The Economics of Immigration in the Age of Fear

Episode Details

The American public has always struggled with immigration policy, particularly as it intersects with race, poverty and economic opportunity. This week on EconoFact Chats, Tara Watson discusses her new book co-authored with Kalee Thompson, The Border Within: The Economics of Immigration in the Age of Fear. The book is both an economic analysis of the effects of immigration on the United States economy, and the story of six immigrant families and their struggles. The podcast focuses on the sources and the extent of unauthorized immigration, the net fiscal costs of unauthorized immigration, and policies to address unauthorized immigration under the Obama and Trump administrations.

Tara Watson is a Professor of Economics at Williams College.  She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the US Treasury from 2015 to 2016, and is currently a Rubenstein Fellow at the Brookings Institution.