Hurting Americans in Order to Hurt Foreigners

The Cato Institute asserts that work authorization for the spouses of high-skilled (H-1B) immigrant workers is a benefit to the U.S. economy and its taxpayers. The Trump administration seeks to end this practice, introduced by the Obama administration in 2015, on the basis that doing so would create more jobs for Americans. In “Hurting Americans in Order to Hurt Foreign Workers,” researchers from the Cato Institute undertook a cost-benefit analysis and survey to show that “ending the ability of these workers …to hold jobs in the United States would at best have no net effect on Americans’ employment and likely would reduce Americans’ employment and wages.” Between 2015 and 2017, more than 90,000 spouses of H-1B foreign-born workers were granted H-4 visas and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs). Using demographic data from more than 4,000 of these visa holders, the authors point out that this population is highly educated and high-skilled and that approximately three-fourths are already employed in the U.S. with a majority working in science, technology, engineering and math careers. Owing to their high levels of education and career experience, the authors estimate that H-4 visa holders contribute $5.5 billion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product every year. Additionally, the researchers estimate that repealing EADs would result in a loss of $1.9 billion in federal tax revenue annually. These factors, coupled with the loss of the economic activity that H-4 visa holders generate and the loss of jobs created from businesses owned by these immigrants would negatively affect U.S. employment and wages. The authors recommend that the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs perform a thorough cost-benefit analysis of this proposal before any changes to the visa program are enacted.  (Deb D’Anastasio for The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute)

Download now or view online.