The Issues of Immigration in the Labor Force, Essay Example

Economists are interested in immigration for two reasons: their impact on the labor market and what progress these immigrants are contributing to the United States economy (Edmonston, 1996). These two areas of concern are important because research shows that the labor markets have changes considerably due to the changing contexts of recent immigrants. This research leads us to believe that further conceptual work is needed for us to determine the role of employers in the labor market and how they employ people, particularly immigrants. Studies show that the greatest wave of immigration in the United States occurred during the year 1994 (Abernathy, Barff, Burtless, et. al., 1994). It is believed that the labor market is not static, and changes throughout time balancing a new equilibrium. Studies claim that immigration has negatively affected the American Labor Movement (Briggs, 2007). This is because immigration directly affects the size, the composition and the skills in the labor market. These involve people from ethnic groups in connection to the labor market (Edmonston, 1996).

The United States labor market has changed throughout time and demands for labor have change. The number of immigrants entering the United States has increased the competition for low-skilled jobs and manufacturing employment has declined, low-paying service occupations expanded (Abernathy, Barff, Burtless, et. al., 1994). Many will agree that our immigration system is in need of changing (“Focusing on the Solutions”, 2010). This involves the exploitation of labor workers and unfair competitions with employers who increase profits by hiring cheap and vulnerable labor. The problem in the labor market in terms of immigration lies in the United State’s immigration policies. In order to balance out the equilibrium in the labor market, there needs to be a change within the immigration in terms of illegal aliens. By doing this, the competition for cheap labor will decline, and the number of racial and ethnic groups undergoing this type of exploitation will lessen. This can be done by ensuring changes in workforce immigration programs and matching them with strong economic development programs for native-born workers. This way, the labor market will be balanced-out.

References

Focusing on the Solutions: Key Principles of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (2010). Immigration Policy Center. Web. Retrieved from http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/sites/default/files/docs/Solutions_Paper_032310.pdf

Briggs, V.M., Jr, (2007). How many illegal aliens are in the U.S.? Social Contract Journal Issues, 17(4).

Abernathy, V., Barff, R.A., Burtless, G., et. al. (1994). Immigration and the Labor Market: Discussion Sponsored by Center for Immigration Studies and Center for Public Policy &     Contemporary Issues. Center for Immigration Studies. Web. Retrieved from http://www.cis.org/Immigration%2526LaborMarket

Edmonston, B. ed. (1996). Statistics on U.S. Immigration: An Assessment of Data Needs for Future Research. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences.