One can make an argument that the United States was built by immigrants hence making immigration a big part of the country’s history. According to the National Academies of Sciences, one in every four people living in the United States is an immigrant.
The same claim can be made for immigrants’ impact on the United States economy by helping create new businesses, filling gaps in the labor market, and even developing new technologies. The purpose of this column is to analyze why I believe immigration is important to the United States economy.
It’s important to note that there are two types of immigrants: legal immigrants and illegal immigrants. Legal immigrants are defined as people who are foreign-born but are legally admitted into the United States. Illegal immigrants are foreign-born people who are not legally admitted into the country. This means they do not possess any form of legal documentation like a visa or stayed longer than their visa permitted them to. This column does not make the distinction between the two instead it makes the argument for both legal and legal migrants.
Regardless of their documentation, immigrants play a big role in the United States economy. Immigrants are a critical source of labor for this country, filling in some key gaps in the workforce in departments such as agriculture, healthcare, construction, and hospitality. All of these sectors are important to the United States economy.
Immigrants come in with new ideas that lead to the creation of new businesses and innovative companies. Some examples of these companies include Google, Intel and eBay. According to a report by the National Foundation for American Policy, immigrants have started over half of all US startups valued at over $1 billion.
Moreover, immigrants have helped to spur economic growth by increasing the demand for goods and services. These immigrants make up a percentage of consumers of U.S. goods and services documented immigrants pay taxes and contribute to the overall economy. Given how fundamental illegal immigrants are to this economy, providing a means for documenting them that doesn’t involve deportation would go a long way in increasing the revenue.
Studies have shown that immigrants have a positive impact on the economy, and they help to create jobs for both immigrants and native-born citizens. A report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine found that immigrants contribute significantly to the US economy and have a positive effect on the wages and employment of native-born workers.
Immigration has played a very important role in the economic success of the United States. Immigrants have been big contributors to what is one of the world’s leading economies by filling in some critical gaps within the workforce, driving innovation, starting new businesses, and helping increase the demand for United States goods and services. Immigrants have also contributed to the United States’ fiscal policy by paying taxes.
Even though the United States continues to have demographic challenges, it’s important to acknowledge that immigration still stands as a critical piece of the United States economy.
Alphince Baraza is a senior economics major at Principia College in Elsah.
