Immigration beneficial to the US, stresses National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Recent immigrants to the US are assimilating at least as quickly as their 20th-century European predecessors, they want to learn English—their children and grandchildren invariably do—they commit fewer crimes than the native-born, and are generally healthier, reveals a new and exhaustive study of immigrant integration conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

At a time when anti-immigrant prejudice is on the rise, the publication of empirical evidence debunking many of the myths reported about immigrants is well-timed. The report looked at 41 million foreign-born people—including about 11.3 million illegal immigrants—and their US-born children, about 37 million Americans. Together, the two generations cover one-quarter of the people living in the US.

Important conclusions presented in the report include:

—Foreign-born adults and children are healthier in general than Americans. They are less likely to die from cancer or heart disease, and have fewer chronic illnesses and lower rates of obesity.

—Many immigrants—about 85% of the foreign-born—do speak a language other than English at home, but many of those immigrants speak English proficiently outside the home and many already knew English when they arrived.

—Educational achievement varies widely among different national groups, but almost one-quarter of immigrants have college degrees.

—Cities and neighborhoods with greater concentrations of immigrants have much lower rates of crime and violence than similar places without immigrants.

Having investigated whether immigrants are healthier than native-born populations for IZA World of Labor, Shoshana Neuman notes that “extensive empirical research over several decades and across multiple regions and host countries has documented that when immigrants arrive in the host country they are healthier than native residents,” a phenomenon termed the “healthy immigrant effect.” Immigration therefore benefits the health status of the host country because new immigrants tend to be healthier and have healthier habits and lifestyles.

Questioning what drives the language proficiency of immigrants, Ingo E. Isphording notes that their language skills increase with time spent in the host country and in response to higher wage and job incentives. Insights into differences in immigrant characteristics offer opportunities for improving integration through better language acquisition. Promising policy options include point-based immigration selection rules, language classes, and citizenship incentives.

Regarding immigrant crime, Brian Bell, in his IZA World of Labor article, stresses that “larger immigrant concentrations in an area have no association with violent crime and, overall, fairly weak effects on property crime.” However, he notes that “immigrant groups that face poor labor market opportunities are more likely to commit property crime,” being careful to stress that this is also true of disadvantaged native groups. The crime-reducing benefits of improving the functioning of labor markets and workers’ skills should therefore be the focus for policymakers. He also identifies a case for ensuring that immigrants can legally obtain work in the receiving country, since such legalization programs tend to reduce potential criminal activity.

Further analysis of the report can be read in The New York Times.

The Integration of Immigrants into American Society can be read in full here.

Related articles:
Are immigrants healthier than native residents?, by Shoshana Neuman
What drives the language proficiency of immigrants?, by Ingo E. Isphording
Crime and immigration, by Brian Bell
Do immigrants improve the health of native workers?, by Osea Giuntella
Migrants and educational achievement gaps, by Horst Entorf
Language and culture as drivers of migration, by Alicía Adserà