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 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.
February 14, 2017
There is no empirical evidence that immigration increases crime in the United States.
February 13, 2017
Building a wall on the Mexican border –and having Mexico pay for it– has been a centerpiece of President Trump’s policies to control immigration.
January 27, 2017
Efforts to sanction employers who hire unauthorized workers and stricter employee screening could reduce unauthorized employment and lower immigration. But they could also shift employment to the informal sector and adversely impact some industries.
January 24, 2017
If additional measures to stop people from adding to the ranks of the undocumented are to be implemented, a wall is probably not the best use of resources.