Immigrants in the nation have proven to be a contributing factor to manufacturing jobs, the increase in housing wealth and heightened civic engagement, according to a new report.
The study, conducted by the Americas Society/Council of the Americas (AS/COA) and Partnership for a New American Economy, showed that immigrants are helping to revitalize communities in the U.S. by moving and developing new cities and rural areas.
As immigrants move to rural areas, the U.S. born population is more likely to also consider those areas. For every 1,000 immigrants that arrive to a county, 270 U.S.born residents move there in response, the report states. By creating these moves, an immigrant is estimated to raise the total value of housing wealth in his or her county by $92,800, the data from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey showed.
Immigrants today are responsible for an estimated $3.7 trillion boost to home equity, the study said.
“We see the contributions of immigrants to our communities everyday. Yet again, this report shows how immigrants help keep our economy vibrant and strong,” said AS/COA President and CEO Susan Segal in a statement.
One of the biggest findings in the report was the contribution that immigrants are making in the preservation or creation of U.S. jobs, particularly in the manufacturing field.
For every 1,000 immigrants living in a county, 46 manufacturing jobs are created or preserved that would otherwise not exist or have moved elsewhere, the study showed.
As a whole, the more than 40 million immigrants in the U.S. have created or preserved 1.8 million manufacturing jobs nationally, the report said.
“This report is the latest piece of economic evidence showing that immigration helps drive job growth in our country,” New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement.
But according to the report, citizenship is a very important factor as naturalized immigrants are more valuable contributors in the labor market. Citizens usually have as much as a 16 percent advantage over migrants who are not citizens.
The report made it clear that immigrants would not be taking jobs from U.S. citizens and instead would help preserve American manufacturing jobs and grow U.S. housing wealth by billions of dollars annually.
“The evidence is now overwhelming—and yet too many in Washington are still dragging their feet on common-sense immigration reforms that would create jobs and help put more Americans back to work,” Bloomberg said.