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.
February 14, 2018
Family-based immigrant visas to the U.S. are limited to close relatives. Many categories have numerical limits and are subject to caps by country of origin.
January 23, 2018
Undocumented workers who obtain legal status earn higher wages partly because they are able to work in jobs that are a better match for their qualifications.
September 11, 2017
Has DACA denied jobs to hundreds of thousands of Americans by allowing those same jobs to go to illegal aliens? Or, will ending DACA hurt local economies?
July 26, 2017
Current immigrant flows are not estimated to cost taxpayers money over the long-run. But, state and local governments might see increased expenditures.
June 28, 2017
While Canada uses a points system which selects for high-skill immigrants, the U.S. prioritizes family ties. Would switching to a point system benefit the U.S.?
March 28, 2017
Undocumented immigrants are not eligible for most benefits. Many have dependent children or a spouse who are U.S. citizens and may qualify for benefits.
March 20, 2017
Proposed economic policies are likely to hurt agriculture by depressing the prices received by farmers, reducing agricultural exports, and raising production costs.
March 16, 2017
Policy efforts should focus on current immigration trends with policies regulating the flows of highly educated immigrants arriving mainly from Asia.
February 17, 2017
Critics contend that the program does not attract the "best and brightest" foreign workers, that it pays lower wages, and that it is used to facilitate offshoring of services.