The author of a new book finds immigrants are not villains or victims but people who strive to better their lives and contribute to a vibrant society. The book comes at a time when immigration ranks among the country’s most contentious issues. Stuart Anderson, Senior Contributor at Forbes, interviews economist Zeke Hernandez.
Stuart Anderson: How would you explain to non-economists why when immigrants come to the United States it does not lead to higher unemployment for U.S. workers?
Zeke Hernandez: There are two basic reasons: First, new people make the economic pie bigger, which requires more workers. Second, immigrants are different from U.S.-born workers in the jobs they fill and the skills they bring, so they don’t compete with the native-born directly. That’s why you don’t get zero-sum outcomes. Instead, you get win-win outcomes because there are more jobs in a larger economy and different jobs in a more diversified economy. That’s why the latest research shows that immigrants (even “unskilled”) create jobs and increase wages for U.S.-born workers.
