults surveyed in 2019 saw immigrants as strengthening the country through hard work and talent, while 24% saw them as burdening the country by taking jobs, housing and health care. The statistics do not bear out the fears of those opposing immigration.
Welcoming immigrants of all education levels looks like a ready-made remedy for U.S. labor shortages. From scarcities of farm workers to shortages of technology workers, immigration has produced qualified workers of all skill levels. Increased immigration has the potential to solve worker shortages without fueling inflation, while expanding the U.S. economy. Immigrants have driven economic growth in the past, and they can do so in the future.