[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 184 (Wednesday, December 9, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H14442-H14443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IMMIGRATION CREATES JOBS

  (Mr. POLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight a report just 
released by the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research group, 
regarding the contributions of immigrants in the 25 largest U.S. 
metropolitan areas. The report makes official what we have known all 
along: Immigration and economic growth go hand-in-hand. That's right. 
Immigrants boost economic productivity and create jobs.
  This has been true throughout our Nation's history. It's been true 
during boom times and during tough times. It's true yesterday, today, 
and tomorrow. Immigrants help our economy. Cities with a growing 
proportion of foreign-born workers have ``well above average economic 
growth.'' Immigrants expand the labor and consumer markets and fuel 
growth.
  In my home State of Colorado, immigrant workers and business owners 
have added billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs. The usual 
suspects will cry we lie with these facts. But their prejudices will no 
longer prey on our uncertainties. Thanks to this report, we can all say 
we know better. Together we can embrace comprehensive immigration 
reform, help our Nation recover, and create jobs for Americans.

                       Immigrants and the Economy

                   [From the Fiscal Policy Institute]

                           Executive Summary

       This report examines the economic role of immigrants in the 
     25 largest metropolitan areas in the United States. The 
     results are clear: immigrants contribute to the economy in 
     direct relation to their share of the population. The economy 
     of metro areas grows in tandem with immigrant share of the 
     labor force. And, immigrants work across the occupational 
     spectrum, from high-paying professional jobs to low-wage 
     service employment.
       Immigrants contribute significantly to the U.S. economy. In 
     the 25 largest metropolitan areas combined, immigrants make 
     up 20 percent of the population and are responsible for 20 
     percent of economic output. Together, these metro areas 
     comprise 42 percent of the total population of the country, 
     66 percent of all immigrants, and half of the country's total 
     Gross Domestic Product. This report looks at all U.S. 
     residents who were born in another country, regardless of 
     immigration status or year of arrival in the United States.


   1. Immigration and economic growth of metro areas go hand in hand

       An analysis of data from the past decade and a half show 
     that in the 25 largest metropolitan areas, immigration and 
     economic growth go hand in hand. That's easily 
     understandable: Economic growth and labor force growth are 
     closely connected, and immigrants are likely to move to areas 
     where there are jobs, and not to areas where there are not.
       Between 1990 and 2006, the metropolitan areas with the 
     fastest economic growth were also the areas with the greatest 
     increase in immigrant share of the labor force. The economies 
     of Phoenix, Dallas, and Houston saw the fastest growth in 
     immigrant share of labor force, while all showed well above 
     average economic growth in these years and Phoenix 
     experienced the fastest growth of all metro areas. By 
     contrast, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Detroit metro areas 
     experienced the slowest economic growth and among the 
     smallest increases in immigrant share of labor force.
       Economic growth does not guarantee, however, that pay and 
     other conditions of employment improve significantly for all 
     workers. The challenge is to make sure that immigrants and 
     U.S.-born workers struggling in low-wage jobs share in the 
     benefits of economic growth.


2. Immigrants contribute to the economy in proportion to their share of 
                             the population

       The most striking finding in the analysis of 25 metro areas 
     is how closely immigrant share of economic output matches 
     immigrant share of the population. From the Pittsburgh metro 
     area, where immigrants make up 3 percent of the population 
     and 4 percent of economic output, to the Miami metro area, 
     where immigrants represent 37 percent of all residents and 38 
     percent of economic output, immigrants are playing a 
     consistently proportionate role in local economies.
       The Immigrant Economic Contribution Ratio (IECR) captures 
     this relationship, measuring the ratio of immigrant share of 
     economic output to immigrant share of population. An IECR of 
     1.00 would show that immigrants contribute to the economy in 
     exact proportion to their share of the population; above 1.00 
     indicates a higher contribution than share of population and 
     below indicates lower.

[[Page H14443]]

       In over half of the largest 25 metro areas, the IECR hovers 
     very close to parity, measuring between 0.90 and 1.10. In 
     only three metro areas--Phoenix, Minneapolis, and Denver--
     does the IECR go below 0.90; in eight metro areas it is above 
     1.10.
       Two main factors explain this close relationship. First, 
     immigrants are more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts 
     to be of working age. A higher share of the population in the 
     labor force offsets cases where immigrants have lower wages.
       Second, immigrants work in jobs across the economic 
     spectrum, and are business owners as well. Although 
     immigrants are more likely than U.S.-born workers to be in 
     lower-wage service or blue-collar occupations, 24 percent of 
     immigrants in the 25 metro areas work in managerial and 
     professional occupations. Another 25 percent work in 
     technical, sales, and administrative support occupations. In 
     fact, in 15 of the 25 metro areas, there are more immigrants 
     in these two higher-pay job categories taken together than 
     there are in service and blue-collar jobs combined. And, 
     immigrants are also entrepreneurs. Immigrants account for 22 
     percent of all proprietors' earnings in the 25 largest metro 
     areas--slightly higher than their share of the population.


 3. Favorable earnings at the top of the labor market; difficulties at 
                               the bottom

       At the high end of the economic ladder, immigrants earn 
     wages that are broadly comparable to their U.S.-born 
     counterparts in the same occupations. Immigrants working in 
     the professions--doctors, engineers, lawyers, and others--
     earn about the same as U.S.-born professionals in almost all 
     metro areas. The same is true for registered nurses, 
     pharmacists, and health therapists, and for technicians.
       At the low-end of the labor market, wages can also be 
     roughly similar for foreign- and U.S.-born workers. However, 
     in service occupations, most workers have a hard time making 
     ends meet. Both U.S.- and foreign-born workers earn well 
     below the median in almost every service occupation examined 
     in this report--including guards, cleaning, and building 
     services; food preparation; and dental, health, and nursing 
     aides.
       The clear challenge for service jobs is to raise pay for 
     all workers, U.S.- and foreign-born alike.
       Some blue-collar workers are in a similar position, with 
     both immigrants and U.S-born workers showing low annual 
     earnings. In certain blue-collar occupations, however, 
     immigrant workers earn considerably less than their U.S.-born 
     counterparts. In the 25 metro areas combined, for example, 
     the median earnings for U.S.-born workers in construction 
     trades is $45,000, while the median for immigrants is just 
     $27,000. Although wages in blue-collar jobs have eroded in 
     recent decades, in the early years of the post-World War II 
     period several blue-collar occupations paid workers, 
     primarily men without college degrees, family-sustaining 
     wages. The discrepancy today between U.S.- and foreign-born 
     earnings in these occupations thus presents a challenge: to 
     raise all workers to the standard that has been set by some, 
     as a means to improve pay for low-wage workers in the 
     occupation and to protect higher-wage earners.
       Unions have played an important role in raising pay in many 
     areas, including some blue-collar jobs. By contrast, the 
     relatively low unionization rate in service jobs helps 
     explain the consistently low pay. Unions continue to play an 
     important role in raising wages and equalizing differences in 
     pay for all workers, documented or otherwise. Although 
     undocumented immigrants are legally permitted to join unions, 
     in practice unscrupulous employers have frequently found ways 
     to take advantage of the status of undocumented workers to 
     thwart their efforts.
       In the 25 largest metro areas, the average unionization 
     rate is lower for immigrants than for U.S.-born workers--10 
     percent compared to 14 percent. With immigrants playing a 
     major role in the labor force, they are also playing a 
     significant role in unions, making up 20 percent of all union 
     members in the 25 largest metro areas.
       A closer look at the five largest metro areas in the East--
     New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Atlanta, and Miami--
     reveals that the same experience applies to them. Economic 
     growth and immigration generally go hand in hand; immigrants 
     work in all occupations; those in managerial, professional, 
     and technical occupations fare relatively well, those in 
     service and blue-collar jobs less so. Atlanta experienced the 
     biggest growth in immigrant share of the labor force and the 
     fastest growth in its overall economy.


                           The policy context

       The current recession has pushed up unemployment, prompting 
     some to feel that sharp restrictions on immigration would 
     help the economy. But, creating a climate that is hostile to 
     immigrants would risk damaging a significant part of the 
     country's economic fabric. Immigrants are an important part 
     of the economies of the 25 largest metro areas, working in 
     jobs up and down the economic ladder. Immigration is highly 
     responsive to demand--the immigrant share of the labor force 
     increases with economic growth. Immigrants are part of the 
     same economy as other workers, getting paid well in jobs at 
     the top of the ladder and struggling in jobs in the economy's 
     lower rungs.
       While the immigrant labor force brings many benefits to the 
     U.S. economy, it also presents political, economic and social 
     challenges. This is especially true in the context of an 
     extremely polarized economy, relatively low unionization 
     rates, weak enforcement of labor standards, and a broken 
     immigration system. Immigration has always been an important 
     part of America's history, and it will continue to be a part 
     of our future. Addressing these complex problems would be a 
     better path for policymakers than wishing away immigration. 
     This report presents an empirical look at the role of 
     immigrants in the U.S. economy, in the hopes of informing a 
     constructive public debate that will result in much-needed 
     policy reform.

                          ____________________