11 Years of Immigrant Heritage Month
What We’ve Learned

1| American families and communities across the country share in the economic benefits of immigration

The simplest and greatest truth we have learned after a decade of celebrating Immigrant Heritage Month is that immigrants and immigration are good for America, and that all Americans share in the benefits that immigration brings to the United States.

The facts are clear: immigration helps create jobs, raise wages, reduce inflation, and increase productivity and innovation. Immigrants boost virtually every sector of our economy by paying billions of dollars in taxes annually and contributing trillions of dollars to GDP; because a large share of immigrants are of working age, and are very productive and entrepreneurial, immigration can also increase per capita GDP, which means a higher standard of living for Americans and a greater share, on average, of the country’s prosperity.

Our work has explored the ways that immigrants grow and shape communities in states across the country, like Texas, where immigrants make up nearly quarter of the labor force and contribute more than $100 billion to the economy annually; New York, where immigrants of all statuses make up about 22% of the state’s population and whose contributions are critical to the state’s continued economic growth; and Georgia, where tens of thousands of Dreamers are attending school and preparing to enter the workforce, and who could contribute even more if the state finally implemented tuition equity policies.

Our research also shows that immigrants are deeply integrated into American families and communities. We estimate that 1 in 10 U.S.-born individuals, roughly 35 million non-immigrant U.S. citizens, live in a household with an immigrant, and 1 in 15 Americans, some 11.3 million U.S. citizens, including 5.5 million U.S. citizen children, live in mixed-status families where at least one family member is undocumented. This includes more than one million U.S. citizens who are married to someone who is undocumented. More than one in ten residents in California, Nevada, New Jersey, and New York live in mixed-status families.

2| Temporary protections provide support and opportunity for many immigrants in the United States

Despite its many flaws and limitations, our immigration system continues to help many people from around the world find new opportunities and build new futures in the United States. While Congress has failed for decades to provide much-needed pathways to permanent status, many immigrants in the U.S. today have access to limited, temporary protections that have allowed them to build their lives and contribute to their communities in the U.S.

For example, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has been one of the most successful immigration policies in U.S. history, allowing more than 835,000 Dreamers—immigrants who came to the United States at a very young age—to go to school, work, support their families, and pursue their dreams in the only country they have known as home. Dreamers represent the best of American values, but our failure to provide an opportunity for them to secure their status and pursue citizenship is also a reminder of how broken our system is.

Similarly, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is a program that offers relief to individuals from countries that are facing crises, including military conflict, natural disasters, or political unrest. TPS allows them to remain in the U.S. where they are safe, with their families, and contributing to their communities. There are hundreds of thousands of individuals from more than 15 countries with current TPS protections, with many having lived and worked in the U.S. for decades. Research from FWD.us Immigration Fellow Cecilia Menjívar shows how TPS has allowed them to not only pursue their own dreams and careers, but also to build families and provide opportunities for their children, many of whom are U.S.-born citizens.

Ultimately, many immigrants hope to become U.S. citizens. Unfortunately, the outdated immigration system provides no pathway for millions of other immigrants to secure a legal status and pursue this dream. Creating and expanding pathways to citizenship for immigrants in all statuses, including those who are currently undocumented, would strengthen our communities, grow the economy considerably, and open even more opportunities for aspiring Americans.

Because Congress continues to fail in its efforts to pass bipartisan immigration legislation, President Biden should also take action to extend immigration relief to millions of long-term unprotected immigrants. We estimate that, by using a combination of existing legal policy tools like new TPS designations, expanding access to parole in place, and providing relief for family caregivers, the Biden administration could extend protections to as many as 3 million people without protections, and even open up pathways to legal status and citizenship for some. It is far short of the solution that is needed, but such protection would be life-changing for millions and offer at least some reprieve for those who have waited for so long.

3| Strengthening the U.S.’ essential workforce, global competitiveness, and national security

The service and contributions of immigrants to critical occupations that keep our communities safe and healthy, and our economy competitive, are often overlooked.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on public health, the economy, and communities, FWD.us explored how immigrants helped drive pandemic response. Our analysis found that immigrants made up nearly 20% of the essential workforce, including 5.2 million undocumented essential workers, two-thirds of whom were working in jobs on the frontlines of pandemic response. Despite facing a higher risk of contracting the virus and much more limited access to healthcare and government-funded relief, immigrants served bravely to keep their communities healthy and safe, and were main drivers of the post-pandemic economic recovery and growth.

Critical and emerging technology fields are growing and evolving rapidly, and the United States is investing heavily in building the infrastructure and capacity to develop those technologies here. Sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and green energy are not only important to grow the economy and drive innovation, they also impact the U.S.’ national security.

FWD.us analysis shows that attracting and retaining immigrants with specialized skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, particularly international student graduates of U.S. colleges and universities, is absolutely necessary to build the skilled workforces needed to build and grow these industries in the U.S. Fortunately, the United States remains the top destination for global talent; with better immigration pathways and policies, the world’s future STEM experts will continue to develop and contribute their expertise here (as research from FWD.us Immigration Fellow Kevin Shih suggests).

Immigrants also contribute to our national security through their patriotic service in the United States military. FWD.us analysis shows that more than 700,000 foreign-born veterans live in the U.S. today, including more than 45,000 who are actively serving in the U.S. military. Over the last century, military service has provided a pathway to American citizenship for more than 760,000 immigrant servicemembers.

4| Building safe, orderly legal pathways is the best path forward

Restoring an orderly process at the border while preserving our welcome to vulnerable people will require modernizing and expanding our existing immigration pathways to meet the evolving changes and challenges of global migration trends.

Specifically, this means building a diverse system of new legal pathways, including pathways for family reunification, employment, and humanitarian relief. Robust legal options will relieve pressure on the overburdened asylum system—the only available option for many individuals living in the Western Hemisphere—and reduce incentives for irregular migration.

Research from FWD.us immigration fellows demonstrates clearly that relying solely on enforcement and deterrence policies is ineffective and even dangerous. For example, analysis from FWD.us immigration fellow David Leblang illustrates how aggressive border enforcement tactics, like increasing detention and expulsion rates, and offshoring immigration control to other countries, do not ultimately deter migrants, but only delay their arrival or detour their journeys.

Not only do these policies fail to reduce arrivals at the border, they also put migrants at greater risk of danger, including trafficking and death. FWD.us immigration fellow Daniel Martínez’s research documents how deterrence and enforcement policies like Title 42 and Remain in Mexico directly contribute to thousands of migrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The facts are clear that continuing to focus solely on enforcement is not enough for an orderly and humane border process; we need to make political space to explore how expanded pathways, improved infrastructure and processes, and more intentional regional foreign policy approaches can allow the U.S. to effectively manage the border while also protecting access to important protections.