Immigration and the American Economy

High-skilled immigrants have provided one of America’s greatest competitive advantages. Their education and skills, their hunger to share in the American dream, their knowledge of world markets, their entrepreneurial drive, and hundreds of thousands of jobs created as a result all have fueled growth in the American economy. Yet their contributions have not been well-documented.

To fill the void, the Kauffman Foundation has funded a series of studies based on an initial report by Duke University researcher Vivek Wadhwa called America’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs. The studies look at the economic contributions of skilled legal immigrants in the United States, what is different about them, what obstacles they face with the U.S. immigration system and why tens of thousands of skilled immigrants and would-be immigrants are heading back to their home countries and what the implications are for the United States.

Studies in the Immigrant Entrepreneurs series: