Harvard Economist Dr. George J. Borjas Speaks at DGA
For the 4th installment of the Spring 2010 Colloquium series on (im)migration, the Division of Global Affairs was fortunate to welcome Dr. George J. Borjas of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University who gave an intriguing presentation on the economic aspects of migration. As a leading economist working in the migration field, he spoke to a packed room attended by several of the professors from the department of economics at Rutgers-Newark about the evolution of U.S. immigration policy in historical perspective. Dr. Borjas explained that aside from the numerous complexities surrounding immigration debates, the issue is fundamentally rooted in the fact that there are far more applicants for entry into the U.S. than the country could conceivably admit. Thus, from the point of view of formulating a national policy, the regulation of inflows of new entrants boils down to two simple yet critical questions – “how many?” and “who?” In other words, what is the total amount of immigrants the country wishes to allow in any given period and what is the primary criterion for gaining legal entry? To demonstrate the change over time, four key eras of U.S. immigration policy were identified:
- (Up until 1875) There were no formal restrictions on immigration to the United States;
- (1875 to 1924) Congress enacted a wide range of exclusionary legislation specifically targeting various groups as undesirable for a multitude of reasons;
- (1924 to 1965) There was the institution of a national origins quota system whereby the number of migrants allowed in from any given country was kept proportional to their representation within the preexistent national composition of the U.S. population, greatly favoring nations that already had a large presence in America such as Germany and Great Britain;
- (From 1965 on) Judging the basis of national origin to be unfairly discriminatory, Congress shifted toward family preference through sponsorship of relatives wishing to reunite with family already living in the U.S., and this remains the system in operation today.
Over the course of these major periods of U.S. immigration policy, there have been increasing numbers of illegal immigrants arriving in the United States as well, especially in recent years. In Dr. Borjas’ estimation, this has been a net benefit to the U.S. economy, but he adds that the nature of the debate over immigration today is largely shaped by the fact that the wages of increasingly low-skilled immigrants have regressed quite considerably in relation to natives – currently standing at average earnings of at least 20% less than native-born Americans. Beyond some subsequent details on the nature of the new immigrant workforce and its concentration within urban areas, Dr. Borjas stressed in his concluding remarks that any measure of restrictive immigration policy is intrinsically discriminatory to certain people for one reason or another. There will always be winners and losers in this equation. And given the range of potential approaches to immigration controls, an economic analysis of contemporary immigration issues actually offers very little value in determining what constitutes ‘good’ or ‘fair’ policy. Overarching cultural, political, and other considerations—by Dr. Borjas’ own admission—should form the bulk of what goes into how the U.S. government and American society ultimately decide to treat the issue of immigration going forward.
George J. Borjas is the Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Economics and Social Policy at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University. His teaching and research interests focus on the impact of government regulations on labor markets, with an emphasis on the economic impact of immigration. He is the author of Wage Policy in the Federal Bureaucracy; Friends or Strangers: The Impact of Immigrants on the U.S. Economy; Heavens Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy; and the textbook Labor Economics. He also edited Immigration and the Work Force;Issues in the Economics of Immigration; and Poverty, International Migration and Asylum. Prior to coming to the Kennedy School, Borjas was a Professor of Economics at the University of California, San Diego. He has also been a consultant to various government agencies.
This release was written by Thomas Arndt with contributed content from Tanu Kohli. Thomas and Tanu are Doctoral Students in the Division of Global Affairs.
