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Since changes were made in immigration laws in the late 1960s, millions of immigrants have come to the United States, legally and illegally, with a variety of economic implications.
Direct Costs
Direct costs associated with immigration include increases to welfare and Social Security rolls, health care costs (especially for emergency room treatment of legal and illegal workers without health insurance) and prison costs.
Displacement Costs
A study by Humboldt State University in California says immigrants create what they call "displacement costs," which happen when native wages are depressed by immigrant labor or natives are displaced from their jobs.
Enforcement Costs
Increases in illegal immigration cause policy makers to appropriate more funds for immigration-control agencies.
Economic Gains
The Humboldt study says low-cost immigrant labor can increase the profitability of employers or lower the costs of products produced by such labor.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Over the last few decades, numerous studies were done on the economic impact of immigration. Basic disagreements remain as to whether immigration at current levels is a net plus, or minus, to the economy.
Source:
Migration Policy Institute: Immigrants in the United States and the Current Economic Crisis
Humboldt State University: Immigration, Introduction and Statistics
Cato Institute: Restriction or Legalization? Measuring the Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform
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