DO IMMIGRANTS HARM NATIVE WORKERS

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DO IMMIGRANTS HARM NATIVE WORKERS?

• Quiz
• A brief history of immigrant-worker cases
• Why immigrants do harm native workers
• Why immigrants do not harm native workers
• Quiz part 2 How well did you do?

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Past Immigrant Worker Cases
3
A Few Notable Groups

• African American Slaves
• 4 million slaves bought and sold in the U.S.
  between 1619 and 1865
• Picked cotton, dug canals, built railroads, and
  government buildings (e.g.U.S. Capitol)
• Estimates claim reparations of 4 trillion
• Source Highet, Alistair. Slaverys Prive.
  http//www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID12470

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Groups (contd)

• Chinese and the Transcontinental Railroad
• A lack of dependable labor in the Civil War
  period of the 1860s
• Central Pacific Rail Co. hired Chinese immigrants
  to build across Sierra Nevadas
• Paid substantially less than white workers
• 1,200 Chinese workers died in construction, yet
  their civil rights remained unrecognized
• Source Chinese Immigrants and the Building of
  the Transcontinental Railroad.
• http//www.gliah.uh.edu/historyonline/china1.cfm

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Groups (contd)

• Mexican Braceros
• From 1942 to 1964, a cooperation between the U.S.
  and Mexican governments
• 350,000 crossed the border each year to cultivate
  and harvest American crops, more than 4 million
  overall
• Worked without knowing their rights and suffered
  extreme harassment from extremist groups and
  racist authorities despite huge economic
  contributions
• Source http//www.farmworkers.org/bracerop.html

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Groups (contd)

• The Brain Drain (mid 1970s to mid 1980s)
• Opening of immigration for skilled workers in
  health and technological professions
• India, Philippines, South Korea

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Origins of Immigrants by Labor Sector

• Healthcare South and Southeast Asian nurses
• Computer Services South and Southeast Asiansthe
  tripling in H-1B visas between 1990 and 1999 (to
  more than 300,000)
• Textiles and Agriculture Central and Latin
  America

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Immigration Harms the Native Worker
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5 Main Objectives

• Wages are lowered due to competition from new
  immigrants
• Adequate supply of low-skilled workers
• Questioning of the American Identity
• Exacerbates the Income Gap
• The American Nightmare?

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YES

• The U.S already has plenty of low skilled
  workers.
• No technologically advanced industrial nation
  that has twenty-seven million illiterate
  adultsneed have any fear about a shortage of
  unskilled workers in its foreseeable future.
• Immigration Policy and Work Force Preparedness
  Vernon Briggs, ILR report, Fall 1990.

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YES

• Immigrant competition lowers pay rates and
  decreases job availability for the native blue
  collar worker.
• An estimated 1,880,000 American workers are
  displaced from their jobs every year by
  immigration.
• Net Costs of Immigration Donald Huddle, Rice
  University Oct 1996.
• By artificially inflating the number of workers
  in our country, immigration lowers the value of
  workers, and wages are depressed.
• FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform)
  

12
YES

• Immigration changes Americas demography and
  creates a need for diversity initiatives.
• This influx of legal and illegal immigration has
  caused the foreign-born share of the population
  to double from roughly 5 of the population in
  1970 to 10 today. While less than the 15
  recorded in 1910, the 27 million immigrants now
  living in the country is more than twice the 1910
  number.
• -Steven A. Camarota, The Public Interest. Fall
  1998, issue no. 133.
• The change in demography challenges individual
  perceptions of the American identity which causes
  racial tensions and ensuing resource allocation
  towards the alleviation of these tensions.

13
YES

• Immigration causes the poor to get poorer and the
  rich to get richer
• The National Academy of Sciences National
  Research Council states, The primary effect of
  immigration is to redistribute income from the
  poor and unskilled to skilled workers and owners
  of capital.
• Steven A. Camarota, The Public Interest. Fall
  1998, issue no. 133.
• An increase in immigration flows will lead to
  higher income for productive factors that are
  complementary with immigrants, but lower incomes
  for factors that compete with immigrants.
• Anita Chavez, What is the Short Run Effect of
  Immigration on Receiving Countries.

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YES

• Disrupts the American Dream of the Blue Collar
  Worker
• 13 million workers, a group the roughly
  corresponds to the poorest 11 of the labor
  force, are experiencing an immigration-induced
  reduction if wages of roughly 5 or 13 billion
  dollars a year.
• -Steven A. Camarota, The Public Interest. Fall
  1998, issue no. 133.

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Overview

• The U.S already has plenty of low skilled
  workers.
• Immigrant competition lowers pay rates and
  decreases job availability for the native worker.
• Immigration is changing the demography of
  America, challenging individual perceptions of
  the American identity and creating diversity
  programs that take away resources from more
  productive outlets
• Immigration causes the poor to get poorer and the
  rich to get richer.
• Disrupts the American Dream of the Blue Collar
  Worker.

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New Immigrants Do Not Harm Native Workers
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1. Immigrants Are Not Taking Our Jobs

• A. Immigrants are less likely than the native
  born to participate in the US labor force.
• B. Immigrants and natives are not perfectly
  interchangeable in the US labor market.
• C. Immigrants and natives pursue different
  types of jobs.
• D. The number of jobs in the US labor market is
  not fixed.

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A. Immigrants Are Less Likely Than the Native
Born to Participate in the US Labor Force.

• Foreign-born women are considerably less likely
  to be working or looking for work than native
  born women.
• Foreign born women are
• 5 times as likely to be married
• 2 times as likely to have children
• An increase in immigration does not imply a
  proportionate increase in the labor force.
• - 2000 Bureau of Labor Statistics

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B. Immigrants and Natives Are Not Perfectly
Interchangeable in the US Labor Market.

• Language Nearly ½ of immigrant households cannot
  speak English very well.
• Education Level Most immigrants have not
  achieved the same education level as natives.
• - 2000 US Census Bureau

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C. Immigrants and Natives Pursue Different Types
of Jobs.

• Most immigrants occupy lower skill level jobs
  while natives occupy higher skill level jobs.
• Executive, Administrative, and Managerial
• Native Born 61
• Foreign Born 39
• Farming, Forestry, and Fishing
• Native Born 33.3
• Foreign Born 66.6
• -2000 Bureau of Labor Statistics

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D. The Number of Jobs in the US Labor Market Is
Not Fixed.

• Increases in population ? increase in demand for
  goods services ? employers expand workplace to
  increase supply ? increase in number of persons
  employed Job availability increase! (Jacobson,
  1998)
• Skilled Foreign-born immigrants have tendency to
  pursue self-employment ? more businesses
  Increase in employment positions! (Jacobson,
  1998)
• Aging baby boom generation will begin to retire
  by 2010 ? decrease in size of labor force ?
  vacancy in job positions Increase in demand for
  labor! (Prof. J. Johnson)

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2. Immigrants Do Not Cause a Drastic Decrease in
Native Wages

• Statistics
• Case study of the Mariel Flow
• Why is there a wage difference for equal work
  between natives and immigrants?

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A. What the Statistics Say

• Immigrants do not exert any significant
  impact on the wages of the native born.
  -Portes Rumbaut, 1996, p.288
• At the same education level and work experience
• Hispanic immigrants tend to increase the wages of
  native workers
• Asian and White immigrants reduce the wages of
  native workers by less than 0.05
• Blacks with large numbers of immigrants have
  higher earnings than Blacks in small immigrant
  populations
• A 10 increase in immigration increases wages of
  unskilled native women by 0.5
• -Source Borjas, G. Immigrants, Minorities, and
  Labor Market Competition, Industrial and Labor
  Relations Review 40 (April 1987) table 5

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B. Case Study Impact of Mariel Flow on Miamis
Labor Market

• April 20, 1980 Castro allowed Cubans to exit from
  Mariel port to enter the US.
• Five months later, Cubans (mostly unskilled)
  increase Miamis labor force by 7 -- almost
  overnight!
• Analyses show that the native population was
  barely affected wage levels and unemployment
  rates remained similar to other cities (L.A.,
  Atlanta, Houston) that did not experience this
  large immigrant growth.
• - Jacobson, 1998

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C. Why Is There a Wage Difference Between Natives
and Immigrants for Equal Work?

• Foreign-born workers earn 75.6 cents for every 1
  earned by the native born. - 2000 Bureau of
  Labor Statistics
• Discrimination leads to
• Limiting of group to the low wage segment of the
  labor market
• Exclusion of the group and eventual unemployment
• Native discrimination against immigrant workers
  leads to an endless cycle of poor wages for
  immigrants. Immigrants do not request lower
  wages for equal work. (Jacobson, 1998)

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3. Immigrants and Natives Complement Each Other
through Specialization

• Immigrants complement the native workforce
  because the two have specialties in different
  areas
• Immigrants tend to specialize in low-skill jobs
  (agriculture, manufacturing)
• Natives tend to specialize in high-skill jobs
  (professional, white collar)
• This creates a comparative advantage situation
  where both groups can benefit through a sort of
  exchange if they each specialize
• (Jacobson)

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• The benefits of comparative advantage increase
  all worker productivity
• The value of native labor to companies increases
• Competition for labor increases as a result
• Wages increase through supply and demand
• Number of jobs increases through supply and demand

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4. Immigration Reduces Inflation

• without steady immigration flows, even
  substantial changes in U.S. birth rates wont be
  enough to provide an ample labor force 20 years
  from now.
• William Pesek Jr. www.ailf.org/press/n083099a.htm
• With increased immigration, the Federal Reserve
  would not need to choke off the economy with
  interest rate hikes
• Changes Phillips curve

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Indirect Economic Benefits

• Of the 12.7 million jobs created from 1990-1999,
  immigrants have filled 38 of them
• William Pesek Jr. www.ailf.org/press/n083099a.htm
• Domestic workers that benefit from a complement
  of desirable workers managers, professionals,
  employers
• More immigrants means more customers, more
  clients, more taxpayers
• New demand for domestic businesses and without
  tariffs
• Immigration is similar to international trade
• The primary benefit from changes in the supply
  of labor is that they allow workers in the
  receiving country to specialize in areas in which
  they do relatively well, leaving those tasks they
  do less well to immigrants and imports the
  concept of comparative advantage.
• Steven A. Camarota www.cis.org/articles/1998/IR31/
  trade.html

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New Immigrants Do Not Harm Native Workers

• Immigrants are not taking natives jobs
• Immigrants do not cause a drastic decrease in
  natives wages
• Immigrants and natives do complement each other
  through comparative advantage
• Immigrants benefit the recipient nations economy
  by decreasing inflation (and possibly
  unemployment)

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Overview Do New Immigrants Harm Native Workers?

• NO!
• Overall increase in jobs
• Indirect Economic Benefits
• Natives Immigrants
• Complement each other

• YES!
• Depresses wages
• Takes away blue-collar jobs
• Racial Tensions
• Income gap worsens

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Immigration Quiz Question 1

• 1. In the past four years, the poorest immigrants
  arriving in the U.S. came from
• a. Africa b. Asia c. Central America d.
  the former Soviet Union

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Immigration Quiz Answer 1

• D. Recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union
  are among the poorest and the least employed, far
  more so than Latin American or Asian newcomers,
  according to the U.S. Census. ("Census Data
  Reveals Wide Immmigration Diversity," San
  Francisco Examiner, September 23, 1993)

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Immigration Quiz Question 2

• 2. The area from which the highest percentage of
  immigrants to the U.S. are high school graduates
  is
• a. Europe b. Central America c.
  Africa d. Asia

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Immigration Quiz Answer 2

• C. Almost 88 of African immigrants had a high
  school diploma and 47 had a bachelor's degree or
  better, according to a Census Bureau study.
  Africans, as a group are also better educated
  than the general U.S. population only 77 of
  U.S.-born adults have a high school diploma and
  just over 20 have a bachelor's degree or higher
  ("African Immigrants Best Educated in the U.S.,
  Census Shows," Costa Times, September 23, 1993).

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Immigration Quiz Question 3

• 3. The immigrant population that earns the
  highest median household income in the U.S. is
• a. Mexican b. English c. Indian d.
  African

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Immigration Quiz Answer 3

• B. The median household income for an immigrant
  from the United Kingdom was 41,158. Japanese
  immigrants came in second at 35,487. Most
  Central American and African immigrants were in
  the high teens. Median income for Mexicans was
  16,712, and Indians ranked 7th at 22,231. The
  lowest paid are Vietnamese at 12,507, Laotians
  at 11,750, and those from the former Soviet
  Union at 8,248 ("America's Diverse Immigrants,"
  San Francisco Chronicle, September 23, 1993).

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Immigration Quiz Question 4

• 4. In 1910, the U.S. population was 15
  foreign-born. In 1990, the foreign-born
  percentage of the population was
• a. 8 b. 10 c. 18 d. 22

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Immigration Quiz Answer 4

• A. The figure is from Susan Lapham, a Census
  Bureau demographer who authored the bureau's
  study on immigrants ("Census Data Reveals Wide
  Immmigration Diversity," San Francisco Examiner,
  September 23, 1993)

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Immigration Quiz Question 5

• 5. Studies by the Urban Instituteshow that for
  every 100 new immigrants
• a. employment increases by 62 jobs. b. The
  number of jobs stays the same. c. employment
  increases by 46 jobs. d. It's impossible to tell
  how the job market reacts.

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Immigration Quiz Answer 5

• C. ("From Bill to Pete," RaceFile, September,
  1993)

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Immigration Quiz Question 6

• 6. A Los Angeles County study showed that the
  country spent 2.45 billion in 1991-92 on schools
  and other services for resident immigrants. In
  that same period, resident immigrants
• a. paid no taxes. b. paid 1.7 billion in
  taxes. c. paid 4.3 billion in taxes. d. It
  is impossible to calculate the amount of taxes.

43
Immigration Quiz Answer 6

• C. ("From Bill to Pete," RaceFile, September,
  1993)

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Immigration Quiz Question 7

• 7. Nationally, immigrants receive about 5
  billion annually in welfare benefits.
  Approximately how much do they earn and pay in
  taxes?
• a. earn 10 billion, pay 1.3 billion in
  taxes b. earn 15 billion, pay 3 billion in
  taxes c. earn 100 billion, pay 15 billion in
  taxes d. earn 240 billion, pay 85 billion in
  taxes

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Immigration Quiz Answer 7

• D. ("Immigrants How They're Helping the
  Economy," Business Week, July 13, 1992)

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Immigration Quiz Question 8

• 8. Increased immigration tends to
• a. produce higher wages for immigrants b.
  produce higher wages for U.S. citizens c.
  produce lower wages for immigrants d.
  produce lower wages for U.S. citizens

47
Immigration Quiz Answer 8

• C."Although wages fell in California during the
  recent wave of immigration, immigrants absorbed
  most of the adverse impact" (Thomas Muller and
  Thomas Espenshade, "The Fourth Wave," 1995, cited
  in Advocate's Quick Reference Guide to
  Immigration Research, National Council of La
  Raza, 1993).

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Immigration Quiz Question 9

• 9. A 1992 survey found that is is common for
  Americans to go to Mexico for health care 90
  of Mexican physicians surveyed had treated
  Americans. The major reason U.S. citizens go to
  Mexico for treatment is
• a. They believe that Mexican doctors are more
  qualified.b. Mexican doctors take all brands of
  insurancec. Mexican doctors and prescription
  drugs are cheaper.

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Immigration Quiz Answer 9

• C. ("Going to Mexico Priced Out of American
  Health Care," Families USA Foundation, cited in
  Advocate's Quick Reference Guide to Immigration
  Research, National Council of La Raza, 1993).

50
Immigration Quiz Question 10

• 10. True or False In Northern California,
  undocumented immigrants and refugees seeking
  political and economic asylum may be jailed and
• a. not be accused of any crime. b. are allowed
  bail. c. are allowed a public defender. d. are
  not allowed trial by jury. e. may be placed in
  maximum security f. women may be locked down for
  up to 22 hours/day.

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Immigration Quiz Answer 10

• A true
• B false
• C false
• D true
• E true
• F true

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Works Cited

• 1. Banking Information Sources, Vol. 6, No. 4
  Pg. 22-27 ISSN 10931767. www.nexis.com
• 2. The Bracero Program (2003). The Farmworkers
  Website http//www.farmworkers.org/bracerop.html
  
• 3. Briggs, V (1990). "Immigration Policy and
  Work Force Preparedness", ILR.
• 4. Camarota, S.A.(1998). "The Public Interest",
  Issue No. 133.
• 5. Camarota, S. A. (1998). Immigration Trade by
  Other Means? www.cis.org/articles/1998/IR31/trad
  e.html.
• 6. Chinese Immigrants and the Building of the
  Transcontinental Railroad
• (2003). The Gilder Lerhman Institute of
  American History
• http//www.gliah.uh.edu/historyonline/china1.cfm
  
• 7. Highet, A. (2002). Slavery's Price. Hartford
  Advocate, February 25
• http//www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID12470
  
• 8. Huddle, D. (1996). "Net Costs of Immigration".

53
Works Cited

• 9. The Immigrant Alternative (2002). Bell
  Howell Information and
• Learning Report.
• 10. Immigration Fact and Fancy A Quiz from the
  Applied Research Center
• (1995). http//www.ncccusa.org/bhc/factfanc.htm
  l
• 11. Jacobson, D. (1998). The immigration reader
  America in a multidisciplinary perspective.
  Blackwell Publishers.
• 12. Johnson, J. (2003, February 11). Guest
  speaker on Immigration Reform.
• 13. Mosisa, A. (2002, May). The role of
  foreign-born workers in the U.S. economy. Bureau
  of Labor Statistics, Monthly Labor Review 3-14.
• 14. Pesek, W. (1999). With a Dwindling Labor
  Supply in the U.S., Arguments Abound for Easing
  Immigration Rules www.ailf.org/press/n083099a.ht
  m.

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Works Cited

• 15. Portes, A. and Rumbaut, R. (1996). Immigrant
  America A portrait. University of California
  Press.
• 16. Rai, S. (2003). Indian Nurses Sought to
  Staff U.S. Hospitals. The New York Times.
  February 10.
• 17. Schmidley, D. (2001). Profile of the
  foreign- born population in the US 2000.
  U.S.Census Bureau, Current Population Reports,
  Series P23-206. U.S. Government Printing
  Office.