A think tank published a study revealing that the black community born in the US is not being displaced from their jobs by newly arrived migrants, and that on the contrary, both continue to increase their presence in the work environment.
Text: Salome Ramirez Vargas / VOA / AP
Immigration has been at the center of political and social debate in the United States in recent weeks. Some accuse newcomers of “taking” jobs from native-born Americans, especially blacks, while others see a positive impact on the economy with their presence. A new study seeks to contrast both premises.
In a report released Friday, the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank, found that African Americans are facing one of the best job markets in recent times despite “persistent discrimination and systemic problems.”
Meanwhile, foreign-born workers have also begun to grab an “increasing share of the U.S. labor market and have expanded their presence in other sectors,” though “this does not appear to have come at the expense of U.S.-born black workers.”
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the number of foreign-born workers has increased by 20 percent over the past three years, a much faster pace than the U.S.-born.
“The movement of immigrants across sectors and geographic regions may explain why the foreign-born workforce has become more visible, creating perceptions of a displacement effect in the U.S.-born black community that does not actually exist,” the study reads.
Former President and current Republican candidate Donald Trump claimed during the June debate against current President Joe Biden that migrants were taking away “black jobs” from Americans.
Trump suggested without evidence that Democrats want immigrants to displace Americans as voters. The phrase “black jobs” was widely condemned by Democrats and black leaders as vague and insulting.
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Some black adults believe there is a chance that migration will hurt employment opportunities for workers already here. About four in 10 black adults say it is a “significant risk” that the number of jobs available for American workers will shrink when immigrants come to the United States, whether they arrive legally or illegally, according to a March AP-NORC poll.
One of the sectors where change has been significant is construction. According to the study, in 1990 this was the main employment sector for American-born black men, who accounted for 8% of male workers in the sector, while immigrant men accounted for 10%. By 2022, the gap had widened, with the proportion of black men falling to 5%, while immigrants accounted for 28%.
“As U.S.-born and immigrant workers increasingly work side by side, and as global forces and ongoing technological changes are reshaping the economy’s occupational mix, jobs and the composition of the workforce can be expected to change,” the study concludes.
The Center for Migration Studies, on the other hand, argues that these changes in the workforce are due to issues such as crime, dependence on public service and social isolation. “Congressmen should consider the possibility of encouraging work among the millions of working-age Americans who are on the margins of the economy instead of ignoring the problem and continuing to allow the entry of large numbers of legal and illegal immigrants,” they said in an analysis published in June.
The Pew Research Center estimates that since 1965, about half of all migrants arriving in the U.S. have come from Latin America. By 2022, some 30 million immigrants were part of the U.S. workforce.
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