Many people have misconceptions regarding immigrants that come to work in the United States. Immigration is a broad subject with a lot to talk about, so I will focus on how immigrants affect the workforce, and the statistics of what types of jobs immigrants are working in depending on their upbringing.
There are many reasons why a person from another country would decide to start working in the United States. It is largely a case by case basis, depending on the individual and what situation they are in. It also largely depends on what their country of origin is.
Currently, the highest immigrant population in the United States come from Mexico with around a population of 11.6 million immigrants living in the United States in 2016. That accounted for for about 26% of all immigrants living within the country. Although Mexico has the highest population of immigrants, recent trends are showing that India has surpassed Mexico in terms of new immigrants coming into the country. In 2016, India had about 126,000 legal immigrants come to the United States, where Mexico had 124,000 immigrants come in. Keep in mind, this study does not include undocumented immigrants, so the actual numbers may vary.
The unemployment rate of immigrants was around 4% in 2017 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The amount of total immigrants working was around 27 million in 2014, where 19 million of those are documented immigrants, and 8 million are undocumented immigrants. The undocumented immigrants alone account for about 5% of the total civilian workforce.
Documented Immigrants are more likely to work in professional or management jobs, which account for 37% of the jobs held by legal immigrants, where service jobs is at 22%. Undocumented immigrants are more likely to work in service or construction jobs, which account for around 48% of the jobs held by undocumented immigrants.
Kun-Ta Wu is an assistant professor of physics who works at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is originally from Taipei, Taiwan. He decided to pursue a higher education in the United States after getting is M.S. of Physics from National Taiwan University.
Taiwan is known for its modern cities, as it has newer infrastructure compared to the United States and a higher focus on technology. When Wu was asked what his home city was like, he said, “Taipei was a city like New York City except the facilities were more modern.”
Wu decided to move to the United States because of the focus of the physics industry aligned more to what he wanted to do, rather than what major physics industries in Taiwan focus on. As Wu described it, “In my college, I went to National Taiwan University as an undergraduate majoring in physics. I love science knowledge and would like to pursuit fundamental scientific research. However, Taiwan was a technology-based country, producing laptops. Fundamental research was less appreciated. Simultaneously, the basic research is vibrant in USA, which attracts me to come to America.” Wu achieved his PhD in Physics from New York University in 2014.
Wu’s story matches up with current immigration trends. The population of Asian immigrants is on the rise in the United States and is projected to surpass the Hispanic population sometime in the near future. The vast majority of Asian Immigrants are legally documented, whereas the Hispanic immigrant population has a disproportionate undocumented population. As stated before, the majority of jobs held by documented immigrants are professional or management positions.
Other than immigrating to the United States to look for work, immigrants have a preconceived idea of what the United States will be like to live in. The laws of the constitution protect more freedoms than most countries around the world. “I went to a high school summer camp in California. I learnt that in USA, you could embrace freedom without fear. Such an impression was further reinforced after I moved to USA.” Wu explained, when asked what idea of America was.
Moving to a new country does have its challenges and assimilating into a place that speaks a different language is no small feat. In fact, only about 50% of immigrants ages 5 and older in the United States are proficient in English. “Fitting in USA culture as a foreigner was not easy,” Wu explains. “The biggest challenge is English communication, as it is my second language.”
Moving to the United States legally takes a lot of planning and preparation for immigrants who plan on legally integrating into the country. Wu advises to anyone moving to the United States, “Decide if you want to stay in the US for long term asap. If you are, solve the green card problem at your earliest convenience. Without a VISA, you will compete with disadvantage. Eventually, if you want to stay in the US for long term, you still need to get a green card. Applying for a green card is hassle but postponing it will only make things worse.”
Immigrants in the United States have a huge impact on the civilian workforce. It is nearly impossible to put a blanket statement to say if immigrants are good or bad for the development of the United States, as individuals have different stories and contribute different amounts to the society. In any case, the lengths people go to integrate into the United States is quite impressive and is something to be admired.
Work cited:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, , FOREIGN-BORN WORKERS: LABOR FORCE CHARACTERISTICS, on the Internet at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/forbrn.pdf. (visited 4 Nov. 2018).
Geiger, Abigail. “Key Findings about U.S. Immigrants.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 14 Sept. 2018, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/14/key-findings-about-u-s-immigrants/.
Migration Policy Institute. (2016). Countries of Birth for U.S. Immigrants, 1960-Present. Retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/programs/data-hub/us-immigration-trends#source
Wu, Kun-Ta. 4 Nov. 2018. Email Interview.
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