According to the U.S. Census Bureau, immigrants made up 13.9% of the total population in 2022. Among them are highly skilled workers who fill critical gaps in high tech industries as well those who construct the buildings in which we live and who plant and harvest the foods we eat. Some arrive seeking greater opportunity while others bring hope simply for a life free from persecution and poverty.
In every country and context, immigration is as much a force for shaping society as it is a flashpoint for anger and prejudice. At the same time, research shows that immigrants make important contributions to their new countries.
鈥淚mmigrants are part of the fabric of a country鈥檚 economy and society,鈥 said Giovanni Peri, director of the Global Migration Center and a professor of economics at 完美体育. 鈥淲e want to bring more information, clarity, facts and discussion to shine the light that immigrants are human beings who bring assets with them to their new countries.鈥
Immigration and jobs
In the U.S., the negativity associated with immigration is partly driven by the idea that immigrants are a threat to jobs. For nearly 30 years, Peri has published papers on how immigrants affect jobs and wages for everyone in the U.S. For a for the American Immigration Council, Peri analyzed over a decade of economic data to understand the dynamics of how immigrant workers shape local job markets.
Instead of revealing a zero-sum game in which immigrants and native-born workers compete for a limited number of jobs, the analysis found a net positive effect on native-born workers. The study found that immigrants did not drive down wages, as is often argued.
From 1990-2004, immigration increased wages by as much as 3.4% for the 90% of native-born workers with at least a high-school diploma. For those without a high-school diploma, immigration caused a loss of 1.1% percent of their yearly wages.
The analysis also showed how these effects on wages are possible. Immigrants bring levels of education and skill sets that complement 鈥 rather than compete with 鈥 the native-born workforce.
An April 2024 by Peri and co-author Alessandro Caiumi confirm that these findings remain true nearly 20 years later. With improved statistical methods, this new analysis found that immigrant workers at all skill levels either have no effect on jobs and wages for U.S.-born workers or that they generate a slight improvement.
鈥淚nstead of a threat to native-born workers, immigrant workers bring with them skills and levels of education that are complementary,鈥 said Peri. 鈥淚nstead of generating more competition across the board, immigrant workers have almost always increased overall economic opportunity for everyone.鈥
The myth of immigrants and higher crime
Economics research has also found the idea that immigrants drive higher crime rates to be a myth. A co-authored by Santiago P茅rez, an associate professor of economics and Global Migration Center affiliate, analyzed over 150 years of U.S. Census Bureau data to compare the incarceration rates of immigrants and the U.S.-born.
The study found that immigrants have had a lower incarceration rate than the U.S.-born in every single year since 1870. Also, since the 1960s the gap in incarceration rates has significantly grown. In recent years that gap has reached 30% overall.
The team explored a number of potential explanations for this shift that began about 60 years ago. One might have been that deportation was removing more people from the country before they could be counted by the U.S. Census. However, mass deportations in the U.S. began in the early 2000s, well after the incarceration trends for immigrants and the native-born began following different paths.
In fact, the data might be overestimating the rates at which immigrants commit crime. The U.S. Census Bureau does not include any reference to their crime. Even if the only law they broke was entering the U.S., they are still reported as an incarcerated individual along with others who have committed violent or property crimes.
鈥淧eople often see past migration waves in a more positive light,鈥 said Santiago P茅rez, an associate professor of economics and Global Migration Center affiliate. 鈥淭hey think about Europeans who came in the late 19th century and early 2