Unprecedented levels of immigration are reshaping the foundation of the U.S. economy, the American labor force, according to a recent analysis. Writing for The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, economics reporter Paul Kiernan stated, “Immigrants are swelling the population and changing the makeup of the U.S. labor force in ways that are likely to reverberate through the economy for decades.”
Kiernan explained that at least nine million immigrants have come to the U.S. since the end of 2020 and are still here — both legally and illegally. “That’s nearly as many as the number that came in the previous decade,” Kiernan wrote of the immigrants remaining in the U.S. Less than 30% of those entered and currently remain in the U.S. legally, Kiernan reported.
Noting the declining birth rate among U.S. citizens, Kiernan pointed out that the immigrants who have entered the U.S. over the past four years are “younger and more likely to be of working age than U.S.-born Americans.” He wrote, “Of foreigners who arrived since 2020, 78% are between the ages of 16 and 64, compared with 60% of those born in the U.S., according to the monthly census data.” The WSJ reporter continued, “Of recent immigrants age 16 or older, 68% — the participation rate — are either working or looking for a job, compared with 62% for U.S.-born Americans. In raw numbers, that likely amounts to more than five million people, equal to roughly 3% of the labor force.” Kiernan also anticipated that the rate of immigrants seeking and claiming jobs in the U.S. “is likely to climb further in coming years.”
While border states are, naturally, heavily impacted by immigration (especially illegal immigration), Kiernan observes that the top five “destination states” for illegal immigrants are Florida, Texas, California, New York, and New Jersey.
Prior reports have placed the numbers of immigrants in the U.S. workforce much higher than WSJ’s estimates. As The Washington Stand previously reported, a new study shows that a staggering 30 million immigrants — again, both legal and illegal — have entered the U.S. labor force just since 2022. While just over 22 million of those immigrants are in the U.S. legally, over eight million are working and living in the U.S. illegally.
Robert Law, the director of Regulatory Affairs and Policy for the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), told TWS at the time, “The Biden-Harris administration’s border security and economic policies have significantly harmed the wages, economic opportunities, and security of the American people.” He explained that jobs being taken by immigrants “are not jobs Americans won’t do.” Instead, he suggested that Americans “are being sidelined by administration policies that put American workers last.”
Immigration (again, especially of the illegal variety) has been linked to skyrocketing violent crime and a worsening drug crisis, in addition to the suffering job market. Election integrity has also become a point of concern, as Republicans move to ensure that only U.S. citizens are permitted to vote. Numerous Democrat-led cities and states are expected to spend millions and, in some cases, billions of dollars on housing illegal immigrants and providing them with health care and other related benefits.
Americans are increasingly unhappy with the state of immigration in the U.S. under incumbent President Joe Biden and his deputy, Vice President Kamala Harris. For example, 84% of Americans ranked illegal immigration a “serious” issue, including 61% who ranked it “very serious.” In fact, immigration has consistently been ranked as the second-most-pressing issue facing voters ahead of November’s election, immediately behind inflation and the economy. Continuing reports, like Kiernan’s in WSJ, suggest that the two issues are closely related.
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.
