Immigration: Finding Silver Linings in Pandora's Box

Abstract

Immigration continues to be a turbulent topic of heated debated in the United States with no sign of progress or reform. This paper looks to further the ongoing discourse of immigration by analyzing peer-reviewed academic journals and other materials such as books and articles on the topic to augment the thesis. I will begin this paper by providing a brief history of immigration in the United States, followed by the consensus of economists on the issue. I will then analyze policies such as open borders and the expansion of the DACA program for solutions. I will examine current immigration policies and ultimately acknowledge and dispute the arguments against such policies. My findings suggest that majority of economic research find having a more relaxed immigration system will lead to a net-positive economic improvement to the nation and studies suggest that having open borders can generate up to 150 percent year-to-year growth in global GDP. Although I approached this research from an objective lens, it is important to note that I am an immigrant myself. I wanted to write this paper about immigration because even today it is one of the most contentious issues in US Politics. However, with this paper I would like to make it less about politics and more about the economic implications.