Immigration’s Impact
The movement of immigrants into the U.S. has been the subject of discussion and often intense debate among politicians, economists and business leaders throughout the nation’s history. Today, the debate continues, but some recent studies indicate that the social costs associated with immigrants are not as high as once thought and that the U.S.’s need to attract immigrants could grow in the future.
The U.S. already has the largest population of immigrants in the world – between 35 and 36 million, representing close to 12% of the total population (International, 2005). The greatest number of foreign-born residents in the U.S. today are from Latin America (53%), followed by Asia (25%) and Europe (14%) (Larsen, 2004). Most U.S. immigrants are in the nation legally. In 2004, about 10.3 million foreign-born residents of the U.S. were unauthorized immigrants (Passel, 2005).
There has been much discussion about the degree to which immigrants affect jobs and social services in the U.S. Take the healthcare sector, for instance. It’s true that immigrants without health insurance can be costly for some hospital systems (“Cost”, 2005), but a study in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that worries about immigrants overwhelming the U.S. healthcare system are exaggerated. The study examined the cost of health care for U.S. citizens versus immigrants and revealed that immigrants accounted for only 7.9% of all spending for health care and 8% of government-funded health care. In fact, expenditures for immigrant children under age 12 were 49% lower than costs for children born in the U.S., while costs for teens age 12 to 17 were even less – 79% lower than U.S.-born teens (Mohanty, 2005).
Even more surprising, perhaps, is the data showing that illegal immigrants are helping to shore up U.S. Social Security with billions of dollars they are ineligible to eventually collect. According to recent estimates, about seven million illegal workers added about $7 billion to the Social Security coffers in 2004, totaling almost 10% of the year’s surplus. And taxes that illegal immigrants paid have proven a windfall for the U.S. government – in 2002, incorrect W-2s accounted for $56 million in earnings, and currently this fund is growing at about $50 million annually (Porter, 2005).
The U.S. remains highly dependent on immigrants in certain sectors of the economy, especially agriculture. About 1.8 million undocumented immigrant workers are employed in the agriculture industry, making up almost half of the entire U.S. agricultural workforce (Jordan, 2005).
But it is highly skilled immigrants whom some experts are most worried about losing. Compared to a period between the mid-to-late 1990s, recent years have brought a decline in the number of U.S. immigrants who’ve been naturalized (Rytina, 2005). Some argue that if this were to become a long-term trend that applies to well-educated immigrants, it could harm U.S. competitiveness.
In his 2005 book, The Flight of the Creative Class, Richard Florida, a professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute, argues that foreign talent is increasingly put off by restrictive U.S. immigration laws and that the future of the U.S. economy is at stake because of the growing global competition for talent. “Today, the terms of competition revolve around a central axis: a nation’s ability to mobilize, attract, and retain human creative talent. Every key dimension of international economic leadership, from manufacturing excellence to scientific and technological advancement, will depend on this ability,” Florida claims.
As immigrants become attracted to other parts of the world, the U.S. might need to do more to attract immigrant members of the creative class. In recent years, Latin Americans have increasingly headed to parts of Europe, which will likely want to attract skilled immigrants as its population ages. And Asians are increasingly migrating within their own region (Omelaniuk, 2005). In such a world, the U.S. may have to work harder to become a “nation of choice” for the best and the brightest.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher:
“The Cost of Caring for Illegal Immigrants.” DiversityInc, June 2005, p. 26.
International Labour Organization. “Eighty-Six Million Migrant Workers Active in Global Economy, Says New ILO Report.” Press release, May 21, 2004.
Jordan, Miriam. “As Border Tightens, Growers See Threat to ‘Winter Salad Bowl.’” Wall Street Journal Online, March 11, 2005.
Larsen, Luke J. “Foreign-Born Population in the United States.” U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, August 2004.
Mohanty, Sarita, et al. “Health Care Expenditures of Immigrants in the United States: A Nationally Representative Analysis.” American Journal of Public Health, August 2005, pp. 1432-1438.
National Immigration Forum and American Immigration Lawyers Association. “A National Survey of Voter Attitudes on Immigration.” March 2005.
Omelaniuk, Irena, ed. World Migration 2005. International Organization for Migration, 2005.
Passel, Jeffrey S. “Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics.” Pew Hispanic Center, June 14, 2005.
Porter, Eduardo. “Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security with Billions.” New York Times, April 5, 2005.
“Richard Florida, Tracking the ‘Creative Class.’” Weekend Edition: Sunday [NPR Transcript], May 22, 2005.
Rytina, Nancy F. and Chunnong Saeger. Annual Flow Report: Naturalizations in the United States 2004. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, June 2005.
United Nations Population Division. International Migration Trends 1960-2000, July, 2005.
The U.S. already has the largest population of immigrants in the world – between 35 and 36 million, representing close to 12% of the total population (International, 2005). The greatest number of foreign-born residents in the U.S. today are from Latin America (53%), followed by Asia (25%) and Europe (14%) (Larsen, 2004). Most U.S. immigrants are in the nation legally. In 2004, about 10.3 million foreign-born residents of the U.S. were unauthorized immigrants (Passel, 2005).
There has been much discussion about the degree to which immigrants affect jobs and social services in the U.S. Take the healthcare sector, for instance. It’s true that immigrants without health insurance can be costly for some hospital systems (“Cost”, 2005), but a study in the American Journal of Public Health indicates that worries about immigrants overwhelming the U.S. healthcare system are exaggerated. The study examined the cost of health care for U.S. citizens versus immigrants and revealed that immigrants accounted for only 7.9% of all spending for health care and 8% of government-funded health care. In fact, expenditures for immigrant children under age 12 were 49% lower than costs for children born in the U.S., while costs for teens age 12 to 17 were even less – 79% lower than U.S.-born teens (Mohanty, 2005).
Even more surprising, perhaps, is the data showing that illegal immigrants are helping to shore up U.S. Social Security with billions of dollars they are ineligible to eventually collect. According to recent estimates, about seven million illegal workers added about $7 billion to the Social Security coffers in 2004, totaling almost 10% of the year’s surplus. And taxes that illegal immigrants paid have proven a windfall for the U.S. government – in 2002, incorrect W-2s accounted for $56 million in earnings, and currently this fund is growing at about $50 million annually (Porter, 2005).
The U.S. remains highly dependent on immigrants in certain sectors of the economy, especially agriculture. About 1.8 million undocumented immigrant workers are employed in the agriculture industry, making up almost half of the entire U.S. agricultural workforce (Jordan, 2005).
But it is highly skilled immigrants whom some experts are most worried about losing. Compared to a period between the mid-to-late 1990s, recent years have brought a decline in the number of U.S. immigrants who’ve been naturalized (Rytina, 2005). Some argue that if this were to become a long-term trend that applies to well-educated immigrants, it could harm U.S. competitiveness.
In his 2005 book, The Flight of the Creative Class, Richard Florida, a professor in the School of Public Policy at George Mason University and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute, argues that foreign talent is increasingly put off by restrictive U.S. immigration laws and that the future of the U.S. economy is at stake because of the growing global competition for talent. “Today, the terms of competition revolve around a central axis: a nation’s ability to mobilize, attract, and retain human creative talent. Every key dimension of international economic leadership, from manufacturing excellence to scientific and technological advancement, will depend on this ability,” Florida claims.
As immigrants become attracted to other parts of the world, the U.S. might need to do more to attract immigrant members of the creative class. In recent years, Latin Americans have increasingly headed to parts of Europe, which will likely want to attract skilled immigrants as its population ages. And Asians are increasingly migrating within their own region (Omelaniuk, 2005). In such a world, the U.S. may have to work harder to become a “nation of choice” for the best and the brightest.
Documents used in the preparation of this TrendWatcher:
“The Cost of Caring for Illegal Immigrants.” DiversityInc, June 2005, p. 26.
International Labour Organization. “Eighty-Six Million Migrant Workers Active in Global Economy, Says New ILO Report.” Press release, May 21, 2004.
Jordan, Miriam. “As Border Tightens, Growers See Threat to ‘Winter Salad Bowl.’” Wall Street Journal Online, March 11, 2005.
Larsen, Luke J. “Foreign-Born Population in the United States.” U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, August 2004.
Mohanty, Sarita, et al. “Health Care Expenditures of Immigrants in the United States: A Nationally Representative Analysis.” American Journal of Public Health, August 2005, pp. 1432-1438.
National Immigration Forum and American Immigration Lawyers Association. “A National Survey of Voter Attitudes on Immigration.” March 2005.
Omelaniuk, Irena, ed. World Migration 2005. International Organization for Migration, 2005.
Passel, Jeffrey S. “Unauthorized Migrants: Numbers and Characteristics.” Pew Hispanic Center, June 14, 2005.
Porter, Eduardo. “Illegal Immigrants Are Bolstering Social Security with Billions.” New York Times, April 5, 2005.
“Richard Florida, Tracking the ‘Creative Class.’” Weekend Edition: Sunday [NPR Transcript], May 22, 2005.
Rytina, Nancy F. and Chunnong Saeger. Annual Flow Report: Naturalizations in the United States 2004. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Immigration Statistics, June 2005.
United Nations Population Division. International Migration Trends 1960-2000, July, 2005.
Lorrie is i4cp's Vice President of Research. A thought leader, speaker, and researcher on the topic of gender equity, Lorrie has decades of experience in human capital research. Lorrie’s work has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other renowned publications.