Macroeconomic Effects Of Illegal Immigration

Amongst politicians, economists, judicial figures, and Americans alike, immigration is a popular topic. The United States is currently home to the largest immigrant population in the world. America is nation built by immigrants yet, the potential economic effects of immigration is an extremely controversial issue. The majority of Americans feel immigrants will negatively affect their financial stabilities and the overall economic climate. In this essay, a plethora of literary works will be observed, in an attempt for readers to have a more accurate depiction of the macroeconomic effect of recent waves of legal/illegal immigration. What are immigrants? How many immigrants reside in United States? According to Zong and Botolava immigrants refers

The National Research Council (NRC) estimated in 1996 that immigrants’ household create a net fiscal burden on all levels of government, estimated at $20.2 billion annually (Camarota, 2013, n.p.). They also found that fiscal impact of immigration depends heavily on the education level (human capital). Less educated immigrants are net fiscal drain. The NRC estimated a net lifetime fiscal drain of -$89,000 for an immigrant without a high school diploma and -$31, 000 for immigrants with only a high school education (Camarota, 2013, n.p.). On the other hand, more educated, higher income immigrants are a net fiscal benefit. NRC estimates that more educated immigrants create a lifetime net fiscal benefit of $105, 000 (Camarota, 2013, n.p.). It is apparent that most immigrants are not college educated thus overall immigrants have a negative effect on government accounts. However, it is clear that the means in which the government collects taxes is ineffective, which adds to the net fiscal deficit. Again, human capital is playing a significant role in the economic effect of immigrants. Immigrants also expierence unfair wage

wage growth. American wages are relatively low compared to most European countries. Most data suggest that there are long-term benefits for natives’ employment and wages from immigration. However, some studies suggest that the gains to native employment and wages come at the cost of short term losses from lower wages and higher unemployment (2016, n.p.). When immigration increase the supply of labor, firms increase investment to offset any reduction in capital per worker, thus keeping average wages from falling over the long term (2016, n.p.). According to data, immigrants ultimately do not or have little effect on wages and unemployment overall. Immigrants have an adverse effect on income distribution. The volume of immigrants in America creates a competitive market between natives and immigrates. As stated previously, this competition drives down the wages for all American workers. The revenue that is original distributed to natives is redistributed to employers and American owners of capital (Swain, 2007, p. 160). Thus, American owners of capital are benefiting from the immigration population but majority of American natives face a disadvantage. Immigrants reduce the family income distribution at both the high and low