Immigrants and native workers often bring different skill sets and play distinct roles in the job market. Immigrants may take on tasks that do not require language skills, creating opportunities for natives to move into roles that demand English proficiency. This reallocation results in occupations that do not directly compete with each other. The complexity of immigration involves various inputs, outputs, conflicts between humanitarian and economic interests, and the tendency for individuals to cherry-pick facts for arguments.
The U.S. immigration system is a massively complicated machine, with a lot of worn-out parts. How to fix it? Step one: Get hold of some actual facts and evidence. (We did this step for you.) (Part two of a three-part series.)
- RESOURCES:
- The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers, by Zeke Hernandez (2024, available for pre-order).
- "Illegal Immigration Is a Bigger Problem Than Ever. These Five Charts Explain Why," by Andrew Mollica, Alicia A. Caldwell, Michelle Hackman, and Santiago Pérez (The Wall Street Journal, 2023).
- Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream, by David Leonhardt (2023).
- The Economic and Fiscal Consequences of Immigration, by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017).