by George J. Borjas
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Product Description
The U.S. took in more than a million immigrants per year in the late 1990s, more than at any other time in history. For humanitarian and many other reasons, this may be good news. But as George Borjas shows in Heaven's Door, it's decidedly mixed news for the American economy--and positively bad news for the country's poorest citizens. Widely regarded as the country's leading immigration economist, Borjas presents the most comprehensive, accessible, and up-to-date account yet of the economic impact of recent immigration on America. He reveals that the benefits of immigration have been greatly exaggerated and that, if we allow immigration to continue unabated and unmodified, we are supporting an astonishing transfer of wealth from the poorest people in the country, who are disproportionately minorities, to the richest. In the course of the book, Borjas carefully analyzes immigrants' skills, national origins, welfare use, economic mobility, and impact on the labor market, and he makes groundbreaking use of new data to trace current trends in ethnic segregation. He also evaluates the implications of the evidence for the type of immigration policy the that U.S. should pursue. Some of his findings are dramatic: Despite estimates that range into hundreds of billions of dollars, net annual gains from immigration are only about $8 billion. In dragging down wages, immigration currently shifts about $160 billion per year from workers to employers and users of immigrants' services. Immigrants today are less skilled than their predecessors, more likely to re-quire public assistance, and far more likely to have children who remain in poor, segregated communities. Borjas considers the moral arguments against restricting immigration and writes eloquently about his own past as an immigrant from Cuba. But he concludes that in the current economic climate--which is less conducive to mass immigration of unskilled labor than past eras--it would be fair and wise to return immigration to the levels of the 1970s (roughly 500,000 per year) and institute policies to favor more skilled immigrants.
Amazon.com Review
Many political activists will quickly label Heaven's Door, by Harvard economist George Borjas, a vicious attack on America's generous immigration policy. They will have a point: Borjas believes the current level and composition of immigration to the United States does not advance--and arguably harms--American economic and national interests. But they will also miss a very careful argument that neatly places Borjas between the extremes of open-borders advocates and full-scale restrictionists. Borjas, himself an immigrant from Cuba, would cut admissions by about one-third and radically redesign the way in which people gain entry, changing the present system from emphasizing family ties to favoring skills. He bases this reasoning on a series of observations, which he examines in great detail: immigrant earnings lag behind native earnings, there is a clear (and troubling) link between national origin and economic performance, immigration hurts the economic opportunities of poor Americans, and so on. Some readers will think Borjas accentuates the negative; in describing how immigrant skill levels have declined relative to natives, for instance, he downplays the fact that they have risen in an absolute sense. Yet this is an uncommonly clear-headed book on a subject that rouses fiery passions. A country that still considers itself a "nation of immigrants"--and wants to remain one--can't afford to ignore it. --John J. Miller
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Average Customer Review:
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Good book, 2007-04-03
This book has the pros and cons of immigration. In addition to a background history of the issue. I used as a reference.
9 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
 Biased Analysis, 2006-01-02
One of the most comprehensive books on the economic effects of immigration on the native population is "Heaven's Door" by Dr. George Borjas. Dr. Borjas has for decades been trying to prove the adverse effects of immigration on natives. Although his research has continued since 1999, "Heaven's Door" is his most recent major work.
Despite the author's obvious bias, the book should not be totally written off by either the pro-immigration or anti-immigration people. The book is filled with references to studies conducted on the subject. The author's reporting on the actual factual data is fantastic. Dr. Borjas claims that his intention is to present the facts and not make policy recommendations.
Both sides can and have spun the facts contained in this book to support their pre-drawn conclusions on the effects of immigration. And Dr. Borjas himself is included in this group. One study done of the Mariel boat lift failed to find any adverse effects on the wages of lower skilled workers in Miami. This was a surprise to most economists. Dr. Borjas wrote it off. His reason is that the wages of lower skilled workers in Miami fluctuated unexplainably at another time, and for some reason he feels this is sufficient to ignore the Mariel boat lift study. But nevertheless, the book does describe the study briefly. Despite his bias, the book contains relevant information.
But the book does NOT consider all the facts. First, the book fails to consider the effects of immigration on the immigrants themselves and on their countries. Second, in his policy recommendations, Dr. Borjas leaves out very relevant policies that could be implemented to alleviate the adverse effects of immigration [for example: policies to improve the productivity of the adversely affected native unskilled workers (merely graduating from high school can increase their earnings potential by 30%). Borjas ignores this in his policy recommendation].
At the end of the book, Dr. Borjas offers his recommendations for U.S. immigration policy. He recommends that the U.S. seek only its own interests and the interests of U.S. citizens. Thus, in his policy recommendations, Borjas ignores any effects, good or bad, that his policy recommendations have on the rest of the world. Borjas, who at the beginning of the book explains how important it is to be aware of all the facts, ignores this. Even then, his policy recommendations are pitiful.
He recommends that the U.S. limit immigration to only skilled persons and that no unskilled or lower skilled persons should be admitted. He proposes that 500,000 skilled immigrants be admitted annually. The ramifications would be that the wages of skilled workers would be reduced thereby reducing the disparity between the wages of the skilled and unskilled. He also openly admits that because of the reduced rate of return on education, that U.S. college enrollment would be expected to reduce by 15% and that those 15% would most likely be those that can least afford college. As mentioned before, he ignores the effects on the rest of the world: that third world countries would lose their most valuable citizens (i.e. brain drain).
So under Borjas's plan, we would import skilled workers and permit our own citizens to do the chump labor. This to me is pitiful. A better policy would be to permit unskilled labor to come here meanwhile allocating resources towards improving the productivity of our own citizens. Low skilled immigrants wash dishes, cut grass and hammer nails (and they're happy to do it; it's an improvement for them), meanwhile, U.S. citizens prepare tax returns, teach college courses, provide medical care and manage Fortune 500 companies. It's a win-win situation.
8 of 44 people found the following review helpful:
A cuban who doesn't like mexicans, 2004-01-14
what else is new? This book is like most academic work these days: start with a conclusion, then find supporting arguments.Borjas's $8-10 billion estimate does not take into account the present value of a higher expected GDP growth rate due to faster capital accumulation. Elementary college economics. Welfare and assistance costs apply more to legal immigrants or 2nd generation immigrants (including cubans) than illegal ones. Last I heard you need a Social Security number to apply for govmnt assistance. In any case I am a strong believer in free markets and I think the market should decide who comes here who doesn't.
Ethnicity, education etc are arbitrary criteria and they just reflect Borjas's psychology and prejudices. What people really want is $$$ and jobs, we want here whomever is going to make everybody rich, create wealth, create jobs, pay taxes, help us kick China's arse and fight terrorists. We don't necessarily need more Harvard economic professors. And we shouldn't care if those people come from Mexico or from Mars, I personally don't ...
30 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
Required reading for study of modern immigration debate., 2000-03-29
A very sound piece of economic work. Regardless of what you feel about Borjas's conclusions, you must acknowledge the value of his economic analysis. To truly have an understanding of the immigration debate, you must have read Borjas's work. His contributions to the field are immeasurable. While I do not always agree with him on the place of "ethnicity" in the realm of immigration policy making, I am more educated for even considering his proposal. In sum, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in immigration issues--especially those interested in its economic impact.
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