Yesterday the Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest held a hearing to discuss the impact that high immigration levels have on U.S. workers. The hearing was led by the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), and discussed if higher levels of legal immigration decreased wages and diminished job opportunities for American workers.
Sen. Sessions opened the hearing with the current levels of immigration and the future impacts this could have on the country and economy.
“The United States admits lawfully over a million aliens every year to permanent resident status… we have approximately 100,000 refugees and asylees, who can take any job. And we have 700,000 guest workers, the majority of whom are not seasonal workers. 600,000 students who come to the United States every year have not been authorized by Congress to work, but the Department of Homeland Security has manipulated the rules to allow many of them to work through the much-criticized Optional Practical Training Program…
All of us here and all Americans need to understand that the future portends an even more drastic economic impact if current immigration levels are not altered by Congress. Specifically, Pew found that if current levels continue for the next 50 years, immigrants ‘are projected to account for 88 percent of the U.S. population increase, or 103 million people, as the nation grows to 441 million.’ This is unprecedented in our history,” he said.
All four witnesses admitted that higher levels of legal and illegal immigration have had negative effects on wages and job opportunities for native born Americans, especially those in the lower-skilled job areas.
Dr. Gorge Borjas, a labor economist specializing in immigration issues, said, “If we look at the impact of immigration over the last few decades in the U.S. one rough rule of thumb that comes out is that when you increase a supply of workers in a particular group by around 10%, the wages for that group will go down by 3%.”
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Commissioner, Peter Kirsanow, addressed the impact high immigration has had on black Americans. “Research shows that immigration accounts for 40% of the 18-point percent decline in black employment levels in the last several years, leaving hundred of thousands of blacks without jobs,” he testified.
Comissioner Kirsanow continued, “the evidence we deduced showed that frankly any low skilled immigration tends to drive down the wages of jobs that are existing and available for black Americans.”
Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) agreed that, “A functional immigration system can and should play a supporting role in ensuring fairer wage levels and humane working conditions for all workers native and foreign born alike.” Although, the AILA, as pointed out by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) during his opening statement, lobbied in favor of the Gang of Eight amnesty bill that would have doubled legal immigration and expanded guest-worker programs at the expense of American workers during a time of high unemployment.
David Kallick, a Senior Fellow at Fiscal Policy Institute and an advocate for higher immigration admitted that, “several studies also point to some negative impacts on African American men with less than a high school degree and in some cases also white men with less than a high school degree.”
Steve Camarota, Director of Research at the Center for Immigration Studies, asserted that all net job gains since 2000 have gone to immigrants. “The last 15 years have witnessed an extraordinary situation in the US labor market, much of the employment gains have gone to immigrants even though natives have accounted for two thirds of the growth in the working age population,” he said.
Camarota, also took on the labor shortage claim in his opening statements saying, “Although many advocates for immigration argue that there is a great need for immigrant workers there is just no evidence that this is the case. Wages are generally stagnant or have declined, especially at the bottom end, and the share of working age people not working is at our near our record. If the same percentage of working age people again those 16-65, had a job today as had one in 2000 almost 11 million more people should be working. We do not have a worker shortage, we have a job shortage.”
Sen. Tillis (R-N.C.) asked Camarota about the labor shortage claim he has heard from business owners in the technology industry, Camarota responded, “All the data the government suggests, whether it’s STEM or whether it’s high school dropouts, shows no evidence of a labor shortage, the only thing we have are testimonials from owners of businesses.”
Both Dr. Borjas and Camarota agreed that immigration adds around $50 billion to the GDP a year but only increases income for those that employ immigrants at the expense of those who are competing with immigrants.
Dr. Borjas claimed that, “we have a $50 billion dollar gain on net by natives and a huge redistribution from the people who compete with immigrants to people who use immigrants of around half a trillion dollars.”
Camarota concurred saying that the net gain from immigration “should be around three tenths of GDP or $50 billion a year” while immigration also reduces “wages by $535 billion dollars a year for those in competition.”
Sen. Sessions concluded from the hearing that, “I think it’s indisputable now that at least for categories of workers that face competition wages do go down and wages need to increase just to stay equal with inflation.”
You can view the entire hearing here.
