Employment and Wages

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  • Blog

Immigrant Workers Enhance and Expand the U.S. Economy

Over the years, more and more economists have come to the conclusion that immigrant workers “complement” the native-born majority of the labor force by bringing different sets of skills and different demographic profiles with them, both of which enhance and expand the economy as a whole.

All Employment and Wages Content

  • Fact Sheet

How Expanding E-Verify Would Hurt American Workers and Business

Publication Date: 
March 2, 2010
Expanding mandatory E-Verify would threaten the jobs of thousands of U.S. citizens and saddle U.S. businesses with additional costs—all at a time when we need to stimulate our economy. Expanding E-...
  • Research and Analysis

Critical Care: The Role of Immigrant Workers in U.S. Health Care

Publication Date: 
December 11, 2009
As the public debate over health care reform continues to rage, mention is seldom made of the vital role that immigrants play in the health care workforce.
  • Research and Analysis

Immigrant Workers Contribute in Large Metropolitan Areas

Publication Date: 
December 1, 2009
The Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) recently released a report highlighting the contributions of immigrant workers in the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. FPI’s report broadens a growing...
  • Research and Analysis

A Conversation about the Economic Effects of Immigration on African Americans

Publication Date: 
July 14, 2009
Anti-immigrant groups have repeatedly tried to drive a wedge between African Americans and immigrants by capitalizing on the myth that immigrants take American jobs. In a new Perspectives piece for...
  • Research and Analysis

Fuzzy Math: The Anti-Immigration Arguments of NumbersUSA Don't Add Up

Publication Date: 
June 2, 2009
According to the anti-immigration group NumbersUSA, immigration to the United States is all about arithmetic: immigration...
  • Research and Analysis

Untying the Knot Series: Unemployment and Immigration

Publication Date: 
May 19, 2009
Untying the Knot (Part I of III): The Unemployment and Immigration Disconnect...
  • Fact Sheet

How Expanding E-Verify in the Stimulus Bill Would Hurt American Workers and Business

Publication Date: 
February 5, 2009
Expanding mandatory E-Verify as part of the stimulus package would threaten the jobs of thousands of U.S. citizens, decrease productivity, saddle U.S. businesses with additional costs, and hinder the...
  • Research and Analysis

Fewer Job Openings Equals Fewer Immigrants:Undocumented Immigration Slows Along With the U.S. Economy

Publication Date: 
October 1, 2008
According to new estimates from the Pew Hispanic Center, the number of undocumented immigrants in the United States did not increase between 2007 and 2008, and may actually have fallen. These...
  • Special Report

The Social Security Administration No-Match Program: Inefficient, Ineffective, and Costly

Publication Date: 
May 1, 2008
This report provides an overview of SSA’s no-match letter program, a summary of DHS’s new supplemental proposed rule regarding no-match letters, and an overview of the unintended consequences of no-...
  • Special Report

"On the Beat": New Roles and Challenges for Immigrant Police and Firefighters

Publication Date: 
December 1, 2007
By Stewart J. Lawrence The mainstream media, conservative politicians, and even some police organizations continue to promote...
  • Blog

How Immigrants Helped Boost American Jobs in the Midwest

November 7, 2017

At a time when anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies seem to be growing, immigrants in the United States continue to do what they have done for over a century—bring unique and vital experiences to...

  • Blog

Florida and Texas Need Immigrants to Rebuild

September 12, 2017

With Hurricanes Irma and Harvey ravaging much of Florida and Texas, the states will soon begin a substantial, years-long rebuilding process. The aftermath of previous natural disasters has shown...

  • Blog

Seniors’ Access to Health Care May Suffer If DACA Is Terminated

September 8, 2017

Industries across the nation may find themselves in dangerously short supply of workers if no solution is found for the 800,000 young immigrants now at risk of deportation due to the termination...

  • Blog

Farmers Struggle to Find Labor, Threatening Americans’ Food Supply and Prices

August 14, 2017

America’s farmers have been acutely aware of the consequences of restrictive immigration policies for some time. When migration levels drop or restrictive policies drive migrants out of the state...

  • Blog

Refugees Contribute More In Taxes Than They Ever Receive in Benefits

June 16, 2017

Refugee resettlement has long been a cornerstone of United States foreign policy, but in the first weeks of the Trump administration, the president attempted to suspend the decades-long program in...

  • Blog

Immigration a Boon to U.S. Economy Finds National Panel of Experts

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...

  • Blog

Why Restricting Immigration Won’t Improve Work Opportunities for Natives

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...

  • Blog

Why Restricting Immigration Won’t Improve Work Opportunities for Natives

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...

  • Blog

Immigrant Workers Enhance and Expand the U.S. Economy

June 29, 2016

Over the years, more and more economists have come to the conclusion that immigrant workers “complement” the native-born majority of the labor force by bringing different sets of skills and...

  • Blog

States Will Need Immigrants to Counter Aging of the Labor Force

June 1, 2016

New population projections from the University of Virginia’s Demographics Research Group show that in many states in the Northeast and Midwest, growth of the working-age population is slowing due...

  • Blog

Immigrants and Their Children Founded Almost Half of All US Fortune 500 Companies

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...

  • Blog

U.S. Policies Make It Harder for Mexican Graduates to Participate Fully in the Workforce

May 24, 2019

The post U.S. Policies Make It Harder for Mexican Graduates to Participate Fully in the...

  • Blog

Record Low U.S. Birth Rate and Retirements Will Result in Contracting U.S. Prosperity, If Unaddressed

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...

  • Blog

Taking H-4 Spouses out of the US Workforce Would Hurt Women the Most

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...

  • Fact Sheet

Workers with Temporary Protected Status in Key Industries and States

Publication Date: 
January 9, 2019
This fact sheet estimates the likely numbers of workers with TPS from these three countries, broken down by the states in which they reside and the industries in which they are employed.
  • Blog

Immigrants and Native-Born Americans Get the Job Done – Together

August 29, 2018

The power of the U.S. workforce is that both native- and foreign-born workers complement one another with different and equally needed skill sets. They cannot simply be substituted for one another...

  • Blog

Re-Definition of ‘Public Charge’ Could Drastically Slash Family Immigration

June 28, 2018

The Trump administration is quietly attempting to revamp the U.S. immigration system by circumventing Congress and changing the nation’s immigration policies through new federal regulations. The...

  • Blog

How Family-Based Immigrants Succeed in the US Economy

June 12, 2018

Migration based on family ties has long been the foundation of the U.S. immigration system. Yet lawmakers are proposing drastic cuts to family-based immigration in favor of immigrants who come to...

  • Press Release

The Immigrant Success Story: How Family-Based Immigrants Thrive in America

June 12, 2018
Through analysis of data from the decennial census and administrative data from the Immigration and Naturalization Service, this special report examines the earnings gains over time of all immigrants, as well as the earnings gains experienced by family-based immigrants compared to employment-based immigrants.
  • Special Report

The Immigrant Success Story

Publication Date: 
June 11, 2018
Some confusion exists regarding the economic aspects of family-based immigration. To help unpack those aspects, this report focuses on one of them—namely, the earnings of family-based immigrants.

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