US-specific suppression of wages of natives

This page specifically deals with the United States. The more general argument can be found at the suppression of wages of natives page.

Note: A somewhat misleadingly framed pro-immigration argument that is often made in this debate is discussed here: immigrants do jobs natives won’t do.

George Borjas, an economist at Harvard University, is one of the most reputed academic critics of immigration. Among academics studying the impact of immigration on native wages in the United States, he has estimates that are on the most pessimistic side. His research is the basis of a widely quoted factoid that immigration to the United States has been responsible for an 8% decline in the wages of high school dropouts in the United States. See a blog entry on his actual findings and a lengthy article by Borjas about immigration for a popular audience.

Other economists have reached more optimistic conclusions. Here are some of these:

Blog posts and articles

Videos

Top Three Myths about Immigration by Benjamin Powell:

The Impact of Immigration on Jobs and Income by Antony Davies

Economic Benefits of Immigration: The first 20 minutes by Shikha Dalmia and the last 10 minutes by Alex Nowrasteh review some of the evidence, most of which is linked to on the page you’re currently reading.