The Costs and Benefits of Immigration

Abstract

Few things are more controversial than immigration. The flood of illegal immigrants across U.S. borders enrages many native-born residents. People worry that immigrants compete for jobs, unfairly draw on government benefits, and fundamentally alter the social fabric of America. They fear that our culture is losing its distinctive character due to non-English-speaking foreigners who move to the United States and do not integrate into mainstream social and political life. Part of this anxiety is rooted in ethnocentrism and group animus. Citizens do not like immigrants who look or act differently from themselves. As Donald Kinder and Cindy Kam have noted in their recent book, ethnocentrism is common in a number of different societies. People divide themselves into “in-groups” and “out-groups” and these types of “us versus them” distinctions color public opinion and make it difficult to develop balanced public policies. Other observers are concerned about immigration because they view the material costs of open-door policies as broad-based, while the benefits are concentrated. As argued by researcher Gary Freeman, the impact of open policies falls on disadvantaged workers who feel their wages are depressed by newcomers and on taxpayers who worry about a drain on public resources, while the benefits accrue to small groups of successful immigrants who get good jobs and some businesses that gain the skills of new arrivals.