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Alan Mizera
ENG 101
Dr. Milton
4/11/16

Liberty and Justice for All?

In todays economy citizens are working around the clock to raise enough currency
to get by on rent and taxes, but to immigrants that are in the work force the jobs they can
acquire all depend on the skill and opportunities they have got themselves. In 2011 a
report done by the "Partnership of a New American Economy" found that "immigrants in
the U.S. work force accounted for 28 percent of all the new small businesses." With the
new businesses that have been formed, more jobs will be made which will stimulate the
economy with increased consumerism. Many people think immigrants take jobs away
from hard working citizens but on the other hand, most jobs that immigrants indulge in
are hard labor jobs that most American citizens would not partake in due to having
different skill sets and requirements. To agree that immigrants take away from the
American government or economy is not only offensive but wrong based on the statistics
of my research.
In todays standards, if an illegal immigrant tries to acquire a job it will depend on
the type of skills the person has, which will determine what kind of salary and job he or
she can acquire. In his case it'll most likely be a laboring job that has low income and that
assists other businesses in the area. Giovanni Peri, an economist at the University of
California states "undocumented workers do not compete with skilled laborers instead,
they complement them." How this works is the more specialized worker divides up each
task with the more unskilled workers, which makes the specialized worker focus more on
what they do best. This made the skilled worker have more hours on the job with more

money which then increases the economy's productivity.

Immigrants that own businesses not only stimulate the economy but also increase the
demand for local consumer goods. According to the 2010 American Community Survey
immigrants earned a total of $1.1 trillion, and the Immigration Policy Center estimates
that the purchasing power of Latinos and Asians, many of whom are immigrants, alone
will reach $1.5 trillion and $775 billion, respectively, by 2015." So not only do these
businesses supply the population with job placements but they also stimulate the
economy with trillions of revenue and bring the demand of local goods to rise.
Not only do immigrants support the economy but according to the National Survey
of College Graduates "immigrants represent 29 percent of scientists. They also represent
50 percent of PhDs working in math and computer science occupations and 57 percent of
PhDs working in engineering occupations." Immigrants are an important factor to the
American population since they don't only make up a large portion in the work force but
also have large amounts in college getting degrees and PhDs. With having many
immigrants going for diplomas, it positively impacts wages according to a study at the
University of California Davis, "a 1 percent increase in the share of foreign scientist
and engineers in the U.S. workforce would increase the wages of native college-educated
workers by 4 to 6 percent, and have no significant effect on the wages and employment of
native non-college-educated workers." Immigrants do not only impact the work force in
America but also have a large populace in our schools learning to acquire a better life for
not only them but their family that have supported them throughout the years.
So to say that immigrants have a negative impact to the American society is an
ignorant statement to make, since the statistics shown that immigrants creates positive

impacts that are going to grow over time. For us to take advantage of this we must first
fix our broken immigration system to our favor which will increase tourism and foreign
trade for the US. Instead of deporting and tearing families apart, we should give them
jobs and hope to create better living conditions for immigrant families.

Works Cited Page

1. Hesson, Ted. "Why American Cities Are Fighting to Attract Immigrants." The Atlantic.
21 July 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 20
2. "Immigration and the Economy." www.whitehouse.gov. Gov, 14 Nov. 2014. Web. 10
Apr. 2016.