The Progressive Case Against ProtectionismNovember/December 2019 117PEOPLE POWER
Protectionism is harmful for most American workers, but even more
destructive are policies that make the United States less welcoming to
immigrants. Setting aside the Trump administration’s actions against
refugees and the undocumented—a serious moral stain on the coun-
try—its eorts to limit immigration are also economically harmful.
Immigration has long been an enormous boon for the U.S. econ-
omy. Study after study has shown that it is good for economic growth,
innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation and that almost all
economic classes within the United States beneÄt from it. Even
though only 14 percent o the current U.S. population is foreign-
born, immigrants create a disproportionate number o businesses.
Fifty-Äve percent o the United States’ $1 billion startups were
founded or co-founded by immigrants, and more than 40 percent o
the Fortune 500 companies were founded or co-founded by immi-
grants or their children. In recent decades, immigrants have ac-
counted for more than 50 percent o the U.S.-aliated academics
who have won Nobel Prizes in scientiÄc Äelds.
Immigrants also provide countless skills that complement those
o native-born American workers. Highly educated foreigners with
technological skills (such as computer programmers) make up for
persistent shortages in the U.S. high-tech sector, and they comple-
ment native-born workers who have more cultural Áuency or com-
munication skills. Less skilled immigrants also Äll labor shortages
in areas such as agriculture and eldercare, where it is often dicult
to Änd native-born workers willing to take jobs.
There is little evidence that immigration lowers the wages o most
native-born workers, although there is some limited evidence that it
may cut into the wages or hours o two groups: high school dropouts
and prior waves o immigrants. In the case o high school dropouts,
however, there are far better ways to help them (such as strengthen-
ing the educational system) than restricting immigration. As for
prior waves o immigrants, given how substantial their economic
gains from migration are—often, they earn large multiples o what
they would have made back home—it’s hard to justify their subse-
quent slower wage growth as a policy concern.
Immigrants have another economic beneÄt: they relieve demo-
graphic pressures on public budgets. In many rich countries, popu-
lation growth has slowed to such an extent that the government’s