David FitzGerald Interviewed by Council on Foreign Relations
CCIS Associate Director David FitzGerald was interviewed recently by the Council on Foreign Relations. Speaking about “The Immigration Economy” FitzGerald said:
“The overall influence of unauthorized immigration on the U.S. economy is quite small, though it is signficant in sectors like agriculture, construction, and the hospitality sector, which rely on low-skilled labor. While unauthorized migration has a slighly depressive effect on the wages of unskilled native workers, only 8 percent of the total hours worked in the U.S. in 2007 were performed by people with less than a high school education. In fact, unauthorized immigrant labor is generally complementary to native-born labor. Unemployed auto workers in Michigan are not migrating to California to pick fruit.”
