Immigration Legal Immigration Levels

Legal Immigration Levels

Reads at about grade 6Both sides shown8 sources cited

Legal immigration levels are the rules for how many people may move to the U.S. legally each year, and who gets to come.

What it is

Every year, the U.S. lets a set number of people move here legally, and most receive a "green card," which is the right to live here for good. In 2024, the U.S. gave out about 1.36 million green cards, and most went to people already living here. Congress sets these limits by law; there are also temporary work visas, and the best-known is the H-1B, a visa for skilled jobs like engineering or computing. Research gives a mixed but clear picture. Over ten years or more, immigration barely changes the average worker's pay, and it grows the economy over the long run. Sometimes wages do fall, and two groups feel it most: workers without a high-school degree, and earlier immigrants who compete with newcomers for the same jobs. Skilled visas work in a similar way. Studies of the H-1B find it slightly cut pay for U.S. computer scientists, but it also lowered tech prices and led to more inventions. So experts mostly agree on the facts, but they split on the bottom line. Should the U.S. admit more people to grow faster, or fewer to protect workers? This debate crosses party lines, so some people in both parties want higher numbers, while others in both want lower.

How it works

The U.S. gives out green cards in categories set by law. One big category is family-based, covering spouses, children, and parents of citizens, plus some other relatives. Another is employment-based, for workers with job offers or special skills -- in general, more green cards go to family than to workers. Congress built today's system in a 1965 law, the Immigration and Nationality Act, which set a yearly cap on most categories. Skilled-worker visas are separate and temporary: the H-1B lets employers hire foreign workers for "specialty" jobs that usually need a college degree. Far more people want these visas than the yearly supply, so they're handed out by lottery. People debate the levels for a few reasons. One is jobs and pay: does more immigration help the economy, or does it undercut American workers? Another is whether the country really has worker shortages. Others point to how well newcomers fit in, or worry about the strain of a bigger population. The fight does not split neatly by party -- some Republicans and some Democrats want more, while others in both parties want less. California sits at the center of this debate: the state is home to a large immigrant population, its tech industry leans on many H-1B workers, and its farms and hospitals rely on immigrant labor too.

The debate — equal weight, both sides

The case for more legal immigration

Cross-cutting, not a clean left-right split. Made most often by libertarians and free-market conservatives (such as the Cato Institute), business and tech employers, and pro-growth Democrats.

Immigrants grow the economy and fill jobs that need doing. From 1995 to 2022, immigrants and their children drove 70 percent of workforce growth. Without immigrants, the working-age population would shrink by about 6 million in the next two decades, and fewer workers means slower growth. Skilled immigrants also power invention. One study found a simple link: raising college-educated immigrants by one percentage point lifts patents per person by 9 to 18 percent. In 219 U.S. cities from 1990 to 2010, H-1B workers drove 10 to 25 percent of productivity growth. Immigrants pay their way, too: one estimate finds they pay nearly $1 trillion in taxes, about $300 billion more than they use in benefits. At heart, this side sees immigration as opportunity and strength. Newcomers reunite with family. They take hard jobs. They keep America young and inventive. Growing the pie, supporters argue, leaves people already here better off. The fix for a tight job market is more workers, not fewer.

The case for lower immigration levels

Cross-cutting, not a clean left-right split. Made most often by labor unions and worker advocates on the left (such as the Economic Policy Institute) and by immigration restrictionists on the right.

When many new workers arrive, those who already do those jobs can lose out. Basic economics explains why: immigration shifts income, lowering pay for workers who compete with immigrants while raising profits for the employers who hire them. One economist estimates the size of the effect -- a 10 percent rise in the supply of workers can cut competing workers' wages by about 3 percent, with the hardest hit often the least advantaged. Backers of lower levels also doubt the "worker shortage" story, especially in tech. U.S. colleges graduate about twice as many science and engineering students as there are job openings, so the shortage claim looks weak. Extra foreign supply, critics say, puts downward pressure on the wages of workers already here. This side puts American workers first, above all those with the least power. It asks a fairness question. Should companies bring in lower-cost labor when people here need the jobs? Slower, steadier numbers, supporters argue, protect wages. They also give newcomers time to settle in and fit in.

Sources

Behind the summary

Cited by "The case for more legal immigration"

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