New Immigrants, New Needs; The California Experience

摘要

The current national debate on immigration policy is especially intense inCalifornia, home to one-third of the country's immigrants. Much of this debate consists of advocates stating their views without the benefit of a nonpartisan assessment of the issue and the challenges it poses for the state. A recent RAND study provides such an assessment by examining how immigration has interacted with other demographic and economic trends in California since the 1960s. The three-year study, the first to take a 30-year perspective, profiles the changing character of recent immigrants and considers their contribution to the economy, their effects on other workers and the public sector, and their educational and economic success. Its findings can provide lessons for other states, the nation, and even other countries. The authors find that despite changes in the characteristics of immigrants, California's employers continue to benefit from their presence. However, the size of current immigration flows and the disproportionate share of poorly educated immigrants they contain combined with changes in the state's economy has increased the costs of immigration to the state's public sector and to some native workers. Immigration's effects in the future will depend largely on whether the federal government alters its immigration policies to address the current changes and the state initiates proactive policies for integrating immigrants into its social and economic fabric.