Works Cited
Acosta, Amanda. “The Impacts of Immigration on American Society.” UCLA Undergraduate Social Sciences Journal, vol. 11, 2015, pp. 1-13.
In this journal article, Acosta examines research on the economic and cultural impacts of immigration on American society. She discusses findings that immigration has positive effects on economic growth and minimal negative impacts on wages of native-born workers. Acosta also explores how immigration enriches American culture through increased diversity of ideas, traditions, and innovations. While immigration may cause some transient cultural conflicts as societies adjust to change, research shows that over time immigration promotes cultural understanding and social cohesion. This source provides a good overview of research on both the economic and cultural impacts of immigration in the United States.
Aguilar, Louis. “The Impact of Immigration on the Economy.” Washington DC: American Immigration Council, 2008.
Aguilar’s report for the American Immigration Council analyzes research on the economic effects of immigration. Drawing from studies by the Congressional Budget Office, National Research Council, and numerous economists, Aguilar finds that immigration has an overall positive impact on the U.S. economy. Immigrants contribute to economic growth by filling jobs Americans do not want, expanding the workforce to create new jobs, paying taxes that fund public services, and starting new businesses. While some research has found temporary downward pressure on the wages of native-born high school dropouts, most studies show little to no negative effects on overall native wages. This source synthesizes significant research to present a balanced perspective on the economic impacts of immigration.
Borjas, George J. Heaven’s Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2000.
In this book, economist George Borjas takes a more critical view of the economic impacts of immigration. Borjas argues that recent immigration, especially the large influx of low-skilled immigrants from Latin America, has negatively affected the wages and employment opportunities of native-born high school dropout workers. Drawing on his own regression analyses, Borjas contends that immigration reduces average native wages by redistributing income from workers to employers and landowners. While providing a dissenting perspective, this source is limited by counterarguments that Borjas’ studies contain methodological flaws and overlook the broader economic benefits of immigration. It presents an opposing viewpoint worth considering.
Cuecuecha, Alfredo, and Hillel Rapoport. “Remittances and the Equilibrium Real Exchange Rate: Theory and Application.” World Bank Economic Review, vol. 32, no. 2, 2018, pp. 435-455.
Cuecuecha and Rapoport develop a theoretical model exploring the relationship between remittances and real exchange rates in developing countries. They test their model empirically using data from Mexico to analyze how remittances from the U.S. impact Mexico’s real exchange rate. Their findings suggest that remittances cause currency appreciation by increasing domestic absorption and decreasing savings. By incorporating the effect of remittances into standard models of real exchange rate determination, this study deepens understanding of how international migration influences developing economies through remittances. It makes an important theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature on migration and development economics.
Donato, Katharine M., and Amada Armenta. “What We Know about Unauthorized Migration.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 37, 2011, pp. 529-543.
This review article synthesizes sociological research on unauthorized migration trends and processes. Donato and Armenta discuss shifts over time in migration flows from Mexico and other Latin American countries as a result of economic conditions, border enforcement policies, and social networks. They examine patterns of settlement and integration of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., including risks of exploitation due to their legal status. The article also analyzes migrants’ transnational engagement and impacts on sending communities through remittances. By concisely summarizing key findings and debates across numerous sociological studies, this review provides a useful overview of patterns and impacts of unauthorized migration.
Ewing, Walter A., Daniel E. Martínez, and Rubén G. Rumbaut. “The Criminalization of Immigration in the United States.” Washington D.C.: American Immigration Council, July 2015.
This report by the American Immigration Council discusses trends in criminalizing immigration policy and enforcement in the United States. Drawing on government data and research studies, the authors document the expansion of deportations for nonviolent offenses as well as increased collaboration between federal immigration enforcement and local law enforcement. They argue this has negatively impacted public safety by damaging trust between immigrant communities and police. Ewing, Martínez, and Rumbaut also discuss alternatives to the current approach that could improve safety while respecting civil liberties. Though from an advocacy organization, the report is grounded in objective evidence and presents a compelling critique of increasing criminalization of immigration issues.
Fortuny, Karina, and Ajay Chaudry. “A Comprehensive Review of Immigrant Access to Health and Human Services.” Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2011.
This report by the nonpartisan Urban Institute reviews research on immigrants’ utilization of and barriers to accessing public benefits and health services in the U.S. Through in-depth analysis of national surveys and state and local studies, Fortuny and Chaudry find that while immigrant families access some services at lower rates than citizen families, usage rates are higher for emergency Medicaid and educational services. Significant barriers include fear of deportation or public charge determinations, lack of English proficiency, and lack of information. This report systematically synthesizes robust evidence on immigrant access issues, making it a seminal work for understanding policy challenges in this area.
Goldsmith, Arthur, Benjamin Page, and Ronald N. Rapoport. “Immigration and National Identity in the United States.” British Journal of Political Science, vol. 28, no. 3, 1998, pp. 595-598.
Goldsmith, Page, and Rapoport experimentally test how attitudes towards immigration relate to conceptions of American national identity. Their statistical analysis finds that more inclusive, civic conceptions of American identity correlate with more positive views on immigration levels, while stronger ethnic definitions of nationality correlate with preferences for lower immigration. The authors argue debates over immigration policy in the U.S. represent clashes over what constitutes the boundaries of citizenship and inclusion. This article makes a valuable empirical contribution by experimentally linking conceptions of national identity to opinions about immigration, which has broader implications for policymaking in multicultural democracies.
Hanson, Gordon H. “Emigration, Labor Supply and Earnings in Mexico.” In Immigration, Poverty, and Socioeconomic Inequality, edited by David Card and Susan Chiswick, pp. 54-67. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2009.
In this chapter, Hanson analyzes data from Mexican household surveys to study how emigration impacts earnings in Mexico. He finds that higher wages in the U.S. draw Mexican workers away from some occupations and locations in Mexico, reducing labor supply. This causes wages to rise for remaining Mexican workers, conferring “immigration gains” on non-migrants. Using instrumental variables methods to address potential endogeneity, Hanson offers persuasive evidence that migration positively affects Mexican wages. His microeconomic analysis complements macro-level studies of remittances to deepen understanding of migration feedback effects in developing economies.
Hernandez, Donald J., andEdward N. wolfe. “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor: How U.S. Immigration Policies Impacted Low-Skilled Immigrants.” Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, December 2018.
This RAND Corporation report reviews changes in U.S. legal immigration policies over time that have incentivized more-educated immigration. Drawing on census data and existing research, Hernandez and Wolfe find that quotas, visa allocations, and eligibility rules have increasingly favored high-skilled immigrants and reduced options for low-skilled migration for work. While enhancing skills in the labor force, these policies have likely disrupted family reunification goals by making it harder for immigrants already in the U.S. to sponsor relatives with low education levels. The report contributes to understanding unintended consequences of past policy reforms on shaping immigrant demographics in America.
Ruhs, Martin and Philip Martin. “Numbers vs. Rights: Trade-Offs and Guest Worker Programs.” International Migration Review, vol. 42, no. 1, 2008, pp. 249-265.
Ruhs and Martin compare different approaches to managing temporary migrant labor: quotas, rights-based models, and immigration amnesty. They consider economic sector-specific programs in the U.S. and Europe that balance employers’ needs, migrants’ rights, and enforcement challenges. Through analysis of Canada, U.S., Germany and the U.K., the authors argue that stronger worker protections do not necessarily undermine control over numbers or compliance. This nuanced examination of tradeoffs shapes discussions of alternative policy models, such as portable visa or “earned legalization” options, that could optimize competing objectives of developed immigration countries.
Sands, Melissa. “The Impact of Immigration on Children Living in Poverty.” Washington DC: The Urban Institute, April 2018.
Sands analyzes how U.S.-born children of immigrants might be affected by reductions in legal immigration proposed in some policy reforms. She uses microsimulation techniques on Census Bureau data to estimate impacts on child poverty rates if specific immigrant groups were removed from the population. Her findings suggest that decreases in legal immigration would likely increase overall poverty among native-born children since immigrant families are less likely to live in poverty. The paper makes an innovative methodological contribution using demographic modeling to test how current policy changes could affect childhood poverty
Andrew Stroud