Immigrants have always been an important part of America’s population. But for just as long there have been concerns about the impact of immigration on US society and the economy. The recent “surge” in unauthorized immigration at the Southern border and the candidacy of Donald Trump animated an already growing backlash against immigration. This is now playing out in early actions by the new Administration on many fronts. But what do we know about the economic effects of US immigration?
Takeaways
Existing research generally finds that immigration has little or no adverse effect on the pay or employment of native-born workers in the short run and has clear positive benefits in the long run.
Immigration has positive effects on the federal budget deficit, although it imposes short-term costs on state and local budgets, primarily because of the need to educate immigrant children.
Immigration has mixed effects on the housing market, although the net effect is likely positive because of the large presence of both legal and unauthorized immigrants in the construction workforce.
Fiscal costs of implementing proposed mass deportation programs would be large, and the net result for the US economy would be negative.
The aging of the US population means that immigration will be essential to sustaining the US labor force and standard of living in coming decades.
Read the UHERO Blog Post. Read in LinkedIn.
Comments