Skilled Immigration Controversy

In “The Worker Next Door” Barry R. Chiswick presents a fairly weak argument that suggest that the assertions made by many people, that the American economy is fueled by low-skilled foreign workers is irrational. He states that the “(i) ncrease in low-skilled workers has contributed to the stagnation of wages for all such workers.” Although, Chiswick has a Ph. D in economics and is specialized in the labor market, his argument is fairly weak because he doesn’t effectively consider the opposing view, he lacks effective evidence, and has an unbalanced rhetorical triangle.

Nice’s article focuses on the aspects of the 1990 Immigration Act which relate to employment visas. She explains that this legislature will result in an overall increase of immigration to America in her statement, “Effective October 1, 1991, there will be almost a three-fold increase in employment-based permanent resident visas.” Although, she does construes that these visas will be mainly for skilled workers, “Persons seeking to enter the United States as immigrants on the basis of an offer of employment from a U.S. employer may do so in larger numbers under the new law as long as they present unique expertise, training and experience,” on the flip side, “Immigrant visas for unskilled workers, such as domestics, will be restricted, requiring approximately twice the current waiting period” (Nice). The overall growth in American immigration in the 1990s was most likely due to the Immigration Act of 1990. In the Effects of immigrants on the 1980-1990 U.S. wage experience by Maria E. Enchautegui, the author explains that “According to the 1990 Census, 8.6 million immigrants

The Democratic Party has fiercely advocated for the enactment of the DREAM Act. Republicans however have strongly opposed it and have left little hope for any reform for illegal immigrants. However not passing the DREAM Act and stalling on reform for illegal immigrants is doing an injustice to these immigrants and most importantly to American citizens. Today many US citizens suffer from a depleting economy and anything that can help revive it should and must be done. I see the DREAM Act as a great opportunity to aid and provide relief to the economy.

Mexican immigration has a large impact on the United States both politically and economically. Focusing on the labor market, and how over history, especially throughout the 20th century, American employers in various industries, have benefited from the immigrant workers crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. Recognizing the value of immigrants willing to work various job positions for low wages, during worker shortages in America. In the 1990s alone the number of Mexican Immigrants workers grew by 2.9 million, a 123 % increase. (PP.

In recent headlines, the H-1B visa has come become a debatable topic. The number of visas distributed to skilled workers (H-1B) and who receives them, and whether the United States should increase or decrease the amount. Currently, the H-1B visa system is structure to administer 65,000 H-1B visas (Services, H-1B Fiscal Years (FY) 2014 Cap Season). According to the United States Citizenship and Immigration, 124,000 petitions were received during the 2013 fiscal year. (Services, H-1B Fiscal Years (FY) 2014 Cap Season). Some are suggesting that we need more skilled immigrant labor within our country for innovative and entrepreneurial exploration, while others are opposed to such a change and would prefer a decrease in the number of

Although the issue of immigration policy has been at the center of political debates, largely discussed in the media and newspapers, no one has yet found a solution to this ill-defined problem, that would comply with the America’s core values. While I think the immigration policy does need a reform, the solution to this problem certainly is not a deportation of all undocumented residents.

In the United States of America there are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S. Many industries depend heavily on immigrant labor , legal and illegal, to achieve productivity. The construction industry, nationally , employ at a fast rate about 1,000,000 illegal immigrants; almost one in five illegal immigrants work major industries. (Passel,2006). Immigrant reform will undoubtedly reduce the supply of illegal immigrant by encouraging enforcement of current laws by creating new legislation with harsher penalties for illegal immigration. The enforcement of the new laws will allow for industries to allow employers to recruit and hire foreign born workers only with signs of identification. However for the industries

One common misconception among native-born Americans is that with a virtually unlimited supply of “outsiders” willing to do a job for less than the native who is currently doing that same job, the value of the low-skilled work force is decreased as a whole. This, in turn, leads to the belief that immigrants are depressing the wages of that working class. However, over the last twenty years, numerous studies have been conducted in order to find out if this is true or not and in most cases the findings indicate that, “Immigration seems to have no effects on the wages or employment of white natives and very slight, if any, negative effects on the wages and employment of native blacks.” (Waldinger, David, Lichter 19)

vital for the survival of our economy. They feed upon the myth that the U.S.

Surowiecki implements many techniques throughout his article on this interestingly dense topic. His main technique would have to be relying on statistics or logos to convince the reader of his bias. He argues that immigrant employment visas are being capped at much too small of a number, so they migrate to other countries where they are able to establish themselves faster. This is hurting our economy especially after the recession in 2009. Unemployment in America isn’t as high as it was a few years back but there are still plenty of Americans looking for employment, these citizens are angered

The most avidly debated effects of immigration involve the United States’ economy and labor force. It is estimated that there are 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States today, and their impact on the economy can be perceived as positive as well as negative. The overall effect is unclear, and this essay will present both sides of the debate.

Over the past two decades the number of low-skilled workers in the United States has increased because of immigration, both legal and illegal. (Chiswick, 2006)

Immigration is important for the growth of the economy because it’s a major contributions towards the economy. The United States has often been referred to as a global melting pot due to its assimilation of diverse cultures, nationalities, and ethnicities. Today, this metaphor may be an understatement. Edstam and Carlson an immigration activists reports that, without the extra work and consumption provided by immigrants, the economy of the United States would collapse. They include in the article saying that, despite the common notion that immigrants steal jobs from Americans, the 2005 Economic Report shows that The Federal Reserve in fact recently raised its benchmark interest rate because it observed a strengthening U.S. economy with reduced unemployment, rising wages and some labor shortages Immigrants continue to strengthen local economies through their higher productivity and increased consumption (Edstam and Carlson). An article by Savajlenka added, Studies show that competition with American workers among immigrants is very minimal and limited to the unskilled labor. Therefore, Savajlenka immigration analyst states that, “Numerous studies have documented that immigrants are needed to replace the large number of retiring Baby Boomers and that the future growth of the U.S. workforce will come from immigrants and their children” (Savajlenka). This is an additional like a shot in occupations that presently use several older employees, like janitorial and truck driving

Critics of the STEM movement argue that H1-B visas are a means for companies to obtain workers at

The United States’ quota based immigration system weakens the country’s ability to sustain its position in the increasingly competitive global economy. Although the United States has a substantial flexible labor market, huge international corporations and some of the best universities in the world, it faces great competition in the global labor market. With the increasing economic opportunities available in industrialized countries and the continually expanding economies of India and China the US needs to update its immigration policies to remain strong globally.