The debate as to whether immigrants are taking over all the countries job opportunities has been going on for some time now. Some may argue that these immigrants are stagnating the economy by taking jobs, while others feel that their presence has actually had a jump start effect instead, simply replacing rather than displacing American jobs. Recent news stories and political campaigns have further highlighted this debate and has created tension between lower/middle class Americans and the influx of immigrants. David Frum, a senior editor at the Atlantic and former presidential speech writer, argues that immigrants are helpful for the economy in his article “Does Immigration harm Working Americans?” because they stimulate growth, provide needed labor and skills.
In the article he says “on average, immigrant workers increase the opportunities and incomes of Americans. Foreign-born workers don’t affect the employment rate positively or negatively.” Similarly he also states"Immigrants expand the U.S. economy’s productive capacity, stimulate investment, and promote specialization that in the long run boosts productivity. What this means is that although the thought of foreigners may seem scary or even daunting to the prospects of the economy, they actually have the opposite effect. By adding an increased work force competition, the quality of work will improve and make jobs more specialized by adding more people. Through specialization and workforce competition increasing, this stimulates and growth therefore affects the economy in a positive and productive manner.
Despite all the experts agreeing on this issue almost unanimously, why is there still outrage and debate enveloping the country on this very issue? Perhaps the real reason is that some of these immigrants end up arriving in this country illegally, but even if that is the case these illegal immigrants only make up for a small portion of immigrants coming over to work. Nevertheless, Immigration should not be feared nor rejected especially off the basis of our own economic concerns. In fact, our country is built off the blood, sweat and tears of Immigrants who have come to this country looking for a better life. So in this sense I don't see how these immigrants could be "taking" jobs if its not necessarily our jobs to have in the first place. However, there are other concerns that may worry the American public: do immigrants pay taxes similarly to American citizens?
It's interesting to see how selfish Americans are to immigrants, almost seeing them as threats towards job security.
ReplyDeleteThis was a well organized post, however I would try to find a new source. Although David Frum has some merit, he did not provide any statistics, at least that were shown here. He seemed to base his article more off of speculation and his own opinion rather than fact.
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