Washington, D.C. (July 8, 2021) - Much academic work has been published on U.S. employer preference for hiring foreign low-skill labor over American workers, particularly black American workers. In this week’s episode of Parsing Immigration Policy, Amy Wax, the Robert Mundheim Professor of Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, highlights reasons why employers might seek to hire foreign nationals and the implications for American workers and society. Wax and Mark Krikorian, the Center’s executive director and moderator of the podcast, explore the impact of the government permitting a constant flow of low-skill immigration, especially the impact felt by low-skill American workers who are unable to develop skills or support a family and may drop out of the workforce all together.

What would be the long-term implications for our country if the immigration level of unskilled foreign workers was reduced and policies putting Americans back to work were prioritized?

In his Closing Commentary, Krikorian examines the U.S. asylum system and the need for reform. He uses as an example of abuse the Haitian population’s fraudulent claims for asylum due to problems in Haiti, despite living and working in Brazil and Chile for years.