Immigration

Our economy is very dependent on foreign labor. Indeed, most of our workforce growth since 1990 has come from immigration, a trend that is expected to continue for at least the next 20 years. How these workers are employed, therefore, will have important implications for American economic health, as well as for national unity and social stability.

America’s employment-based immigration system is broken. The programs for admitting foreign workers for temporary and permanent jobs are rigid, cumbersome, and inefficient; do too little to protect the wages and working conditions of workers (foreign or domestic); do not respond very well to employers’ needs; and give almost no attention to adapting the number and characteristics of foreign workers to domestic labor shortages. The United States could benefit enormously from an immigration system that is more responsive to broader economic conditions.

 

Publications

Three Ways Immigration Reform Would Make the Economy More Productive A Fiscal

This report shows that legalizing undocumented immigrants, paired with labor standards enforcement, would boost economic productivity. Reform would remove barriers to advancement for newly legalized immigrants, create a level playing field for businesses, and align our systems of taxation, social services, and social insurance so that they would function as they are supposed to.

“Immigration reform, done right, would be good for immigrants, but it would also be good for all Americans,” said David Dyssegaard Kallick, the director of the Fiscal Policy Institute’s Immigration Research Initiative. “I don’t want to overstate the gains—we’re talking about 5 percent of the labor force. Still, those gains are real, and they’re important.”

The New York State DREAM Legislation: A strong return on investment

A proposal is gaining ground in New York State that would allow all students—including those who are undocumented immigrants—equal access to the state’s Tuition Assistance Program. Last year, the Fiscal Policy Institute published an analysis of the costs and benefits of the proposal. This report digs deeper into the fiscal and economic benefits to New York State, and shows that if the proposal were financed through the income tax the cost to a typical taxpayer would be 87¢, the price of a donut.

Critical Assets: The State of Immigrants in Virginia’s Economy

Virginia’s workforce is one of the most productive, highly educated, and highest earning in the nation, forming the backbone of an economy that is routinely ranked as a powerhouse. Immigrants have played a key role in the Commonwealth’s success. Without a better understanding and appreciation of what a critical asset the foreign-born population is, Virginia’s ability to reach its full economic potential is threatened. On many measures, Virginia’s foreign-born residents not only perform better than immigrants in other states, they also compare favorably to the native-born population nationally.

Immigrant Small Business Owners: A Significant and Growing Part of the Economy

More than one in six small business owners in the United States is an immigrant, according to a new report from FPI’s Immigration Research Initiative. Immigrants – people born in another country – make up 18 percent of all small business owners in the United States. By contrast, immigrants are 13 percent of the population and 16 percent of the labor force, according to the American Community Survey from 2010. That’s a big change from 20 years ago, when immigrants made up 9 percent of the labor force and 12 percent of small business owners. The report includes national data, information about the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, and information about the 25 largest metropolitan areas in the country.