The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released an exhaustive report that finds immigration redistributes income and costs government billions of dollars every year.
Roy tweets three conclusions from the data in the report:
Reduces wages of some US workers. Benefits owners of capital. Economic benefit ("surplus") eaten up by the large net fiscal drain. https://t.co/Hdcm3ZINs5
— Roy Beck (@RoyBeck_NUSA) September 23, 2016
By the numbers:
$54.2 billion: The nation-wide income benefit to native-born Americans every year from immigration.
$43 billion - $299 billions: The annual fiscal burden across local, state, and federal government imposed on taxpayers by immigration.
$493.9 billion: The amount of wages redistributed from native-born workers to owners of capital through immigration. It is impossible to arrive at the $54.2 billion "surplus" without redistributing a half-trillion in wages away from workers.
For a quick summary, Roy tweets: "Almost all you need to know about the NAS report in these two paragraphs" from Steven Camarota's summary:
Almost all you need to know about the NAS report in these two paragraphs https://t.co/xpyCTS4AlE pic.twitter.com/1gFbUg5eS8
— Roy Beck (@RoyBeck_NUSA) September 23, 2016
The Center for Immigration Studies provides a list of take aways from the report.
George Borjas' User's Guide includes the calculation used to arrive at the near-$500 billion in redistributed wages. Borjas helped author the NAS report.
According to the NAS, the "negative effect may be compounded for native minorities." Americans4Work tweets: "National Academy of Sciences Shocker: Domestic workers - especially minorities - impoverished by $500 billion a year".
Neil Munro tweets:
Ntnl Acadmies report: working Americans pay 5.2% immigration tax (est $500 billion PA) to Wall St, CEOs, new migrnts https://t.co/vP9SEJjmS0
— Neil Munro (@NeilMunroDC) September 21, 2016
Muro reports:
"On page 128, the report plays up the benefits of immigration by saying the inflow of skilled and unskilled immigrants has 'generated an immigration surplus of $54.2 billion, representing a 0.31 percent overall increase in income that accrues to the native population.'
"But that flood of low-wage immigrants also cuts marketplace wages for Americans by 5.2 cents on the dollar, admits the report..."
Stephen Dianan reports:
"The data show that immigrants take more in benefits than they pay in taxes. Although immigrants do boost the size of the economy, the gains are heavily skewed toward the immigrants themselves and to wealthy investors - not to native-born workers who end up competing with the new arrivals."
Expansionists tout benefits; ignore costs
Adam Ozimek tweets that he wishes Borjas wasn't invited to contribute to the NAS report.
The New York Times reports "Immigrants Aren't Taking Americans' Jobs" even as the reporter, Julia Preston, alludes to her own reporting about tech workers training their foreign replacements. The Times does not mention the $500 billion in redistributed income.
But the expansionists' favorite story comes from TIME which waves aside all of the negative consequences of immigration described in the report.
Mark Krikorian tweets: "This is what happens when reporters transcribe press releases".
Krikorian also tweets: "Nat'l Academies of Sciences report gives little reason to continue mass #immigration"
As the Times story notes, "since 2001, about one million immigrants have come legally to the United States each year." This largest wave of immigration in history will be responsible, according to Pew Research, for adding 103 million more people by 2065.
JEREMY BECK is the Director of the Media Standards Project for NumbersUSA
