Immigration Policy Changes and Clarification

Policy regarding recent immigration perimeters and changes in governmental resources and adaptation will also be the topic of discussion. Immigration policies generally respond to labour market needs and demographic objectives of destination countries. Immigration fuels the economy. When immigrants enter the labor force, they increase the productive capacity of the economy and raise GDP. Their incomes rise, but so do those of natives. However, immigration is also controversial. Immigration increases poverty in two ways: a) by increasing labor market competition it lowers wages for native- born workers, forcing more of them into poverty; and b) the immigrants themselves are often poor. The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 (the Hart–Celler Act) abolished the system of national-origin quotas. There was, for the first time, a limitation on Western Hemisphere immigration (120,000 per year), with the Eastern Hemisphere limited to 170,000. When immigrating to the US, there are four different types of immigration status categories that individuals may fall into: citizens, residents, non-immigrants, and undocumented immigrants. When immigrants enter the labor force, they increase the productive capacity of the economy and raise GDP. Their incomes rise, but so do those of natives. It’s a phenomenon dubbed the “immigration surplus.”