The Hot Topic of Immigration

788 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Effects of immigration on the economy

Immigration remains to be a hot topic. There are many issues to consider but let’s look at stereotypes and regulatory control issues. Just what are some of the stereotypes about the economic impact of immigration in the United States? We have all heard that immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans. This stereotype is based on two fallacies: that there are a fixed number of jobs to go around, and that foreign workers are direct substitutes for citizens (Dangelo 236). The truth is that immigrants fill the low-end jobs that increasingly the well-educated and comfortable citizens do not want (Dangelo 234).
Another stereotype is that immigrant population is responsible for the rising costs of health care, education, and other human services that immigrants require. (Dangelo 233) The fact that about 70 percent of illegal immigrant workers pay taxes of one type or another but never receive the refunds of benefits from the system they have paid into goes unaddressed (Schaefer 104). “Philippe Legrain argues that immigrant labor is essential to the maintenance of economic vitality and the continuing prosperity of societies” (Dangelo 236)
Study after study fails to find evidence that immigrants harm American workers. A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study by Ottaviano and Peri finds that the influx of foreign workers between 1990 and 2004 raised the average wage of U.S.-born workers by 2 percent. Nine in ten American workers gained; only one in ten, high school dropouts, lost slightly, by 1 percent (Dangelo 236). Recent studies found that immigrants are a net economic gain for the nation in times of economic boom as well as in recession. Despite national gains, immigration may be an economic burden or create unw...

... middle of paper ...

...ly. “In the United States, we may not like lawbreakers, but we often seek services and low-priced products made by people who come here illegally” (Schaefer 87) By hiring internationally, the United States is not encouraging our subordinate groups to enter desirable fields of employment and we are taking the best and brightest away from their native county (Schaefer 95).
Immigration is a complicated and ever changing issue. Some regulations work and some don’t. Stereotypes abound so the immigrant is an easy scapegoat for our ills. There are also unexpected consequences for every regulation. Like everything in life, there is good and bad.

Works Cited

D’Angelo, Raymond and Douglas, Herbert. Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Race and Ethnicity (8th Edition). New York: Contemporary Learning Series group within the McGraw-Hill Higher Education division, 2011.

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Schooltalk By Mica Pollock

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About - and to - Students Every Day, Mica Pollock provides readers with fact-based information to “flip the script” of the misrepresentation of students in the education setting. Pollock demonstrates how race, gender, and ethnic labels can be detrimental to student achievement. She, then, dives in to 600 years of myths regarding social race labels and how they continue to affect humans today. By correcting race, gender, and ethnicity label myths in our minds, we can effectively advocate for these students. To conclude the book, Pollock focuses on how to devise a plan to correct our own misconceptions and foster a supportive environment for diverse students. Throughout

    Read More

  • Undocumented Immigrants in the US and Healthcare for them

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some viewpoints assert that if a person is in the United States illegally, he should have no rights and no benefits. Proponents justify this position by blaming illegal immigration for economic hardships, such as increasing health care costs, for the American people. This attitude is simply inaccurate. Many undocumented immigrants do contribute to the economies of the federal, state and local governments through taxes and can stimulate job growth. However, the cost of providing healthcare impacts federal, state, and local governments differently.

    Read More

  • The Uncostitutional Restrictive Covenants

    687 Words  | 2 Pages

    Schaefer, R. (Ed.). (2012). Racial and ethnic groups. (13th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

    Read More

  • Immigration: Important to the Success of America

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States of America has the largest foreign-born population in the world. With nearly thirteen percent of the total population being foreign-born, one may find it hard to imagine an immigrant-free country (U.S. Bureau of the Census). Immigration has been an integral part of the United States’ overall success and the country’s economy since it was established and without it, would have never been founded at all. Although there are some negative issues associated with immigration and many native-born Americans believe to be more of a problem than a solution, overall it actually has a positive effect. Immigrants in America, among other things, fill jobs where native-born Americans may not want to work or cannot work, they contribute to Social Services and Medicaid through taxes and they help provide the backbone of America, especially by working jobs that natives may have not even considered.

    Read More

  • Annotated Bibliography on Racial Diversity

    1936 Words  | 4 Pages

    This source will equip the argument for utilizing diversity as an educational apparatus that supports student development and learning. The showcase of the impact of diverse student engagement will definitely be useful for providing a strong reasoning for showcasing how the experience of students in the US schooling system shapes the educational experiences of diversified student groups. Dixson, A., & Rousseau, C. (2005). And we are still not saved: critical race theory in education ten years later.... ...

    Read More

  • Immigrant Labor in the United States

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    First, immigrants come to the U.S. to work and bring valuable skills which help grow the economy despite the negative views surrounding their part in the U.S. economy. Since the 2008-2009 recession the view on immigration and its effects on the economy has been more negative than positive (Peri, 2012). A study done by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government found that about 50 percent of American adults believe that immigrants burden the country because they, “take jobs, housing, and healthcare”, while the other 50 percent believe that, “immigrants strengthen the country due to their hard work and talents” (Delener & Ventilato, 2008). Over the past decade, “over half of the increase in the U.S. labor force,… was the result of immigration-l...

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of Illegal Immigration

    1494 Words  | 3 Pages

    Most immigrants usually fill essential service jobs in the economy, which are vacant. Unfortunately, like new immigrants throughout U.S. history, “they experience conditions that are commonly deprived, oppressive, and exploitive” (Conover, 2000). They are paid low wages with little potential for advancement, are subjected to hazardous working conditions, and are threatened with losing their jobs and even deportation if they voice dissatisfaction with the way they are treated. Many work several jobs to make ends meet. Many also live in substandard housing with abusive landlords, have few health cares options, and are victims of fraud and other crimes.

    Read More

  • The United States and Illegal Immigration

    1096 Words  | 3 Pages

    Recently, the U.S. government has been cracking down on illegal aliens and employers are in danger of raids and lawsuits for hiring illegal immigrants. Many employers either do not require any documentation or accept copies of documents (Rousmaniere 24-25), regarding legalization. Immigrants are desired employees and companies continue to hire them even with the risks. By working for lower wages, they keep the costs of goods and services down; the illegal alien work force helps improve the U.S. economy (Nadadur 1037-1052). However, illegal immigrants can have a negative effect when they encroach on American job opportunities (Carter 8). Some economists argue that illegal aliens actually help the host-country’s economy by adding to the labor force. However, other economists state that too many illegal...

    Read More

  • Immigration Laws

    1304 Words  | 3 Pages

    Those who support immigrants being protected by the law believe that immigrants help the economy by creating lower wages which enables companies to make better profits. According to Becky Akers and Donald J. Boudreaux, immigrants “should be allowed to contribute to the United States economy in the Constitutional and legal precepts that guarantee all immigrants the opportunity to pursue life, liberty, and happiness in the United States” (22). If immigrants were not here in the United States, the jobs they do might not even get done by anyone else (Isidore 103). Immigrants fill up the jobs that many Americans do not want. “Specialization deepens. Workers’ productivity soars, forcing employers to compete for their time by offering higher pay” (Akers and Boudreaux 25). As researcher Ethan Lewis said, “Economics professor, Patricia Cortes, studied the way immigrants impact prices in 25 large United States metropolitan areas. She discovered that a 10-percent increase in immigration lowered the price...

    Read More

  • Stereotypes and Attitudes: White Americans' Perception of Immigration

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is so much controversy about immigration in the United States. There are many perspectives about how Immigration is seen by White Americans. Some are more extreme than others. Even though the Unites States was founded by diversity and on the inclusion of immigrants, stereotypes presented by society drives White Americans to go to the extreme of deporting immigrants. The stereotypes that propel this idea of deportation are immigrants on welfare, crime done by immigrants, and how immigrants affect jobs. These stereotypes can be promoted from many different parts of society ranging from media outlets to the upper government of the United States.

    Read More

  • Breaking Away From Restricting Immigration Media Analysis

    1181 Words  | 3 Pages

    An image included in the article “Shattering Stereotypes About Immigrant Workers” which was published by the New York Times depicts immigrants gathering around a truck while searching for work, which reinforces the stereotype that immigrants are desperate for jobs and will steal jobs from citizens. The image portrays immigrants as willing to do nearly any job and to work for very low wages, which convinces people to think that immigrants will be more tempting to hire for the jobs that citizens should have acquired. The stereotype that immigrants steal jobs invokes a sense of jealousy and inequality in natural citizens who believe that they deserve more access to jobs and opportunities than immigrants. Citizens who are afraid of losing potential job opportunities continue to believe that immigrants are stealing their jobs and conclude that removing immigrants will solve their problems. This rivalry between immigrants and natural citizens helps to continue stereotypes because citizens will blame immigrants for their financial problems and label them as thieves in order remove immigrants from the workforce and regain their job opportunities. In addition, this misrepresentation of immigrants results in the belief that immigrants are undeserving of jobs and that employers should not consider them as candidates. In reality, immigrants often take jobs that citizens do not want due

    Read More

  • How Do Illegal Immigrants Affect Society

    383 Words  | 1 Pages

    It is clear that illegal immigrants have an overall detrimental effect on the country. Undocumented immigrants flood industries with low amounts of required skill and communication and drive native workers from their jobs. More often than not, these native workers leave the work force. Econometric models used to measure the effect that immigration has on society typically overestimate the benefits produced by immigrants and underestimate the cost associated with them. In addition, undocumented workers use more government assistance than natives and pay less in taxes. Perhaps the largest factor concerning the impact that illegal immigrants has on America is the colossal amount of crime that they bring into the country. Moreover, illegal

    Read More

  • Immigration Detriment In America

    595 Words  | 2 Pages

    Opponents assert that immigrants take American jobs and lower wages which hurts the American people . Such argument began in the mid-nineteenth century when, “Resentment toward women and other minority workers [immigrants] was fueled in part by fears that they would take jobs away from white men because employers could, and did, pay them less” (“The Labor Movement”). Indeed, some Americans lost their jobs to immigrants willing to work for less. In fact, the ample supply of immigrant labor made it easy to

    Read More

  • Immigration: A Sociological Analysis

    1447 Words  | 3 Pages

    By taking into consideration of some historical events and quite recent policies, in which favor Americans’ fears against immigrants, from looking at a sociologically perspective, one can understand why native-born Americans are so hostile towards the inferior group of immigrants. However, moral panic, along with instilling fears, has created blind spots for many Americans. Research has shown that immigrants do in fact contribute to America’s economy, despite generalizations and

    Read More

  • Immigration Work Force

    447 Words  | 1 Pages

    It is easy to disagree with the view that immigrants are stealing American jobs because, as recent research has shown, “high-skilled immigrants… had a significant ‘positive impact’ on Americans with skills, and also on working-class Americans. They spurred innovation, helping to create jobs” (Preston 2). In a study conducted by Cornell University, researchers found “little to no negative effects on overall wages and employment of native-born workers” (Preston 2), a fact that clearly speaks to the inaccuracy of the opposing viewpoint. This significant data merely reiterates the point that immigration has more of a positive impact to the American job market than a negative

    Read More

More about The Hot Topic of Immigration

Open Document