Peruvian Julia Paredes, center in white hat, listens to instructions from a Border Patrol agent with others seeking asylum as they wait to be processed after crossing the border with Mexico nearby, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Boulevard, Calif. Mexico …President Biden has overseen the fastest expansion of immigration — legal and illegal — in history, but less than half of the newcomers are holding jobs, according to a new report released Monday.
“Immigration clearly adds workers to the country, but it just as clearly adds non-workers who need to be supported by the labor of others,” said report authors Steven A. Camarota and Karen Zeigler. “Those who simply see immigration as a source of labor need to understand it is also a source of school children, retirees, and many other non-workers. How could it be otherwise; immigrants are people.”
CIS said if current trends continue the U.S. will top 18% by the end of this decade. Australia’s population is 30% immigrants and Canada’s population is more than 20%, while Germany is roughly 19%. The U.K. is 14%. The CBO says that within the population, there is a large range of outcomes, with those at the higher economic rungs coming out better off with higher immigration levels, while those on the lower rungs, who are more likely to compete with less-educated newcomers, end up worse off.
There has been a major push by the Biden administration to try to get official work permits into the hands of newly arrived illegal immigrants who are caught and released into the interior. Immigrant rights advocates say that will allow the migrants to support themselves and stop using government assistance.