“They are stealing our jobs!” » “When they send their people, they don't send the best of themselves. “This outcry was expressed in 2016 and still resonates in the social debate, not only in the United States, but also in a global context: from Greece refusing entry to migrant women wearing the hijab to the Danish government publishing advertisements in many languages ​​along the border. stating "Don't come to Denmark", highlighting the harsh systems in place for immigrants. However, opposition to immigrants is as old as America itself. Although the recent political climate seems to have interpreted immigration negatively, America is known to historically have a nativist streak in its record. In the 1750s, Benjamin Franklin wrote: “Those who come here are generally of the most ignorant type of stupid in their own nation. » (Merelli) The first immigration law in the United States dates back to 1882, when California pushed for the Chinese Exclusion Act: a policy that barred "those of undesirable Asiatic race" from entering the states -United. Even in the 1920s and into the 1940s, immigration was based on skin tone, making “white” a coveted skin tone for migrants. In 1922, Japanese Americans Takao Ozawa and Takuji Yamashita took their naturalization case to the Supreme Court, claiming that Japanese people had white skin. The court ruled that the term “white person” could only be referred to people of the white race. Say no to plagiarism. Get Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay The case was then taken to the Supreme Court again by a Sikh Bhagat Singh and received the same ruling that l The man did not meet the common requirements. understanding of being Caucasian. However, this new battle cry against immigrants is not based solely on intolerance or racial tensions: it all comes down to an economic issue. “They’re stealing the jobs of hard-working Americans” is a common phrase, not only in politics, but also in casual conversations on social media. The logic behind this phrase is that by adding more people into the country, there will be more competition for the already limited number of jobs, leaving Americans with the short end of the stick. However, is this reality? Jobs, contrary to popular belief, are not a limited resource. In fact, restricting immigration can harm the job market. Currently, America has an economic growth rate of 2%, meaning that about 5 million jobs are created each year, but labor force participation remains low. This means that although many jobs exist, few are actively looking for work. Dr. Diana Furchtgott-Roth, an economist at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, says that "immigrants increase economic efficiency by reducing labor shortages in low- and high-skill markets because their diverse educational backgrounds fill the gaps of the labor market for people born in the country. » (Furchtgott-Roth, par. 7). In simpler terms, imagine that as a bookstore manager you need ten employees to facilitate sales and productivity. If you pay to advertise jobs over an extended period of time and only accept five workers, you are less likely to advertise more jobs next year because the company has a net loss. However, if five native-born people applied for the position and five immigrants applied.