Labor Force and Immigration - Essay Example

Labor force and Immigration al affiliation Introduction Although most of the Americans celebrate their heritage and identity as “national immigrants,” there might be both negatives and positives on the future immigration. The people may be important ingredients to the American economic growth. Research indicates that about one-fifth of the American’s population is the immigrants or the children of the immigrants. Most of immigration believes that the policies implemented on the immigrants are not a meant for discrimination but affirmation that they are part of the American dream (Aydemir, Abdurrahman & George, 2007). On the other hand, there are Americans, who are opposing the continuation of the large immigration. They fear that there might be economic consequences of the immigration and that the newcomers who have different languages, culture, and religions may refuse to assimilate into the American society and also refuse to learn English (Card, 2009). Although, there is that perception among the American natives, the fear and thoughts of the Americans about the future is not logical. This is because there is increased global and massive industries that seek to outsource both blue and white collar jobs. But although there are those companies that are providing the employment, the native fears about their future and their children. There are signs supporting this fear as there are incidents that have been spotted where the industries are employs the immigrants at a low cost and replacing the native-born workers. Some of the sectors such as agriculture have few natives American working there. The immigrants are also employed into many other sectors including constructions, meatpacking, and other areas (Goldin, Claudia & Lawrence, 2010). This has increased because of the political leaders who want to exploit the immigrants for their own interest. Although it is difficult to tell about the future of immigration in America’s future, it is important to study the past that may be used to reflect the future situations. Research has shown that almost every American native fears the impact of the immigration and also the judgments of the various “experts,” but all have been proven wrong by the history. This is because, almost all the immigrants have assimilated over the years and contributed to the American society in many positive ways. The paper outlines the circulating fear about the immigrants by the natives of the American and comparing this to the contributions by the immigrants towards the evolution of the political reforms, industrial economy as well as the contribution towards the American culture (Mishra, 2007). Immigration in North America Immigration to the North America began after the Spanish settlers, the French and the English settlers in the 17th century. Before the American Revolution, most of the labor was outsourced from England and other parts of the Europe as well as the large-scale importation of the slaves from Africa and Caribbean (Passel, 2009). Although, there is still immigration that takes place in the Northern America throughout the history, the two faces that marked a massive migration. These stages include the 1880 to early 1924 known as the Age of Mass Migration and the in 1965 known as the Post Wave of Immigration. Most of the people that migrated to America were the Latin America and immigrants from Asia. Both eras resulted to more than 25 million immigrants into the country. In some peak of 1900s, America received about one million immigrants annually. In the 21st century, there was reported to be more than one million legal immigrants showing that the impact was relatively less than the previous century (Ottaviano, Gianmarco & Giovanni, 2006). Impact of early immigrants Demographic Millions of the immigrants who arrived in since the founding of the America are known to dominate the American population. Most of the Americans have the sense of history on the continuity from American’s founding, but this has not all through brought great changes on the socialization and education sector (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). Both waves of immigration have resulted to a degree of hostility and popular fears that the increased immigrants may later harm the American society. For example, Benjamin Franklin argued that the “Palatine Boors” were Germanizing the province of Pennsylvania and rejected to adapt English language. In the 19th century, the German-American and the Irish were considered not to be fully old stock of Americans. This lead to a three-day demonstration in the Kensington, that resulted in the burning of two Catholic churches and other properties (Ottaviano, Gianmarco & Giovanni, 2006). As a result, most of the cities where the immigrants settled were feared to be a place occupied by dangerous people with radical ideas. These opinions were formulated by intellectuals but supported by the many white Americans who were narrow-minded living in a small town and rural environments (Warren & John, 2013). In the 1924 to 1965, there was the introduction of immigration principle that was special in American history. The Amendment that occurred to the nationality and immigration act was a shock to the policy makers and many experts. The aim of the 1965 Act was stop the national origin quotas that were established in early 1920s that were believed to spread of discrimination towards the children and the grandchildren of the eastern and southern European immigrants. The different advocates that were meant for reforms in the 1960s did not consider the new wave of immigration on the aim that; there would be few arrivals from Italy, Greece and other European countries since the families had been separated by the immigration that occurred in 1920s were allowed to be reunited (Passel, 2009). The new policy that was introduced under the 1965 Act provided new ways of admission of the immigrants. The policy required that all who got to through the America borders had to enter through the border with reason for reunification, and they were also required to have occupational skills (Goldin, Claudia & Lawrence, 2010). The new system allowed entry of the immigrant that possessed high skills such as primary doctors, engineers from Asian countries, and nurses and they were to get full sponsors of their families. In the same period, the immigration of the Latin America began to take its path. On the other hand, the legal undocumented migration from the Mexico to it shape after the previous temporary farm worker program was shut down. In addition, migration from Cuba arose from the Fidel Castro’s Revolution as the first elites followed by the middle class families imposed persecution of socialism between the years 1960s to 1970s. In early 1970s, there emerge waves of Vietnam, Hmong and Vietnamese refugees after the collapse of the American-support regimes in the Southeast Asia (Warren & John, 2013). As a result of these streams of immigration, as well as the number of the refugee that penetrated into the States, it increased the number of the immigrants in the area. In 19th century, there was a great contribution by the Scandinavia and the German in settling the frontier. On the other side, the Irish immigrants were the major source of the labor in the construction that took place in North America. Such contributions were important in developing canals, roads, and railways among other infrastructures. Immigrants have also played an important part in developing the urban industrial economy in 19th and 20th centuries. The immigrants have also been over-represented in skilled trades, merchants, mining, and also as laborers in the urban areas. Most of their children were the workers in the garment sweatshops that were located in New York and stockyards of Chicago. More so, the cities of America in the eras of industrialization were primarily owned by immigrants. It was noted that from 1880 to 1920, there was a rapid expansion to the industrial economy in North and Midwest due to availability of immigrant labor. It is also said that, in 1900, about three-quarter of the populations of the major cities were dominated by the immigrants and their children. Such cities included Chicago, Boston, New York, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit and Milwaukee (Aydemir, Abdurrahman & George, 2007). The immigrants and their children were also the largest in number in the urban population particularly, in the different industrial cities that were located in the North and Midwest. The immigrants were not also left behind in shaping the American’s politics. For instance, they helped in forming the Roosevelt coalition back in 1930s as well as in John F. Kennedy. The contribution by Roosevelt coalition was recognized in 1928 when Al Smith attracted the immigrant urban votes towards the Democratic Party. Although Al smith was defeated by Herbert, it marked great changes in the American changes as it shifted the Republic dominance of the government to the New Deal coalition that occurred in 1930s (Warren & John, 2013). This lead increase shares and partisanship of the urban ethnic votes following a long period of mass immigration. The immigrants and their descendants have also developed the popular American culture as well as creating a positive image in the American mind. They have also brought a remarkable job in the American creative arts that include directing, acting and writing in the most of the American films that have been played for the first half of the 20th century. Most of the Hollywood film directors were either the immigrants or children of the immigrant and have worn various Academy Awards. Most of the highly regarded the composer and playwrights of Broadway were from the immigrants who include Richard Rogers, Jerome Kern, Leonard Bernstein, George and Ira Gershwin among other children of immigrants. These lyricist and composers that wrote most of the standard songbooks were mainly from the second and third generation of Jewish immigrants but their music has shaped the American musical culture of the 20th century (Warren & John, 2013). Although first and the second immigrant generations artists have been anxious to assimilate to American society as well as adopting the “Anglo-sounding” names, they have also expanded the culture in America by making it more receptive and open to the outsiders. The Broadway as well as the Hollywood productions has also provided us with poignant accounts of outsiders who struggle to be understood and be accepted. Lessons from immigration in the 20th Century From the above history of the immigrants and contribution a lot towards the development of the America’s revolution, it is clear that the circulating believes and fear about the immigrants in the 20th century is wrong perception by those who support such thoughts. It is clear that in the early 20th century, most of the elites and other social scientist had in mind that the immigrants would overrun American society. From the different theories of the time, most of the immigrants were seen to be racially and culturally to be inferior to the American natives. For several decades, the disagreements over immigration restriction were discussed in court of public opinion as well as in the congress. In 1910, there was issued a report by Dillingham Commission that assumed racial inferiority of the immigrants from the southern and eastern European as related to the thoughts of the old stock immigrants from Northwestern Europe. By reflecting back to the American history, we see the impact of the Age of mass migration from the 1880 to 1924 were opposite to those argument that were anticipated by most of the natives and the elites of the American. For instance, the elites and other American natives feared that the immigrants could resist assimilation or fail to introduce their language in the state. The fact is that; based on the measures of the level of social economic achievement, intermarriages, residential location, the children and the grandchildren of the new immigrants are all completely assimilated into American society. Research also indicates that the new immigrants have contributed and remade American societys image (Warren & John, 2013). The Anglo-centric core that occurred in early 20th century has been mostly replaced with cosmopolitan American that put Catholicism and Judaism on the same level with the protestant denominations. More so, the state of Liberty has been applied to represent the national symbol of a national immigrant. Maybe the most crucial legacy of the Age of mass migration is that the Eastern and the Southern European immigrants assisted in paving way for the New Deal that occurred in 1930, the Immigration Act as well as the Great Society that occurred in 1960s. The three legacies allowed a new wave of the immigration from Asia and Latin America to be achieved. The future impact. The demographic challenges of 21st century in the American society are not unique. For instance, immigration and race seem to be practiced in the current society creating tension in many societies across the globe. Immigration, particularly the clandestine immigration is common in United States compared to other industrial countries, but the factors are common to almost all industrial society. Recent research indicates that the level of immigrants in America has fluctuated from 700,000 to 1,000,000 new permanent residents in the recent years. The increase in numbers of immigrant is well planned unlike in the past perspective. The research also indicates that only half of the immigrants are newly arrivals to the country. The other half of the immigrants consists of the adjustments of the current residents that afford to obtain an immigrant visa that assist them to change their employment or status. Most of the refugees can obtain permanent resident immigrant visas. The number of the immigrants is still increasing with more than 300,000 undocumented immigrants entering the borders of American States (Goldin, Claudia & Lawrence, 2010). The major debate in United States is the focused on the immigration control. There is an agreement that the clandestine immigration should be stopped and put measure to control the process of legal immigration. The problem is on the argument over the number of immigration to be accepted and the type of immigrant to be admitted, but the idea to control the population by the sovereign states is virtually unchallenged. However, there are indications showing that motivations for international migration are huge and the various rewards to the employers, migrants and societies are massive (Aydemir, Abdurrahman & George, 2007). This research also indicates that the chances of having a successful immigration control is very possible if more efforts are put by the government. Different times, the mass media are found to report the extraordinary investment of Latin America, Africans, and Chinese, who seek to migrate to North America and Europe. In such cases, most of these people are captured and humiliated by being treated as criminals. There have been reported cases of immigrants who are locked into shipping containers trespassing in the desert without enough water and die. Although, there such cases that are often reported, more people still risk their lives to get to North America. The main reason for the people to cross those borders is that; the economy of the Northern is increasingly integrated by flows of goods, labor, and capital. Therefore, international migration is an important component in the modern societies, poor and rich that helps in resolving the uneven distribution of opportunities and people (Goldin, Claudia & Lawrence, 2010). Most of the migrants do not come to settle, but to give support to their families at home. Indeed the payment received by the international migrants, most of it is used to develop the country compared to the little portion that goes to the poor countries from foreign aids, manufacturing efforts, and direct capital investment. The gains in international migration to those economies of advanced countries are also significant. Most of the existing industrial economies do not have enough domestic supplies of low-cost labor (Mishra, 2007). Therefore, if such an immigration pattern was found in a few sectors, there it would be possible to consider a fairly narrow explanation in terms of market rigidity as well as the political culture. The need for cheaper immigrant labor affects broader sectors such as construction, restaurants, manufacturing agricultural sector among other sectors. Demand for labor in the economic sector. The demand for immigrant labor is allowed for those with skilled labor that is required in building the economy. North America and other industrial countries are encountering shortage of engineering workers and scientific workers especially in the high-tech sector (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). The target to outsource the skills has been achieved by allowing many talented students from foreign countries into American Universities to convert their student visas to immigrant status. In spite the evolving political pressures to control immigration, most of this policies changes have widened the scope of legal immigration to assist in the settlement of the refugees, agricultural workers, and also the “illegal” immigrants with long residencies in the country, those individuals with few American citizen relatives to sponsor them, and the different workers in high demand by U.S employers. Standard economic theory states that the domestic migration a function of differential wages between areas. Through migration, workers get benefits from the higher wages thus stimulating the economy of the area or country (Mishra, 2007). As a result, the economy is stimulated and thus operating effectively by creating an increased porous of labor, as well as consumer markets. Therefore, the barrier to immigration is similar to that of local migration. That is; if their labor force is not allowed to move freely, then the economy may lack enough resources such as labor that is needed to develop the economy of the country. Various economic theories suggest that all countries benefit from the free flow of capital, technology, and goods that move across the international borders. Cobb-Douglas production function As stated above, the growth of the country’s economy is dependent to the labor, technology and capital that is available. Cobb-Douglas production function is a good model to explain whether the experienced immigration in Northern America will hurt of build its economy (Card, 2009). The model is based on two factors of production that include labor and capital. Where; • Y = total production (the actual value of the total produced goods within a year) • L = labor input (the total number of workers-hours working per year) • K = capital (the actual value of all the available machinery, equipment or buildings) • A = total factor of production. • α and β represent elasticity of the output on both K and L respectively. α and β are always a constant, and they are both affected by the technology available. α and β measure the responsiveness of the either labor or capital that is used in the production. For instance, if α = 0.40 and there is an increase in capital by 1%, then the usage of the capital and labor would be approximately a 0.40 % increase in output. In addition if; α + β = 1, the country faces a constant returns to scale α + β > 1, increased returns to scale α + β < 1, decreased returns to scale This indicates that; if North American receives about 1 % increase of useful immigrants to the labor market, then the economy of the country faces a 1% increase of its economic growth. Therefore, it is important for North America and other countries to consider the model and utilize the skilled labor force that imported to the country. The skilled labor can lead to innovation through their knowledge and lead to increased innovations that stimulate the economy of the country (Aydemir, Abdurrahman & George, 2007). Conclusion Therefore, most of the countries receive immigrants should control immigration and use the skilled labor to advance their economy. Just like in a local movement of labor that develop country’s economy, it so does to the international movement of labor. The free movement of labor helps in creating a pool of the labor force that the industries can choose the best input that can result to higher output. My view is that, immigrants will continue entering in a large number in Northern America in the future. Even if there shall be new policies to close the border, the immigrants still find their way by use of clandestine entry because the economic incentives of both the senders and receivers are increasing on daily bases. The government should, therefore, broaden their eyes on implementing significance policies that cater for the current and future economy. Such a policy shall settle the mind of the immigrants and the native people and thus creating conducive environment for building the country. Reference Aydemir, Abdurrahman and George J. Borjas. 2007. Cross-country variation in the impact of international migration: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Journal of the European Economic Association 5: 663-708. Card, David. 2009. Immigration and inequality. American Economic Review 99: 1-21. Goldin, Claudia and Lawrence F. Katz. 2010. The race between education and technology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Mishra, Prachi. 2007. Emigration and wages in source countries: Evidence from Mexico. Journal of Development Economics 82: 180-199. Ottaviano, Gianmarco I. P., and Giovanni Peri. 2006. Rethinking the effect of immigration on wages. NBER Working Paper no. 12497 (original draft). Passel, Jeffrey and D’Vera Cohn. 2009. A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States. Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center Report. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2012. Employer Costs for Employee Compensation – September 2012. Washington, DC. Warren, Robert and John Robert Warren. 2013. Unauthorized Immigration to the United States: Annual Estimates and Components of Change, by State, 1990 to 2010. International Migration Review, forthcoming Read More