Contributions of Immigrants

You might know . . .

Immigrants positively affect our economy.

But maybe you’ve never thought about . . .

The image some people use to talk about immigrants and our economy is a pie. Many fear that when immigrants enter the job market, they’ll take up pieces of the pie that “should” belong to other Americans. The reality, however, is that the pie itself gets bigger when more immigrants join our job force, because they help our economy grow. Furthermore, anti-immigration policies put us at risk of losing valuable contributions to our economy and society. Immigrants with the most in-demand skills (like technology and medicine) have the means to leave the United States if our public policy and culture don’t support them.

“Immigrants are exactly what America needs. They help our country tremendously. They help us with the work they do. . . . They challenge us with new ideas, and with new perspectives.”

Rudy Giuliani

Immigrants started 28% of all new U.S. businesses in 2011, despite accounting for just 12.9% of the U.S. population.

Source: Partnership for a New Economy

 

Many well-known companies in the United States were started by immigrants; examples include Google, Yahoo, Colgate, AT&T, eBay, and Kraft. In fact, immigrants are more than twice as likely to start a business as someone born in America.

Source: Huffington Post

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Pay attention to where you shop, who your doctor is, and who you hire to do work in your business or on your home. Seek out and patronize the businesses of new immigrants whenever possible.
• Contact leaders in your place of employment, your child’s school, or your local government, and ask them to seek out new immigrants when they are hiring for new positions.
• Do some research about immigrants who have made a significant impact on our economy, such as Sergey Brin
  and Jerry Yang.

A 2012 study by the Economic Policy Institute reports that immigrants contributed roughly 14.7% of the United States’ economic output from 2009 to 2011.

Source: Economic Policy Institute

REFLECTION & JOURNAL SPACE

• How do you define our identity as a nation? What does it mean to be an “American”?
• Do you notice a feeling of scarcity (a feeling that there won’t be enough pie for everyone) when you think about how immigrants affect the job market? Has your actual experience reinforced that feeling or challenged it?
• What was it like to patronize the businesses of new immigrants? What do you gain from their presence in your community?