Popular Publications:

Overview

Because immigration increases the supply of labor, it reduces wages and creates job competition for natives. Job competition between immigrants and natives is especially fierce at the bottom of the labor market because so many immigrants are employed in the low-skilled/low-wage segments of the economy. The effects are usually greater on younger and minority native populations. When the average American wage exceeds the average Mexican wage by a factor of ten, even the most menial American job can be a powerful inducement to emigrate.

The large number of immigrants with low levels of education means that immigration policy has dramatically increased the supply of workers with less than a high school degree. In 2006, immigrants comprised nearly 16 percent of America's workforce; however they accounted for over 40 percent of all high school dropouts in the workforce.

As a consequence, poverty in the U.S. is increasingly being exacerbated by immigration policy. Immigrants represent about 1 in 6 people living in poverty. The poverty rate for immigrants and their U.S.-born children (under 18) is 17 percent, nearly 50 percent higher than the rate for natives and their children.

All Related Publications: