1790—1920: immigration to the U.S. from Europe almost entirely unrestricted
1820—1911: Over 30,000,000 people arrived in the U.S. (largest migration in human history)
Naturalization Act of 1790: allowed “free white person[s] ... of good character” to become citizens
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: virtually banned all immigration from China until repeal in 1943
Emergency Quota Act of 1921: restricted inflow of Southern & Eastern Europeans and other “undesirables”
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished quotas
“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside” — U.S. Constitution, Amendment XIV, Section I, Clause I
“Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien’s status, may apply for asylum.” (8 U.S.C. 1158)
People entering the United States without going through the official immigration process
Valid concerns about fairness and rule of law
People entering the United States without going through the official immigration process
Valid concerns about fairness and rule of law
But to be sure, are opponents of illegal immigration really against the illegal part, or the immigration part?
Source: NBC
Source: Washington Post
Source: Washington Post
Source: Washington Post
“The decline in the unauthorized immigrant population is due largely to a fall in the number from Mexico – the single largest group of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. Between 2007 and 2017, this group decreased by 2 million. Meanwhile, there was a rise in the number from Central America and Asia.”
Source: Pew Research (2020)
“In 2017, about 29 million immigrants were working or looking for work in the U.S., making up some 17% of the total civilian labor force. Lawful immigrants made up the majority of the immigrant workforce, at 21.2 million. An additional 7.6 million immigrant workers are unauthorized immigrants, less than the total of the previous year and notably less than in 2007, when they were 8.2 million. They alone account for 4.6% of the civilian labor force, a dip from their peak of 5.4% in 2007.”
Source: Pew Research (2020)
“While immigration has been at the forefront of a national political debate, the U.S. public holds a range of views about immigrants living in the country. Overall, a majority of Americans have positive views about immigrants. About two-thirds of Americans (66%) say immigrants strengthen the country “because of their hard work and talents,” while about a quarter (24%) say immigrants burden the country by taking jobs, housing and health care.”
“Yet these views vary starkly by political affiliation. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 88% think immigrants strengthen the country with their hard work and talents, and just 8% say they are a burden. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, 41% say immigrants strengthen the country, while 44% say they burden it.”
“Americans were divided on future levels of immigration. A quarter said legal immigration to the U.S. should be decreased (24%), while one-third (38%) said immigration should be kept at its present level and almost another third (32%) said immigration should be increased.”
Source: Pew Research (2020)
High-productivity countries with good institutions enable the same people to earn higher wages than if they were in low-productivity countries with poor institutions
One estimate: opening U.S. borders would increase the average developing country worker’s salary from $8,903 to $19,272
Pritchett, Lant, 2006, Let Their People Come
Keenan, John, 2012, "Open Borders", NBER Working Paper 18307
Immigration from low- to high-productivity countries multiplies a person’s wages
This obviously benefits the immigrant & family, but also the country they immigrate to (improves productivity)
Closed borders prevent people moving from low-productivity jobs to higher-productivity jobs
It is widely estimated that removing all restrictions to immigration would double world GDP (Clemens, 2002)
Most people recognize that the “labor market” is affected by immigration as follows:
Immigration increases the supply of labor
Most people recognize that the “labor market” is affected by immigration as follows:
Immigration increases the supply of labor
However, immigrants are not just workers, they are consumers!
Depending on the relative sizes of these two effects, wages might go up or down
Furthermore, there is not a single labor market, but many labor markets depending on skills & education levels
Think about comparative advantage and the division of labor across professions within a country
Solorio is one of a growing number of agricultural businessmen who say they face an urgent shortage of workers....“Look, we are paying $14.50 now, but we are going up to $16.”
That has made California farms a proving ground for the Trump team’s theory that by cutting off the flow of immigrants they will free up more jobs for American-born workers and push up their wages.
So far, the results aren’t encouraging for farmers or domestic workers.
But the raises and new perks have not tempted native-born Americans to leave their day jobs for the fields. Nine in 10 agriculture workers in California are still foreign born, and more than half are undocumented, according to a federal survey.
Source: LA Times
“We view the benefits of immigration as myriad: Immigration brings entrepreneurs who start new businesses that hire American workers. Immigration brings young workers who help offset the large-scale retirement of baby boomers. Immigration brings diverse skill sets that keep our workforce flexible, help companies grow, and increase the productivity of American workers. Immigrants are far more likely to work in innovative, job-creating fields such as science, technology, engineering, and math that create life-improving products and drive economic growth.
Immigration undoubtedly has economic costs as well, particularly for Americans in certain industries and Americans with lower levels of educational attainment. But the benefits that immigration brings to society far outweigh their costs, and smart immigration policy could better maximize the benefits of immigration while reducing the costs.”
Nationalism and culture clash aside, perhaps an underlying reason why many resist immigration is because they truly fear greater population growth
View the world (or our country) as a fixed pie, the more people there are, the smaller everyone’s piece
Thomas Robert Malthus
1766-1834
"Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio. A slight acquaintance with numbers will shew the immensity of the first power in comparison of the second."
Malthus, Thomas, 1798, An Essay on the Principle of Population
Thomas Robert Malthus
1766-1834
“The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves. But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, and plague advance in terrific array, and sweep off their thousands and tens of thousands. Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world.”
Malthus, Thomas, 1798, An Essay on the Principle of Population
Thomas Robert Malthus
1766-1834
“Necessity, that imperious all-pervading law of nature, restrains [all plants and animals] within the prescribed bounds. The race of plants, and the race of animals shrink under this great restrictive law. And the race of man cannot, by any efforts of reason, escape from it. Among plants and animals its effects are waste of seed, sickness, and pre- mature death. Among mankind, misery and vice.”
Malthus, Thomas, 1798, An Essay on the Principle of Population
Thomas Robert Malthus
1766-1834
“Preventative check”: anything that limits people from having children
“Positive check”: anything that reduces existing population
Malthus, Thomas, 1798, An Essay on the Principle of Population
Paul Ehrlich
1932-
Julian Simon
1932-1998
"The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate."
"We must have population control at home, hopefully through a system of incentives and penalties, but by compulsion if voluntary methods fail."
"65 million Americans will die of starvation between 1980-1989. By 1999, the US population will decline to 22.6 million."
"If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000."
Ehrlich, Paul, 1968, The Population Bomb
Donella Meadows et al., 1972, The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind.
Ehrlich, Paul, 1968, The Population Bomb
Donella Meadows et al., 1972, The Limits to Growth: A Report for the Club of Rome’s Project on the Predicament of Mankind.
Basic price theory: demand for resource raises its price
"Engineering" vs. "economic" forecasting:
The ultimate resource is people!
More people ⟹ greater extent of the market ⟹ more division of labor ⟹ more specialization ⟹ more productivity
More chances to have an Einstein or a Mozart
Simon, Julian L, 1981, The Ultimate Resource
"The nonrivalry of technology, as modeled in the endogenous growth literature, implies that high population spurs technological change. This paper constructs and empirically tests a model of long-run world population growth combining this implication with the Malthusian assumption that technology limits population. The model predicts that over most of history, the growth rate of population will be proportional to its level. Empirical tests support this prediction and show that historically, among societies with no possibility for technological contact, those with larger initial populations have had faster technological change and population growth," (p.681)
"[H]olding constant the share of resources devoted to research, an increase in population leads to an increase in technological change...This paper argues that the long-run history of population growth and technological change is consistent with the population implications of models of endogenous technological change...even if each person's research productivity is independent of population, total research output will increase with population due to the nonrivalry of technology. As Kuznets [1960] and Simon [1977, 1981] argue, a higher population means more potential inventors.," (p.681-684)
Kremer, Michael, 1993, "Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to 1990," Quarterly Journal of Economics 108(3): 681-716.
Consider a simple aggregate production function Y=f(A,eL,K)
Population growth raises L and therefore raises Y (i.e. GDP)
Source: Social Security Administration
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