What Is The Impact Of The Mariel Boatlift On The Miami Labor Market

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immigrants that have not begun – or do not intend to begin – the process towards gaining legal citizenship. This will give back jobs to natives and legal immigrants.
The Impact of the Mariel Boatlift on the Miami Labor Market by David Card summarizes the effects of the Boatlift on the Miami labor market. More specifically, Carr focuses on wages and unemployment of less-skilled workers. It is important to note that for at least one decade prior to the Mariel Boatlift, the city of Miami was the most immigrant heavy city in the United States; 35% of the population was immigrants. This number increased after the boatlift because of the political and economic landscape of Cuba during this time. That being said, Cubans and Hispanics sought refuge in the United States. Conveniently, Miami was their closest stop. …show more content…

But, this ultimately led to a decrease in pay for new immigrants that were relatively unskilled. However, the city of Miami proved its ability to absorb such an influx in immigration due to the fact that there was no significant effect on “...the wages or unemployment rates of less-skilled workers, even among Cubans who had immigrated earlier.” (Card 245) This is largely owed to the city’s ability to adjust to other large waves of immigrants in the two decades before the Mariel Boatlift. (Card 245)
This example is a seemingly useful case to supplement an argument for increasing the amount of newly immigrated persons per year. However, it is not because Miami was preconditioned for such an influx; Cuban immigrants flooded to the city decades prior to the Mariel Boatlift. The city was economically, socially, and politically apt to absorb a high amount of people. Therefore, in regards to the negative wage and employment effects immigrants have on a city, Miami is an