What has happened to the labor markets since 1980? Data from the U.S. Census Bureau offers this insight: From 1930 to 1950. the foreignborn population of the United States declined from 14.2 million to 10.3 million . . . [but] Since 1970. the foreignborn population of the United States has increased rapidly due to largescale immigration. Let me just stop here and say America has been generous in this immigration policy. We have the largest number of people entering our country on a lawful immigrant status than any country in the world by far. What I want us to do is to understand that we need to ask ourselves how many people the United States can absorb without damaging the wages and job prospects of unemployed. underemployed Americans. The U.S. Census Bureau statistics report that in 1980. the foreignborn population stood at 14.1 million. But from 1980 through 2013. the immigrant population tripled from 14 million to more than 41 million. The large increase in the size of the immigrant population is the direct product of policies in Washington. creating both an expanded lawful system and an expanded unlawful system. Legal immigration during the 1980s averaged around 600.000 people a year. But since 1990 through today. it has averaged about 1 million annuallymeaning the annual rate almost doubled. The sustained largescale flow of legal immigrationoverwhelmingly. this group are lowerwage and lowerskilledhas placed a substantial downward pressure on wages. I dont think there is any doubt about that. Some try to ignore it and talk around it. but I think the facts are clear.
Identified stereotypes
Immigrants are overwhelmingly lower-wage and lower-skilled, placing downward pressure on wages.