Immigration and Unemployment

Despite the U.S.’s huge and flexible labor market and its abundance of leading-edge multinational corporations and world-class universities, it faces growing competition for skilled labor from other countries. This situation underscores the need to revamp U.S. immigration policies to make them more responsive to the demands of an increasingly competitive global economy. One possibility is to replace the H1-B visa program for highly skilled foreign professionals with a quality-selective regime like the point-based systems in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

Published On: Wed, Jan 03, 2007 | Download File

The nation needs an immigrant-integration policy that effectively addresses the challenges and harnesses the opportunities created by today's large immigrant population. It is not in the best interests of the United States to make integration a more difficult, uncertain, or lengthy process than it need be. Facilitating the successful and rapid integration of immigrants into U.S. society minimizes conflicts and tensions between newcomers and the native-born, and enables immigrants to more quickly secure better jobs, earn higher incomes, and thus more fully contribute to the U.S. economy.

Published On: Thu, Mar 01, 2007 | Download File

A recent report from the Heritage Foundation is one in a long line of deeply flawed economic analyses which claim to estimate the contributions and "costs" of workers based solely on the amount of taxes they pay and the value of the public services they utilize.

Published On: Wed, May 02, 2007 | Download File

Aging populations and the growing need to provide long-term care to the elderly are among the leading demographic, political, and social challenges facing industrialized countries like the United States. As a result, immigrants will continue to play a significant role in the growth of the U.S. labor force in general and the direct-care workforce in particular. It is in the best interests of long-term care clients, providers, and workers if governments and private donors foster training and placement programs rather than leaving the future of the direct-care industry to chance.

Published On: Wed, Aug 01, 2007 | Download File

The temporary worker program now taking shape in Congress is unlikely to provide the U.S. economy with the numbers or kinds of workers that U.S. industries need.

Published On: Thu, Jun 07, 2007 | Download File

Covers the exploitation of migrant workers doing backbreaking and dangerous clean-up work in New Orleans.

Published On: Wed, Aug 23, 2006 | Download File

The stories of migrant workers who are brought to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras to plant trees, thin forests and apply herbicides for timber contractors.

Published On: Fri, May 19, 2006 | Download File

Answers the questions: How many high-skilled immigrant workers are in the U.S.?;

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File

Answers the questions, How many low-skilled immigrant workers are in the U.S.?

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File

NUMBERS:    Opponents of a more robust H-1B program declare that immigrant workers, particularly high skill workers, displace U.S. workers and drive down the wages of those workers.  In many areas of the country, however, businesses are encountering something quite different:  that there simply are not enough qualified, high skill U.S. workers to fill the needs of U.S. employers.  High skill foreign professionals are therefore essential in filling these needs and complementing the native born workforce.  Read more...

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File