The Economics of Immigration
State and local governments are greatly concerned with the manner in which the federal governments enforce immigration laws. This great concern can be linked to how highly skilled and low skilled immigrants affect the overall U.S economy. Immigration creates economic losses and gains; therefore, it is a significant concern on how the federal government enforces stricter laws on immigration. Still, immigration is a net benefit for the U.S economy in relation to the creation of more job opportunities and benefits. The federal government enforcing laws that limit or halts the immigration, thus, reducing opportunities created for the economy. The state and local governments have an interest in the stiffening of the laws since it hinders the efficiency of the U.S economy.
The federal government has the broader power to impose the immigration policies that hinder immigration, hence, reducing economic gains. Primarily, immigration creates an increase in complementary workers who increase labour supply in the country, thus increasing wages and job opportunities. Additionally, the surge in immigrant labour lowers the production costs resulting in an increased output of goods. Thus, the demand for higher-skilled workers is increased through the upsurge in output. Yet, substitute immigrants increase job competitions with native born-workers. Hence, as the immigrants increase, an increase in the supply of labour occurs. Increase in labour, in the long run, increases the supply of goods which creates more efficiency for the economy. So, the state and local governments concerns entail how these laws infringe how immigration creates benefits such as lower labour costs and product prices
These strict laws that inhibit the authorization of immigration hurt the economy. Considering the non-economic factors, the federal government inputs laws to solve the issue of immigration. As aforementioned, immigration is a net benefit. Instead of focusing on limiting immigration, the federal government should consider the economic benefits and profits that immigration brings to the economy.
References
Family, J. (2019). Translating Economics for Immigration Policy. Jotwell: J. Things We Like, 1.
Orrenius, P. M. (2017). New Findings on the Fiscal Impact of Immigration in the United States.
Hing, B. O. (2017). Federal Regulatory Policymaking and Enforcement of Immigration Law. In Compassionate Migration and Regional Policy in the Americas (pp. 53-69). Palgrave Macmillan, London.