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Daily News Editorial Looks at “Immigration Bonus”

Posted September 2, 2010 by Patrick Young, Esq.
Categories: Federal Immigration Policy

The Daily News today has a great take on the impact of immigration on our country:

The chorus is relentless: Immigrants from Mexico and Asia and elsewhere - like vampires from Transylvania - are draining America’s lifeblood, driving down the wages and benefits of citizen workers.

Not only is that bogus, but a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco makes clear that it’s exactly the opposite of the truth.

Yep: The more immigrants in a state, the healthier its labor force.

Comparing the economies of states with large immigrant populations and states that have very few - California versus West Virginia, for example - researchers Giovanni Peri and Chad Sparber found that newcomers provided increased labor that allowed businesses to upgrade and expand.

This raised employment and long-term income for all workers, whether U.S.-born or not.

Between 1990 and 2007, the researchers estimated that immigration to the United States raised incomes between 6.6% and 9.9% - about $5,100 a year, counted in 2005 dollars.

Wow.

Further, the data show that foreign- and U.S.-born workers were typically engaged in very different occupations - putting the lie to the contention that immigrants take Americans’ jobs away.

So next time you encounter an anti-immigration demagogue, ask him if he wants to make more money. If the answer is yes, tell him to make peace with America’s heritage - and its future - as a nation of immigrants.