Reply to the below post in 200 words. The reply must include at least 2 scholarly sources (published within the last 5 years) in addition to the course textbook (attached) and relevant biblical integration. All citations and references must be in the current APA format. Do not repeat the same sources as the original post; use the text or Biblical integration.
Does a flood of immigrants flood the labor market and drive down wages in the U.S? Acts 17:26 says, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings (New King James Version, 1982).” In other words, God has established boundaries where they are to reside. Thus, there is some biblical reason for people to remain in the nations of their origin. When God spoke to the children of Israel and referred to people as “strangers,” they were not specifically speaking of immigrants, but rather people who did not share their Jewish heritage but were already among them. In a journal article in The Review of Economic Studies, it says, “As for the effects on native wages, we find a pattern of effects whereby immigration depresses wages (Dustmann et al., 2012).” There are several patterns throughout history that confirm this statement, and one example takes place in the early 20th century when thousands of Irish immigrants came to the U.S. looking for work. An article from the Library of Congress says, “As Irish immigrants moved inland from eastern cities, they found themselves in heated competition for jobs. The audio recording, Immigrant Laborers in the Early 20th Century Links to an external site., describes how West Virginia coal operators fired union laborers and gave the jobs to Irish,” the article further says, “some businesses took advantage of Irish immigrants’ willingness to work at unskilled jobs for low pay (Joining workforce).” In other words, the massive influx of immigration did cause there to be an abundance in the supply of unskilled and menial labor and since the demand did not increase, they ended up taking the jobs of many citizens who were already here and were also unskilled since they were willing to work for far less, so the people here already had a difficult choice, either agree to the lesser wage or leave it to someone else who wanted it. Now, some immigration is a very good thing, however, when it remains unchecked as it has in the past, or if massive illegal immigration occurs, it can lead to massive disruptions in the labor market since it will have been flooded. Also, when the labor market was flooded and wages went down for it, it forced the parents to need to send their children to work in factories since they were not making enough to make ends meet anymore. The conditions were horrible, and children ended up not being able to get a decent education because of it, thus resulting in them remaining unskilled workers for the rest of their lives (Horrell & Humphries, 1995). We should be looking for the best and the brightest to immigrate here.
References:
Dustmann, C., Frattini, T., & Preston, I. P. (2012). The effect of immigration along the distribution of wages. The Review of Economic Studies, 80(1), 145–173. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rds019Links to an external site.
Horrell, S., & Humphries, J. (1995). “The exploitation of little children”: Child labor and the family economy in the Industrial Revolution. Explorations in Economic History, 32(4), 485–516. https://doi.org/10.1006/exeh.1995.1021Links to an external site.
Joining the workforce: Joining the workforce. The Library of Congress. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2022, from https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/irish/joining-the-workforce/Links to an external site.
New King James Version. (1982). Thomas Nelson Inc.
