The Mexican government is unlikely to stem illegal migration to the United States because emigrants are a major source of foreign income, said an official of the Mexican bishops’ conference. Remittances from Mexicans in the United States totaled $16.6 billion in 2004 and was the second largest source of foreign revenue, said Father Antonio Sandoval, executive secretary of the Mexican bishops’ secretariat for social ministry. Only oil sales abroad topped remittances as an income producer, said Father Sandoval Feb. 21 at a migration workshop during the Catholic Social Ministry Gathering held in Washington. Mexico and the United States are far from reaching an agreement on Mexican emigration, he said, citing U.S. security concerns since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a main cause of the stalemate. A good way to prevent illegal immigration to the United States would be “to overcome the discrepancies in the U.S. and Mexican economies,” he said.
Using a new approach, Columbia University economists David Weinstein and Donald Davis estimate the net economic losses from immigration to Americans.
Unlike earlier studies, this new model does not treat the movement of immigrant labor into the country simply as a result of abundant resources and demand for labor, assumptions more appropriate to the 19th century.
Rather, the model takes into account globalization, the technological superiority of the American economy, and the resulting high standard of living.
Among the report’s findings:
In 2002, the net loss to U.S. natives from immigration was $68 billion.
This $68 billion annual loss represents a $14 billion increase just since 1998. As the size of the immigrant population has continued to increase, so has the loss.
The decline in wages is relative to the price of goods and services, so the study takes into account any change in consumer prices brought about by immigration.
The negative effect comes from increases in the supply of labor, and not the legal (or illegal) status of immigrants.
While natives lose from immigration, the findings show that immigrants themselves benefit substantially by coming to America.
Those who remain behind in their home countries also benefit from the migration of their countrymen.
Using a new approach, Columbia University economists David Weinstein and Donald Davis estimate the net economic losses from immigration to Americans.
Unlike earlier studies, this new model does not treat the movement of immigrant labor into the country simply as a result of abundant resources and demand for labor, assumptions more appropriate to the 19th century.
Rather, the model takes into account globalization, the technological superiority of the American economy, and the resulting high standard of living.
Among the report’s findings:
In 2002, the net loss to U.S. natives from immigration was $68 billion.
This $68 billion annual loss represents a $14 billion increase just since 1998. As the size of the immigrant population has continued to increase, so has the loss.
The decline in wages is relative to the price of goods and services, so the study takes into account any change in consumer prices brought about by immigration.
The negative effect comes from increases in the supply of labor, and not the legal (or illegal) status of immigrants.
While natives lose from immigration, the findings show that immigrants themselves benefit substantially by coming to America.
Those who remain behind in their home countries also benefit from the migration of their countrymen.
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