The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker – The Atlantic
Instructions: Once you do the reading ahead of its due date, please enter your first 150-word summary responses as a comment to this post. Feel free to write more if you wish. Your summary response can address any of the questions below or more:
- What did you learn? What are the argumentative strategies being used? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the argument?
- Can you share a personal experience that supports or challenges the author’s key ideas.
- Do you have other pieces of information that connect in some way to the author’s key ideas?
- Make a claim responding to a key idea from the reading (s). The claim must explain: a. How your experiences complicate the author’s key ideas, leading you to a different conclusion than the author has drawn.
OR
b. How a key idea from the author’s essay helps you understand your own experience in a new way. - How is what you learned related to our class, your other classes, your future job, other areas of life, and/or our major assignments?
Be sure to read closely, highlighting key passages and taking notes about your thoughts and reactions. Use the Reading and Annotating Guide to prepare a thorough summary/response.
Through reading “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Roge Karma, I learned more about the topic of immigration’s effects on the American labor market. Karma states that “a paper published in 1990, Card (1990) found that the boatlift (immigration) had virtually no effects on either the wages or employment prospects of native-born workers in Miami” (Karma, 2024, pgs. 5-6). I personally agree with Karma’s logic and reasoning regarding the topic of immigration. With more immigration into the United States, although the supply of labor is higher, the demand for goods is higher, which cancels out the effects of wage depress from increased supply of labor. Although some may cite Borjas’s study that quote-unquote “debunked Card’s study”, Borjas’s study has “turned out to be extremely suspect. Borjas had excluded women, Hispanic people, and workers who weren’t ‘prime age’ from his analysis” (Karma, 2024, pg. 7). Borjas has also only had a sample size of 17 workers per year, raising questions regarding the precision of his data. Moreover, I remember reading a study on how immigration actually had benefits for the U.S. Economy, as it contributed to the GDP growth of the nation. Overall, I liked how Karma included a rebuttal to make his argument appear stronger and more trustworthy.
Karma (2024) wrote a nuanced perspective on the visions of immigration from both the GOP (republican party) and the democrats. Karma (2024) made a compelling case about the complex impact of immigrants on the American workforce, particularly low-wage workers. He acknowledges the economic benefits of immigration, such as labor force expansion, cultural enrichment, and contributions to certain industries presented by the liberals who support immigration. On the other hand, his argument, through the lens of the republicans, asserts that immigration means more workers are applying for jobs, which translates to an increased competition, and lower-wages for the native-born. Today, the left wing defends immigration, making the argument that deporting migrants could reduce the labor supply because of the cheap labor costs to recruit them, and send prices soaring again, and the right wing defends deportation because of increased job security. Karma (2024) providing a nuanced perspective could be considered a source of strength because of balanced-economic analysis since he explores the depths of the impacts from both sides – though the weakness is that it lacks a concrete policy solutions. In The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker, Karma (2024) shares a story about his grandfather, an immigrant who took a risk by becoming a business owner—a move that mirrors Republican concerns about how immigrants, willing to pursue these risks, can impact the native-born workforce. I can really relate to this, as my entire family came to America and took a similar path. They came here simply looking to make a living, but soon realized they could go further by starting their own restaurant, eventually becoming their own bosses. This experience aligns with Karma’s nuanced take on immigration: that, while immigrants often create their own opportunities and succeed, this success can come at a cost to native-born workers, who might feel they’re losing out on similar opportunities. This perspective helped me see my family’s experience in a new light. Framing immigrant entrepreneurship as both a positive contribution and a potential challenge for native-born workers was something I’ve never considered, but now that I see while the success of my family created more opportunities for me, it also played into the largest economic dynamics that some argue can affect the American workforce. What I learned from The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker deepened my appreciation for my family’s journey, helping me value their entrepreneurial spirit while also recognizing that their success is part of a larger economic picture that is more than just immigrant success.
After reading Rogé Karma’s, “The Truth About Immigration and The American Worker,” I have a better understanding about the inaccuracies of condemning immigrants for their supposed effects on wages in the labor supply market. In a labor supply market, the labor demand curve is downward sloping because as employment increases, each additional worker will contribute less to the overall output. As a result, employers are less incentivized to pay higher wages to workers that will give them less in return. With that idea in mind, the argument that immigration depresses wages and hurts native-born workers sounds rather reasonable. However, this speculation is far from the truth. According to the simple Econ 101 story, it has a blind spot, leading to the conclusion that immigrants in fact “increase not only the supply of labor, which reduces wages, but also the demand for it, which raises them” (Karma, p. 6). This tells us that immigrants are also consumers of goods, which helps the economy rather than harming it. In addition, when the Department of Homeland Security enacted its “Secure Communities” program, effectively deporting nearly half a million undocumented immigrants, the consequences were far different from what one may have thought would happen. “When a community loses immigrant workers, the result isn’t higher-paid natives,” as it would suggest in a labor supply market, but “fewer child-care services…fewer meals prepared, and fewer homes built” (Karma, p. 8). This insight paints immigrants in a far more positive light because not only do they open new opportunities for workers, but the deportation of them may lead to decrease in services pivotal to the economy and welfare of the people. According to statistics, two variables that appear to present an association with each other, which in this case is high immigration and stagnating wages, does not necessarily mean causation. Hence, immigration can not be the sole cause of stagnating wages when there are other factors that can contribute to the decline, such as fiscal policies and technological advancements. It is clear that there is long-held belief that by getting rid of immigrants will the conditions of American workers improve, but one must be educated in the evidence and facts to know that that is not the case. Unless their reasons extend past economic reasons but a racial one, individuals must be open-mind to the issue and only then, would our economy and our society be better for everyone.
Through reading the article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker,” I have gained a deeper understanding of immigrants’ impact on the American job market. Trump argued that immigrants would damage wage and job opportunities for Black and Hispanic American workers, while statistics show that immigrants left average wages unaffected. From my perspective, I believe that legal immigrants and highly skilled workers would immensely benefit America’s economy. However, undocumented immigrants may cause societal problems and harm the economy, as they entered the country illegally and often settle in neighborhoods with higher poverty and crime rates. As a result, this creates a negative cycle that may generate societal issues rather than adversely affect wages and the job market for low-skilled American workers. Yet, from reading this article, my perspective swayed, as Karma (2024) shares a story of how his grandfather first came to the U.S. as an undocumented immigrant, but after years of hard work, he eventually opened his gas stations and offered job opportunities to American workers, proving the American dream through his own life. Today, immigration is a hot topic for both political and social discussion in America. While everyone has a different viewpoint regarding this issue, it is important to realize that the United States, as a nation, was built on immigration, and we should appreciate the diversity that immigrants bring to this country.
Karma (2024) criticizes Trump’s assertion that immigration is stripping the working class of jobs and wages. There was a study that was conducted and many similar to it which all resulted in proving that immigration had no effect on wages or employment of native-born workers. In addition, the article suggests that the deporting of immigrants might actually harm the working class. According to the article, for every 100 immigrants that got deported, there were 9 fewer jobs that existed for native workers. Native worker’s wages also decreased by a small amount. The article acknowledges that low-skill immigration does have some economic costs but it isn’t to a significant enough point where it harms the working class. Ultimately, the author expresses that anti-immigration is less of a concern of economic welfare but more of what he calls “cultural anxieties about crime, social norms, and national identity.” He supports this thought by explaining how Trump has only brought up the economic impact of immigration just once while every other time he talks negatively of immigration is by portraying immigrants as an evil, foreign force that came to destroy the country.
From the article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker – The Atlantic” I learned the two sides of opinions on immigration and its effect on native born Americans and the subject of work and wages. The argumentative strategies used are going back and forth between both sides, quoting certain people, including research, and incorporating the author’s own stories. I think the strengths and weaknesses of the argument is that each side can be backed up with research; however, one side seems to get debunked more often. One side says that immigration doesn’t impact native born Americans negatively instead it impacts them positively. Immigrants can raise the labor supply but they also buy goods and when they buy goods it raises the demands for them which balances both factors out which has no effect on native born Americans. It could even give native born Americans more job opportunities because they have skills like English being their first language, to help them gain a position where someone whose first language isn’t English can’t. The other side says immigrants affect native born Americans and their wages. However every time this side is mentioned with corresponding research, it’s debunked by more research that shows they aren’t affected.
In this reading by Roge Karma, I learned about the association between immigrant workers and how it has impact the economy of America. Many people believes that immigrant is bad for the economy while there are others that believes immigrant has positively impacted the economy. After reading the article, I believe that immigrant has actually helped the economy because Karma mentions that immigrants compete with native borned worker but at the same time they’re actually creating more jobs. Due to the increase of laborers, the price of good would decrease which leads to more creation of successful business (Benjamin F. Jones). Additionally Karma further explain this point by sharing the story of his grandfather, who was an immigrant from Lebanon who took on the job as a mechanic, who later opened his own business. Even though he took the job of another native borned American however he opened up his gas stations and opened up job offering to many others. These examples and studies weakened Trump claim about immigrant negatively impacting the economy by proving his claim to be false. I personally believe immigrant shouldn’t be a problem as long they’re not threatening others or committing crime which is where the negative perception of immigrant usually comes from. But as to the economic aspect, I think immigrant are very important in order for the American economy to thrive.
From the reading, I learned a lot about immigration. This article helped me gain insight into the current election. For example, I learned that the Democrats defend immigration by arguing that the deportation of migrants would reduce the labor supply and cause prices to rise (para.3). This statement indirectly says that immigrants lower wages. Before this article, I thought that Immigration meant more workers competing for jobs, which translates to lower wages and employment rates for the native-born. However this isn’t the case the article explains that when the supply of goods, like labor, increases, it results in the price of that goods falling. In total Immigration does not make native-born workers worse off. The author supports this argument by using a paper published in 1990. This paper found that the boatlift had barely/close to no effect on either the wage or employment of native-born workers. Also, immigrants aren’t just workers who compete for jobs; they are also consumers who buy things. They therefore increase not only the supply of labor, which reduces wages, but also the demand for it, which raises them. The argument is weakened when the author mentions immigrants may get hired as fry cooks. This depresses wages for native-born fry cooks. The author strategically counters this by saying although immigrants lower costs. They also generate lots of new demand enabling more restaurants to open that need not just fry cooks but also servers hosts and bartenders. By countering the previous argument of immigrants taking frying jobs the author strengthens their argument as to why immigration is helpful to the economy.
In this article by Karma, I learned about the relations between immigration and the impact it has on the economy. Both the Republican and Democratic perspectives are showcased in this argument, displaying how each party sees immigration. On the Republican side, they view immigration as the cause as to why native born workers have increased competition whereas on the Democratic side, immigration is viewed as beneficial to America. The Democrats view immigrants as a good source of labor, making it cheap. Ultimately, the argument is about whether or not immigration can be perceived as harmful or beneficial to the economy. Karma shares the story of his grandfather who immigrated to America and started his own business which was a concern of the Republicans who saw that as an obstacle to native born workers. Karma’s perspective on immigration acknowledges that while immigrants are able to create opportunities for themselves and succeed, their success can sometimes have a negative impact on native born workers. These workers may feel as though they are losing out on similar opportunities due to increased competition. In a sense, I agree with Karma. My parents who had immigrated to America did end up starting their own business which may have ended up being in competition with other alike businesses. Immigrants come here in hopes of getting or even creating a job for themselves in order to succeed and form the life they want.
The article focuses on the effects of immigration on the American workers, examining the myths and facts about the immigration and employment and wages relationship. I’ve also analyzed a range of studies on the economic effects of immigration, with respect to both high- and low-skill industries. They talk about how immigration might have small impacts on wage reduction for the low skilled, including the natives, but then claim that immigrant labor is essential for growth. The article strikes a balance between the fear that immigrants will take local jobs and the claim that, in most cases, immigrants will take jobs that other Americans will not.
Appeals to Reason (Logos): The author debunks the myth of immigration as an enemy of the entire American labor force step by step, using logical arguments to do so. They argue that a flood of immigrants has the potential to boost the economy and, in extreme cases, create new jobs.
Strengths:
Statistics used in the reading makes the argument more credible.
It provides depth and shows respect for concerns, which creates ethos, presenting both sides of a given issue.
The continuity of the ideas allows readers to see how the author’s mind progressed from introduction to conclusion.
Weakness:
Immigration policies are discussed without much consideration for how they might need protect vulnerable workers.
Although the article provides numerical data, the author does a poor job of describing the lived experiences of low-wage workers who might face direct competition from immigrant labor.
Claim: The author argues that immigration has a generally positive impact on the economy and a limited effect on wages, however low-wage neighborhoods are more exposed to these changes than statistics show. From my childhood, slight changes in job availability or wage rates could have far-reaching consequences across households and communities.
When reading “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Roge Karma I became more informed on its impact on the American worker. Karma tells one example of his grandfather who came to America and established a business which was a worry for the Republicans because it was a block to the” wet behind the ears” Americans. Concerning immigration, Karma believes that, despite the potential that immigrants have for personal success and consequent formation of their businesses, these immigrants can be a direct potential threat to the job opportunities of the native-born population. Predictably, low-wage communities are more exposed to these changes than is suggested by the stats, however, the author insists that immigration is mainly beneficial for the economy and has a negligible impact on wages. Overall, I agree with Karma that illegal immigrants should be deported back to where they originally came from because they are stealing our jobs and can potentially cause harm to the economy.
Roge Karma reveals the impact of immigration on American workers. Karma believes that despite the fears of immigration by American workers, it generally doesn’t harm American workers that were born in the United States when it comes to wages and job prospects. Study has shown that immigrants take upon jobs that increases consumer demand and can create new job which prevents competition between immigrant workers and American workers.
Karma also claims that depending on the industry, sometimes immigrants can also create more job opportunities. For instance, a increased number of immigrants in the country may cause more demand for jobs in the food service industry for roles such as servers, and managers. In the contrary, preventing immigration may cause this to not be which could actually have a negative effect on the economy. Overall, I believe immigration is something that is just bound to happen in the country however illegal immigration is an issue that should be enforced more seriously.
In the given article Roger Karma discusses the topic of the impact that immigration has on the US economy and market. Karma argues the idea that the increase in immigration would eventually cause a lack of jobs and a decline in wages. Karma states that while immigration does result in a higher demand for jobs, it also creates a market demand for different goods and services such as jobs in food or medical industries. Karma also shows statistics from a conducted study proving that over the years, immigrants had no significant impact on the average wage of the US workers.
Another thing that Karma does in his article is showing both democratic and republican perspectives on the issue of immigration. Democrats state that immigrants are benefiting the US economy due to how cheap their labor can be, while republicans argue that immigrants are the reason why it’s getting harder and harder for american people to get jobs. Despite the fact that I am an immigrant myself I can still understand both perspectives, however I believe that a person’s background shouldn’t matter when looking for a job and that some immigrants may actually be more qualified and hardworking than many people who were born here, in the United States.
In reading “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Roge Karma, I learned the effects that immigration has on the American job market. Now there are different layers to this. There is the discussion about the wages and work that immigrants do. Immigrants have helped the economy in a positive way. Since there is an increase of immigrants working, it also increases laborers. That leads to the price of goods decreasing, which leads to more creation of successful business. In all immigration does not cause conflict between native-born workers. If anything it helps to have immigration. Immigrants create opportunities for others and themselves. However there are the negative effects of immigrants having succession. If immigrants create their own business and it succeeds it causes competition for others. In that case it affects other businesses in a negative light. It’s difficult to acknowledge which way things will go. Although, we shouldn’t discard the efforts and prosperity immigrants bring.
In The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker, Roge Karma argues that immigration helps the U.S. economy by increasing both labor supply and demand for goods, which balances out some negative impact on wages that most people have on immigrants. He also criticizes Borjas’s study for being biased and unreliable, pointing out the studie’s small sample size and exclusions and not sampling a bigger population of the U.S. Karma shows that, while Republicans argue immigration hurts native workers, the economic benefits far outweigh the costs as immigrants are usually the lowest paid workers. In my opinion, I feel that immigration is essential for growth, helping bring both cultural and economic benefits to the country and we should find a a balance that brings both Us citizens and Immigrants together
“The Truth About the Immigration Worker” by Rogé Karma discusses immigration and impacts of immigration. Through this article the author debuts many ill images of propaganda. These images are created through the media and through propaganda expressed by our officials. The author uses Trump’s ideology and debuts the statements. Through this article I learned that even though many believe that more people in the country means a worse life for citizens, the article responds by stating, “Immigrants do not make native-born workers worse off, and probably make them better off. In many domains, the conventional wisdom among progressives is mistaken, oversimplified, or based on wishful thinking.”(P.4-5) This is a statement that I have been old throughout my life and especially through this election. It doesn’t necessarily mean that mass immigration is amazing, it is just saying that it is not what people think it is. Additionally, many people go by what others have said in the past. To debunk this, the author Karma states, “The problem with relying on history is that correlations also only tell you so much. Some readers will recall that quite a few things have changed since the 1970s; these include the loosening of trade policy, the weakening of labor unions, and the enormous rise in corporate concentration.”(p.9) Going by immigration of the past, doesn’t necessarily mean that it applies to immigration now. Those who claim immigration is bad must use current problems that have been happening. Overall, Karma is claiming that propaganda on immigration isn’t as accurate as one might think and forces people to do their research.
“The truth about the immigration worked” by Rogé Karma discusses immigration and the impact immigration. The author shows us many impacts of propaganda. The author shows us examples of trumps ideology in immigration and his wall. Overall, Karma helps us understand that immigration is not exactly what we see and is more than we think. The author explains to us that we should find a good balance to bring immigrant and US citizens together. In my opinion I think that immigration is beneficial to our economy and is essential for the growth of our country but should be controlled. We should look at the efforts and hard work that immigrants make on our country and appreciate it. I myself am an immigrant from France and believe immigrant should be welcomed but through a specific process.
Rogé Karma in his article “The Truth About the Immigration Worker” begins his argument in what seems to be in support of Trump’s campaign philosophy that immigration means less jobs and lower wages for the American born citizen. It looks this way as Karma mentions the apparent logic in Trump’s argument about the harm of immigration. However, as the article continues, Karma disproves this so called logic with empirical data and analysis. As Karma went to disprove the notion that immigrants are stealing American jobs, he illustrated through a study that the influx of immigrants is keeping wages high and prices low, which made sense to me. However, when he went on to say that it in fact is increasing the amount of jobs available for American citizens, I became shocked even though his reasoning made sense. I do have a counter argument to his reasoning that hiring immigrants can allow the company to expand and need more employees that have the skills Americans have. My argument to this is why wouldn’t the company hire slightly more educated immigrants for those jobs as well. The amount of immigrants coming into this country is increasing in incredibly large number and they need jobs as well. They will most likely take less pay than the average American citizen and overall seem like the better option to hire. To conclude my argument, it seems that hiring immigrants for labor jobs will not guarantee that Americans have more job opportunities as Karma seems to believe.
In this article I learned more a bout immigrations effects on the labor market. The article states how immigrations have no effects on the wages or employment of native citizens that an argued a lot about this topic. The author gave me a better understanding on the claims of migrants taking over jobs. Further explains how they don’t harm but helps the economy, which argues many strong republican claims on the issue. My personal opinion is that i agree, not only is it proven with data over the years that immigrants arent “stealing” jobs but also just morally for me. I think about how american was founded by immigrants and basically the country was built up by them. The only issue brought up by the author is the topic on low skill migrants but them being a part of the work culture doesn’t affect the working class. I think the idea of immigrants coming in to steal jobs or take up benefits was a very misleading idea to scare the american people to not wanting a hone to come into the country. In my anthology class we discussed why the government sets limits for someone to reach disability status and the idea of them making requirements is to limit how much the aid they would have to give out. The same can be said in this situation as the claim immigrants are harming the economy so the core issue of unemployment isn’t on business cutting workers, or other factors but on these immigrants coming in taking the jobs.
Rogé Karma’s “The truth about the immigration worked” is an article aimed at providing information on immigration and how immigration has a huge impact. Through the article Roge karma debuts a lot of propaganda that is spreading around about immigration. He explains the positive and negatives of immigration with the positive including increase in labor which allows for more people to join the workforce and the prices of the objects to fall which is beneficial for a lot of people. There is also the other side which is a negative: that people that have immigrated from out of the country take away jobs from the native born american citizens.The author leans towards the sign of immigration being a positive for the country. People that follow Democratic ideals view immigrants as a good source of labor as it makes things cheap. Overall, the author explore whether immigration is good or bad for the economy.
Opposition on immigration is commonly justified by economic crises such as the rise of prices and decrease in wages. Immigrants are accused of taking on occupations that risk the opportunities of native-borns to obtain well-paying and high-position jobs. Despite these claims, studies have shown that immigration has no effect on wages or jobs in general. This is due to the fact that the damages of low-paying jobs that immigrants are claimed to take are often eliminated by the consumerism of these very same immigrants. Consumerism often allows for the creation of new jobs, which essentially means that immigrants simultaneously lower and raise wages —thus no actual effect on the economy. However, there is a partial effect on the income wage gap given that the arrival of immigrants is usually followed by a demand of doctors and lawyers —who as a result end up with higher wages. Immigrants are also likely to become or influence entrepreneurs, which results in the creation of jobs and opportunities.
Given that there’s no true effect on the economy upon immigration growth, the opposition on immigration is usually rooted on social problems rather than economic. This is evident with republican Donald Trump, who spent most of his campaign degrading immigrants rather than actually explaining the effects of such large immigration. It is also evident in the way certain immigrated demographics are treated; those who come from European countries tend to have their immigrant status overlooked whereas those who come from Latin American countries tend to be only ever labeled as immigrants. As a child of immigrants, I’m also considering the way in which my parents are treated. When it comes to appearances, it seems like “immigrant” is something everybody very easily recognizes.
When it comes to immigration and the correlations of employment, it is seen as a controversial issue in America. But the article also discusses how immigration is a big part of the economy and its pros and cons. Looking at the basics of immigration, many entrepreneurs and companies see immigrants as cheap labor, which is however true since the more labor and employment there is, the lesser wages they receive, which is a drawback. However, when it comes to entrepreneurship, many immigrants are seeking to establish more businesses, which improves economic growth of goods and services. We can see a case study in Ohio about immigration and its affections in Ohioan communities. The study projects that immigrants fill in workplace gaps and implement businesses, which overall shows that immigration shows positive economic growth. The cons, however, are that the economic growth by immigration also has increased prices in housing, has assimilated into local communities, and has infused their culture with the current culture of Ohian communities, which was something the locals did not like. If we compare the acts of immigration and the 2024 election, we see that immigration can be something that is a stake in being eradicated completely. President Elect Donald Trump has stated that when his 2nd term begins, he will be the “biggest mass deportation in American history” and has chosen Tom Homan, who was the previous head of ICE, as the new border czar to deal with mass immigration. He has aggressively expressed that he will deport many immigrants, whether they are undocumented or have gained citizenship. Immigration may be an issue when nobody has any action towards it, but if immigration is removed mostly or completely, not only the economy and the culture will decrease, but people will then forget that America was a country that was created by immigrants themselves.
This article talks about immigrants and highlights the benefits and concerns of immigrants. Immigrants can help the economy. They take on important jobs like construction and farming. Without immigrants we wouldn’t have people taking on these jobs, making the economy struggle. A concern with this is immigrants might take over American jobs, or lower wages. Others say while immigrants take jobs, they could also create jobs. They could start businesses, they could pay taxes, and buy different goods. Overall this would help the economy grow. There are studies that show that immigration is not all negative. It doesn’t usually affect the native peoples job opportunities or wages. Immigrants can often make businesses more productive. They complement the work of Native workers. Immigration is a large complex debate. While some believe immigrants can be helpful and useful to the economy, others, like Trump believe they could be harmful to the Native people.
While reading “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Roge Karma, I was able to gain a better understanding of the impact immigrants have on the American economy. However, the author included the counterclaim as well so readers have a better understanding of both sides. The Democratic party defend immigrants by stating that the deportation of migrants would reduce the labor supply and cause prices to rise. The Republican party are against migrants because they put citizens out of jobs, and ultimately create more competition. The author sheds light on the fact that immigrants take opportunities that are given to them, in the sense that they are able to work successfullly. It is up to everyone to decide how they want to view this situation, but I do believe it creates competition. Unrelated, I will be using the author’s techniques on how he brought up strong points for both sides, which is what makes a successful argument.
In this weeks reading “THE TRUTH ABOUT IMMIGRATION AND THE AMERICAN WORKER” by Roge Karma, she wrote on the topic of immigration from both political parties perspective. She explains that Donald Trump and GOP party view immigration on more of an economical standpoint. They state that immigration brings increased competition for americans and native borns. She rights that its a supply and demand market in which the more supply of low income worker / employes the demand falls which drops the payment. In my opinion, immigrants come to america looking for opportunities and they have to take some type of job to start of with but at the end of the day they immigrate for opportunity of the american dream and work there way up. The united states of america is made of immigrants even though someone could be 5 generation americans there great^5 grandparents were immigrants and this is the country of opportunity and the foundation of the country.
The author explores differing views on immigration from both the GOP and Democrats, highlighting its impact on the American workforce, particularly low-wage workers. He acknowledges the economic benefits such as labor force expansion and cultural enrichment, but also notes the Republican concern about job competition and wage suppression. Karma’s balanced analysis includes a personal story about his immigrant grandfather who became a business owner, resonating with me as my family started their own small business after immigrating. This nuanced perspective helped me appreciate my family’s entrepreneurial spirit while understanding the broader economic implications.
In the article, “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Roge Karma, describes the challenges people face arguing “competing for jobs” if there is immigration. Many find it terrifying that having a secure job in the United States is going to be a political problem. To finding a job and not completmeting for the “low wages” concerns native workers. This continues in politics “that liberals still defend immigration” where deportation of immigrants may cause high rises in prices. For instance, many believe that “immigrants do not make native-born workers worse off, and probably make them better off”. I would like to elaborate on this idea that native-born argue that immigrants are stealing their jobs, but in fact they don’t want to work for low wages and bad working environments. In addition, immigrants don’t just “compete for jobs; they are also consumers who buy things”. Because of these immigrant workers that are willing to work, many of our supplies and produce are labeled at a cheaper price. Where on the other hand, if its native workers they may argue for increase in wage.
Immigration remains a divisive topic in the U.S., particularly regarding its impact on the workforce. Immigrants are crucial in filling labor shortages in industries like agriculture, construction, and hospitality. For instance, in California’s agricultural sector, immigrant workers sustain food production, contributing billions to the economy. However, this influx of labor can lead to wage stagnation in certain industries, creating challenges for American workers.
Beyond labor, immigrants are key drivers of entrepreneurship, starting businesses that boost economic growth and create jobs. At the same time, their presence can strain housing markets and raise cultural integration concerns in some communities.
The article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” helped me understand the different perspectives on how immigration impacts the U.S. job market and wages. Some argue that immigrants negatively affect native-born workers, especially those with low skills, by reducing job opportunities and lowering wages. However, research often shows that immigration has little to no impact on wages and can even benefit the economy. Immigrants increase the labor supply but also boost demand for goods, which creates balance and can lead to more job opportunities for native workers, especially those with skills like speaking English fluently. The article also shares personal stories, like one about an undocumented immigrant who worked hard, achieved success, and created jobs for others, showing that immigration can embody the American dream. Overall, the discussion highlights the complexity of the issue and the importance of understanding both sides.
This article discusses immigration policy, particularly its impact on the labor market. The author argues against the idea that immigrants negatively affect the labor market, such as lowering wages. He emphasizes that, based on economic theory, immigrants not only increase the labor supply, but also boost demand, thereby offsetting any negative effects on wages. Additionally, immigrants’ willingness to take a risk creates more jobs through entrepreneurship.
Throughout the article, I could find various argumentative strategies, for example, ethos, the most frequently used one. He cites reports from reputable institutions such as Harvard university, New York Times as well as surveys to establish credibility. He also uses personal anecdotes, such as his grandfathers’ story, which, I believe, appeals to pathos. However, some quotes from then-presidential candidate Trump seemed overly provocative and made this article appear biased, as the context of these quotes was unclear. Providing specific details about the debate would offer a more balanced perspective.
From my point of view, the current deportation policy for immigrants seemed somewhat extreme, even though proponents claim it targets undocumented immigrants involved in the crimes. According to the (Bellafante, 2025) from NewYorkTimes, undocumented immigrants paid $3.1 billion in New York state and local taxes in 2022. Moreover, as they play crucial roles in construction industry, making it challenging for employers to replace these workers. I believe this aligns with the points made in the original article.
Overall, the author effectively conveys his argument using credible sources and personal experiences, making it easy for the audience to be persuaded. It can be served as a useful guide for my own argumentative assignments.
*Bellafante, G. (2025). What Mass Deportations Would Do to New York City’s Economy. NewYorkTimes. Retrieved from. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/nyregion/nyc-mass-deportations-economy.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
The truth about Immigration and the American Worker
Donald Trump and his allies state that immigrants are negatively affecting the jobs of American workers during their public speeches. The logic behind this statement is that allowing immigrants to enter the USA workforce creates more competition for native workers and causes lower wages. However, Karma (2024) challenges these allegations and references a paper published by David Card in 1990. Where Card studied Miami in the year 1980, a period in time when the city experienced a phenomenon labeled as the Boatlift, when 125,000 Cubans entered Miami from Mariel Bay, compared to other US cities that have not undergone similar events. Karma (2024) asserts that immigrants not only increase the supply of labor but also create demand. “In the end, the two forces appear to cancel each other out” (p.6)
Overall, this article was really helpful and gave me another perspective on immigration. This year has been difficult for my Latino community because we are constantly been attacked for this topic. News about large-scale deportation and possibly without a hearing scares us, and we feel despair and powerlessness. Although the new generations are US citizens, we all have family members who are not, but who are hard-working people and don’t harm anyone. The reality is difficult, but I also see it as an opportunity to stand by our people, to speak up, and learn more about this topic so we can defend ourselves. To fight for the people we love, and not give up, we all deserve to be part of this country, because the US is our home.
The article begins by citing the views of former presidential election representative, now the current president, Trump, on immigration and his opposition to it. In the following paragraphs, his hatred towards immigrants is reflected. The article also discusses the various effects of immigration on the economy over time. In my opinion, as an immigrant myself, I believe that regardless of whether immigration is economically beneficial or not, the background and country of an immigrant matter. Each immigrant has their own story, reasons, and experiences that lead them to leave their home country. A country like the United States of America, whose name begins with ‘united’, must acknowledge immigrants or consider changing its name if it fails to do so, as is the situation today. It’s human nature not to welcome outsiders, those who don’t belong to the same community. However, economically and culturally speaking, this blending of communities and the migration of people are essential for national growth. When an immigrant moves to another country, they pay a high price, both financially and in other ways. But in most cases, financial concerns are dominant; they migrate in search of a better lifestyle or to earn money because they feel their home country cannot meet these needs. The USA welcomes millions of migrants every year, and there are laws and policies to provide them with a legal means to reside here permanently, regardless of how they entered the country. Once here, these migrants often work harder than natives, first to pay off debts and then to secure their future. As stated in the article, they are more likely to create businesses and generate job opportunities because they value hard work, money, and the experiences they had as immigrants.If the economy is not accepting immigrants, if the data suggests, then it is better to pause or reduce future migration rather than deport those who have started lives here.
This article challenges the common belief that immigrants hurt American workers. Many people, including politicians like Donald Trump, say that immigrants take jobs and lower wages for native born workers.. But research shows that this is not true. One study by economist David Card looked at a large group of Cuban immigrants who arrived in Miami in 1980 and he found that this had no effect on local workers’ wages. Other studies in different countries shown the same thing. Immigrants also spend money and help the economy grow. Some studies that said the opposite used limited or weak data. I agree with the article and I think it is important for the results to become known to everyone, as there are many people who have these beliefs. . This reading reminded me how important it is to check facts before believing what we hear. It also connects to our class because it shows the value of research and evidence.
In *The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker*, Karma (2024) gives a balanced view of how both Republicans and Democrats see immigration. He explains that immigration helps the economy by bringing in new workers, adding to cultural diversity, and supporting industries like farming and construction—points often made by Democrats. But he also shares the Republican view: more immigrants mean more job competition, especially for low-wage workers, which can lower wages for native-born Americans.
Today, Democrats argue that deporting immigrants would hurt the labor supply and raise prices, while Republicans say keeping immigrants out helps protect jobs for Americans. Karma’s analysis is strong because he looks at both sides carefully, but one weakness is that he doesn’t offer any clear solutions.
Karma also shares a personal story about his grandfather, an immigrant who started his own business. This made me think about my own family, who came to the U.S. to find work but eventually opened a restaurant and became their own bosses. Like Karma, I now see that while my family’s success helped me and others, it also adds to the big picture of how immigrant success can sometimes make things harder for native-born workers.
Reading this helped me better understand my family’s journey. I now appreciate their hard work even more, but I also see how their success is part of a bigger economic system that affects everyone.
In the article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker”, it is claimed that immigrants have an impact on American workers / native born workers (especially in terms of rate hiring and wage). This statement is mainly carried by Donald Trump and his allies from the same political party (republicans). However, Roge Karma shows us through research in this article that this is not true : like several other studies, the one from the economist David Card showed that a large group of Cuban immigrants that came to Miami in 1980 hadn’t had any negative impact on local workers nor their income.
Actually, research showed that immigration is more likely to have a positive impact on the economy : first, immigrants are spending money within the country which increases GPA/ economic growth. Additionally, they can take jobs that do not require “high qualification”: there are jobs that do not require a high school degree, however we need them to run our current world and daily life. They are in a way very helpful to our society since we need people to execute these functions, otherwise our world would not work rightly.
The article doesn’t state it but to me these facts and datas against Trump’s opinion raises an interesting question : why is his opinion about immigration unchanged ? Why does he still think and claim that immigration is the enemy number one of American’s society ?
In order to convince people, he even has been able to claim and invent some fake news about Haitian immigrants during his campaign : “ In Springfield they’re eating the dogs! They’re eating the cats and they’re eating the pets!”.
Couldn’t we ask ourselves about the potential racist features of Trump’s claims a bout immigration ?
Reading this article has sort of changed how I think about immigration and its impact on American workers. I always thought more immigrants meant fewer jobs and lower wages for native-born workers even though I am immigrant myself, but Karma explains that this belief is not really backed up by data. For example, through natural experiments like the Mariel Boatlift and recent studies, the article shows that immigrants don’t actually hurt wages, but might even help them. I found it especially interesting how immigrants aren’t just workers, they’re also consumers and entrepreneurs, which creates more demand and jobs. This reminded me of my own experience working in a restaurant where most of the kitchen staff were immigrants, like Russian and Ukranian. Their work ethic kept the place running, and it gave me and other locals the chance to work up front and earn tips as well. This reading helps me better understand real-world economics and I believe it will definitely gain my understanding of major social issues in my other classes too, like Sociology.
I read the article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Roge Karma, which explains how immigration affects American workers. Karma shares the story of his grandfather, an immigrant who started a business in the U.S. Republicans worry this creates competition for young, native-born workers. Karma believes immigrants work hard and succeed, but their businesses can sometimes limit job opportunities for locals. He notes that low-wage communities feel this impact more, though data suggests immigration doesn’t heavily affect wages. Overall, Karma thinks immigration is good for the economy. I partly agree with him, but I believe illegal immigrants should be deported because they take jobs from Americans and might harm the economy. We need to find a balance to protect local workers while valuing immigrants contributions.
In the article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Roge Karma, where the author explains how immigration affects American workers and has provided anecdotes for readers to relate to. In recent times, one particular argument against immigration was that immigrants take away the jobs of the American people. This is a common misconception that was popularly believed by a lot of people, including me. The theory of ECON 101 really helps to clarify and break down this issue. While it is true that immigration introduces a new labor force to the economy and thus increases labor supply, which should theoretically create an oversupply of laborers leading to a depreciation in wages,. However, in real-world circumstances, one study revealed that the introduction of immigrants had nearly zero impact, the reason being that, for a period of time, economists overlooked one important factor, which was that immigrants do not create supply, but they create demand as well since they have their own necessities too. This rationale can help readers navigate through misconceptions and political propaganda that is promoted over the media and have access to truthful and unbiased information.
In the article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Rogé Karma, the author uses multiple concepts we learn to write an argumentative essay/communication to present his opinion / stance regarding whether immigration is hurting or benefiting America’s economic and native-born employment.
First, assuming the main audience of the article is those who are interested in politics, whether Democrats or Republicans, the author manages to draw the reader’s attention by mentioning prominent political figures (Donald Trump and Kamala Harris), forming the article’s hook.
Second, the writer conveys their message to readers using a combination of primary and credible secondary sources.
Third, by pointing out valid arguments from both perspectives, Karma makes the readers question both parties’ ideals before giving his opinion. This way, Karma’s article does not feel like he is forcing a certain opinion onto the readers, but rather presents his side of the arguments that present both sides of the story. Karma also points out the flaws in each idea.
The main idea of this article of popular belief that immigration harms American workers—especially low-skill native-born workers—is not supported by economic evidence. In fact, immigrants generally do not lower wages or take jobs from native-born workers and may even improve the economy overall. I do agree with this opinion. I am Fujianess, I have a lot of relatives here who are illegal immigrant. Those who doesn’t have SSN, can only work illegally. So they basically have to get the lowest salary you can never ever imagine. In the restaurant I worked during the vacation, the man who wash the dishes earns about 2000 dollars per month, work 10 hours each day. They don’t, especially for those not documented, they can not compete with native American. They are cheapest labor who support this society keep running.
But, on the other hand, I do think the author is cherry picking. While the immigrants are actually cheap labor, they do create more stress to this society. We can use Medicaid as an example, I know a lot of people get medicine through Medicaid, and send those medicine back to their family live in their homeland. And I do know one of my relatives is a sex worker, and if you pay attention to it, you may realize there are many sex workers standing beside the main street, which is known as a big community of Chinese immigrant. And someone live there stole my bike, too.
So actually, it is true that immigrant may bring some problem to this country, but I still want to say that, it is true that the majority of immigrant are hard working and always have a high hope for their living.
In The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker, Karma (2024) illustrates how immigrants can positively contribute to the U.S. economy, even while acknowledging the complex impact on wages. By reading this article, I could relate it to my sociology class. We covered immigration and asylum a couple of weeks ago. Also, it was relatable to my situation because I’m a foreigner who needs a visa and legal permission for work after graduation. The use of ethos, particularly through credible data and research, strengthens the argument. I found it insightful that the article relies on evidence with specific data and numbers rather than political rhetoric. During elections, figures like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris often attack each other without offering data-driven arguments—instead relying on exaggeration, propaganda, and sometimes fake news.
As highlighted by Washington Monthly (2024), Trump’s proposed mass deportation policies could lead to severe economic consequences. Basically, I support idea of the author and think that US government should accept more competent and helpful immigrants for the sake of the US economy. Still, I believe any immigration policy must also respect the rule of law. While I support accepting skilled immigrants who can contribute to the U.S., I’m cautious about policies that overlook legal frameworks. If the people have the notion and perception that laws can be ignored for economic reasons, it sets a dangerous precedent. Let’s say there is a similar to justifying tax evasion under the claim that it helps the economy. A lawful society must apply rules consistently.
Let’s consider a hypothetical situation. Let’s say there is a wealthy individual who believes that paying taxes harms the economy contending the trickle-down effect supported by classical or neoliberal economics. Based on this belief, they choose not to pay taxes arguing that this benefits the broader community. Would such behavior be acceptable simply because it helps US economy? In my perspective, a consistent rule of law is essential, even when exceptions might seem beneficial in the short term.
[Reference]
Shapiro, R. J. (2024, May 21). Trump’s plans for mass deportation would be an economic disaster. Washington Monthly. Retrieved from https://washingtonmonthly.com/2024/05/21/trumps-plans-for-mass-deportation-would-be-an-economic-disaster/
In the article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Roge Karma, the author argues that deportation of immigrants will not help the working class. Deportation will lead to fewer jobs, “fewer child-care services provided, fewer meals prepared, and fewer homes built”(Karma 2024). Researchers from the University of Colorado Denver, Institute of Labor Economics, and Cornerstone Research found that for every 100 migrant workers deported results in the loss of nine jobs for natives. Also with more immigrants arriving, an increase of demand follows. This allows more restaurants to open which leads to more jobs. Overall the article made me wonder if evidence exists stating that immigrants help create jobs. Why is it that many Americans continue to hold the misconception that immigrants are displacing native workers from their jobs?
I believe that immigrants are a major part of America. It is what makes America so diverse and rich in culture. I agree with what Karma is saying that immigrants are not killing American workers. I believe that Americans should focus on finding ways to increase the demand for goods to increase the employment rate instead of reducing the amount of competition to increase employment opportunities.
In the article “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker”, Karma(2024) argues that the belief that immigrants have a negative impact on native-born workers is just a political narrative and it is not true according to the economic research. Karma (2024) proves it by highlighting David Card’s study on the Mariel Boatlift (mass immigration of Cubans), which showed “no effect” on native workers’ wages or employment. As a result, he concluded by stating, “The results are clear: Immigrants do not make native-born workers worse off, and probably make them better off” (Karma, 2024, p. 4), which confirms the economic evidence that immigration does not suppress wages overall.
Moreover, Karma (2024) also explains the dual economic role of immigrants: they don’t simply increase labor supply; they also increase demand as consumers, which cancels out the potential wage-lowering effects. Personally, I think that is true, and I believe that immigrants have more positive impacts than negative impacts; immigrants can stimulate economic growth, which can lead to more opportunities for all.
In “The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker,” by Rogé Karma argues that the idea of immigrants hurting American workers by lowering wages or taking jobs is mostly a myth. He highlights research, especially a well known study by economist David Card, which looked at the 1980 Mariel Boatlift when thousands of Cuban immigrants arrived in Miami. Despite the sudden increase in workers, the study found little to no impact on local wages or job opportunities, even for low skilled workers. The article explains that immigrants usually take on different types of jobs that actually support and grow the economy, rather than compete with native born workers. Still, both political parties have pushed anti-immigration narratives for years, using fear and misinformation to win support from working-class voters. Karma’s main point is that these beliefs aren’t backed by facts, and immigration, far from being harmful, is actually an important part of economic growth in the U.S.
“The Truth About Immigration and the American Worker” by Rogé Karma, argues for immigration and attempts to create counterpoints for the common arguments people typically mention to be against immigration. The typical consensus would be the belief that immigration harms the economy due to the classic system of supply and demand: if there are more workers, then there is less money to pay for all said workers. Karma highlights the fact that what this consensus fails to realize is that these immigrated workers do in fact, pay for items within the same economy, essentially counteracting any difference produced from the high number of workers. Whilst counterarguments have been made, these typically use a small sample size so small that it could not truly flesh out any concrete points. Other methods to counteract these findings have been the use of correlation via history, however correlation has rarely resulted to causation. Finally, the author claims that the root of the issue typically isn’t the economic issues that comes from immigration (it simply tends to be a good excuse), a more likely explanation would be the fear of crime along with the fear of the loss of cultural identity. Trump for instance, emphasizes the character of the typical immigrant in his argument against Kamala: painting them as criminals and people you would not want to be in contact with. It is amusing that such a problem existed around 1920, and around 100 years later we still continue to face the same issue of anxiety-related-immigration.
After reading “The truth about immigration and the American worker.” According to Roge Karma, the article’s main argument is that immigration significantly benefits the economy. Roge argues that immigration can help reduce not just labor costs, but also increase demand for consumer goods. he says that labor cost and demand cancel each other out in a way that the country can operate and help stabilize people’s lives. Roge also introduces the fact that immigration is helpful in industries like restaurants, where immigrants can work in low positions like cooks, cleaners, which in turn lower labor costs, since native-born employees get paid about equal amounts. For this reason, the restaurant industry can match up with the demands of customers. (personally included ex. McDonald’s having minimum wage allows them to spend hard on supplies, and help fuel their Happy Meals, Big Macs, etc.) Roge also includes David Card’s study on Cuban immigrants in the 80s, he states how the immigrants from Cuba helped lower costs in labor in Miami, which in turn helped meet consumer demand.
In the article “THE TRUTH ABOUT IMMIGRATION AND THE AMERICAN WORKER” Roge Karma analyzes the impact that immigrants have on this country. I was able to analyze how the fact that immigrants in that country help create more demand for different products and in the same way create more jobs that can be for native people who speak the language. The natives argue that because of immigrants the demand for jobs is higher and that way the natives cannot find work, but the truth is that the natives do not accept jobs with low salaries and poor conditions, instead, immigrants choose any job in order to prosper in this country. In the article, Roge Karma helped me better understand how immigrants are wrongly blamed for the decrease in jobs, but in reality, from my point of view, they are very beneficial for this country since they are the only ones who choose jobs with poor conditions that the natives do not choose, such as construction, dishwashers. In my personal experience, I come from immigrant parents, and they have worked hard throughout their lives in this country, and have gone through all kinds of work. They are consumers, they pay rent, and they also pay taxes, which in my opinion supports the country.