Immigration and Domestic Labor Markets

In the contemporary period, more than at any time in the past, migration is a global phenomenon. In search of employment, higher wages, educational opportunities for themselves and their children, and to escape from persecution and violence, millions of people cross international borders each year. Over one hundred million people now live in a country other than that of their birth, and millions of these immigrants maintain their ethnic identities in their adopted countries (Weiner, 1996).

In industrialized societies on average, non-citizens now typically constitute more than five-percent of the population. These large and typically visible immigrant populations are a cause of concern for both governments and their citizens. These concerns lead to questions such as: Do immigrants benefit the economy, taking unwanted jobs and providing needed skills; or Do immigrants displace indigenous workers and burden public resources in their adopted countries (Weiner, 1996)?

There are different motives for migration. Two widely applied categories in this context are economic and political migration. Economic migration refers to movement by people in the hope of improving their economic positions, and political migration occurs when people

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as population growth slows, so, too, will labor force growth, in spite of higher immigration (Saunders, 1993). The implication of these arguments is that immigration may not adversely affect the unemployment rate. The disagreement between some politicians and most economists on the effects that immigration has on both labor force growth and unemployment in the United States causes this issue to be an interesting investigative topic. From 1982 through 1994, three million people emigrated from Mexico to the United States (Martin, 1995). That number represented 20 percent of Mexico's population growth during the period. From 1965 through 1992, 3.7 million Mexicans became legal immigrants to the United States. Simultaneously, however, more than 21 million Mexicans were apprehended attempting to enter the United States illegally. Because individuals repeat attempts to enter the United States illegally, the 21 million likely includes millions of individuals who made multiple attempts. What is not known with any degree of precision, however, is just how many illegal immigrants from Mexico were successful in their attempts to enter the United States. Authorities estimate that number at between 150,000 and 200,000 per year (Mart
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2776
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)

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