The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration.

This report was prepared by the National Research Councils Panel on the Demographic and Economic Impacts of Immigration and concerns the economic demographic and fiscal effects of immigration to the United States. Three key questions are explored: What is the influence of immigration on the overall economy especially national and regional labor markets? What are the overall effects of immigration on federal state and local government budgets? and What effects will immigration have on the future size and makeup of the nations population over the next 50 years? The study examines what immigrants gain by coming to the United States and what they contribute to the country the skills of immigrants and those of native-born Americans the experiences of immigrant women and other groups and much more. It offers examples of how to measure the impact of immigration on government revenues and expenditures--estimating one years fiscal impact in California New Jersey and the United States and projecting the long-run fiscal effects on government revenues and expenditures. Also included is background information on immigration policies and practices and data on where immigrants come from what they do in America and how they will change the nations social fabric in the decades to come. (EXCERPT)