Immigration and Economics

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Table of Contents

Introduction3

Statistical data for Approximately Actual Immigration9

Politics and American Immigration10

American Immigration and Labor Market12

American Immigration and Economy12

Conclusion14

References16

Immigration and Economics

Introduction

Immigration to the United States is a complex demographic phenomenon that has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. s 2010 immigration law raises theoretical, political, and constitutional issues. While some scholars and activists condemn the legislation as unconstitutional, counter-productive, racist, and impractical, others take the position that the law is a necessary response to what they describe as a growing illegal immigration crisis, as well as a reaction to the failure of the United States (Thomas, 2009).

Permanent residence is defines as :it is evidence of authorization to live and work in America Permanent residence is also called Green Card and who have this card he/she is granted for live in America (Llona, 2011).

Discussion

American Immigration

From the establishment of the first permanent English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607, the area now known as the United States has attracted more immigrants than any other country in the world. In the colonial period, Europe had few obvious sources of wealth, but the Spanish Empire in the New World transformed Europe's economy in the 16th century with its production of gold and silver, and the sugar plantations of the West Indies led to unprecedented accumulations of capital. Even the fur trade of Canada was lucrative enough to lead three countries to the brink of war in the Pacific Northwest. Although the English colonies had none of these commodities in abundance, they did have good land and an equable climate, and the land was still the prime commodity for most potential immigrants during the 17th and 18th centuries. With the dramatic expansion of the new republic between 1783 and 1848, the United States added not only vast expanses of land but abundant iron and coal reserves to power the coming Industrial Revolution and precious metals not found east of the Appalachians(John, 2008). Europeans fled their overcrowded and tradition-bound lands, flocking to the prairies and factories of America in the greatest wave of migration the world had ever seen. Between 1815 and 1930, more than 50 million people left Europe for the New World, with almost two of every three settling in the United States. Many came to escape religious or political oppression; most came to escape poverty, almost all to improve their economic condition. The same opportunities that attracted immigrants in the 19th century continued to motivate them in the 21st century (Thomas, 2009). In 2002, the United States admitted almost 1.1 million immigrants from every part of the world, including more than 340,000 from Asia; 362,000 from Mexico and Central and South America; 69,000 from the Caribbean; and 60,000 from Africa—the greatest admittance rate by far of any country in the world(Llona, 2011).

Accompanying the continuing growth in immigration between 1865 and 1880 was a new immigration, a shift in the most common source countries. The term has most often ...