Immigration has historically been an important driver of U.S. population growth and immigrants are a significant share of the nation’s workers: About 45 million foreign-born people lived in the United States in 2022, making up about 14 percent of the U.S. population and around 17 percent of the labor force. Our posts cover research on the impacts of changing immigration policies; the contributions of immigrants to economic growth; how immigration affects the wages of native-born workers; the contribution of immigrants to government coffers as well as their use of public benefits; among other topics.
March 24, 2024
A discussion with Michael Strain on the factors driving change in the Republican Party’s approach to trade and immigration.
June 6, 2023
The population of immigrant minors from Central America has been rising. But the trend differs from what data on unaccompanied minors at the border would indicate.
April 2, 2023
A discussion with Giovanni Peri of the University of California at Davis on whether greater immigration can help alleviate U.S. labor market shortages.
March 26, 2023
A discussion with Lant Pritchett on the economic arguments for, as well as the political and social concerns against, greater international labor mobility.
March 7, 2022
Net migration to the U.S. declined significantly over the last 5 years due to Trump administration policies, processing backlogs, the pandemic, and other factors.
January 31, 2022
Giovanni Peri (UC Davis) discusses the many roles that immigrants play in the US economy, and how current labor shortages are linked to international travel disruptions and immigration restrictions.
January 11, 2022
By the end of 2021 there were about 2 million fewer working-age immigrants in the U.S. than there would have been if immigration trends had continued unchanged.
January 9, 2022
Tara Watson discusses her new book co-authored with Kalee Thompson, The Border Within: The Economics of Immigration in the Age of Fear.
December 16, 2021
The availability of immigrant workers can impact the options available to care for the elderly, as well as the quality of care they receive.