The Washington Op-Ed
A growing body of research on how immigration affects the U.S. economy sends a clear message: Skilled immigrants are beneficial, unskilled immigrants are not.
Skilled immigrant workers help the economy when they take hard-to-fill jobs and don't compete with native workers. Consequently, output and income rise to the benefit of all. More skilled workers help use capital resources more efficiently and pay more in taxes than they receive in public benefits.
In contrast, low-skill immigrants depress the employment and wages of native-born workers. They compete with native workers for housing and drive up rents and home prices. Part of the wages they earn, rather than being spent or saved here, are sent to their home countries. They pay less in taxes than they get in public benefits, with the difference paid for by others' taxes. Many work in the underground economy and pay no taxes. Not least, a surfeit of cheap immigrant labor delays adoption of labor-saving technology, slowing productivity gains.
Posted by katie at August 18, 2005