A Council on Foreign Relations brief:

According to an American Immigration Council analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, immigrants—almost 48 million of whom now live in the United States among an overall population of roughly 335 million people—generated some $1.6 trillion in economic activity in 2022, the most recent year for which such data is available. They also contributed more than $579 billion in local, state, and federal taxes. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that increased immigration could reduce the U.S. federal budget deficit by some $897 billion over the next decade.

The role of undocumented immigration remains controversial. Undocumented immigrants’ spending power totaled more than $254 billion in 2022, and undocumented households had a combined income of $330 billion—paying nearly $76 billion in taxes. Still, immigration restrictionists argue that undocumented immigrants in particular are a net drain, particularly on state and local budgets. Others, including vice-presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance (R-OH), say immigration is contributing to soaring housing costs and exacerbating the affordability crisis. However, although some researchers have found that migrant inflows lead to increased housing demand, others argue that housing shortages, zoning laws, and shifting housing preferences play a larger role.

Most economists say that immigration is good for the U.S. economy because it helps grow the size of the labor force, boost tax revenue, and increase consumer demand. Some researchers, though, such as Harvard University’s George Borjas, have raised concerns about the effect of immigration on wages, particularly for the low-skill labor pool. Others, such as economist Giovanni Peri, have found that immigration has only a minimal effect on the wages of native-born workers.

A total of thirty-one million immigrants worked in the United States in 2023, making up close to 19 percent of the civilian workforce. In total, the U.S. foreign-born population had a labor force participation rate of nearly 67 percent, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), versus roughly 62 percent for the native-born workforce. (The BLS’ definition of foreign-born includes legally admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents, and undocumented immigrants.) [Continue reading…]