Undocumented Immigration in Recession

Harvard economist and LERA member Richard B. Freeman was part of a panel, "Immigration in a Time of Economic Crisis," on Oct. 5. It took place at the Walter Lippmann House, home to the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Freeman talked about how the Great Recession had diminished undocumented immigration to the U.S.

In an article, "Sorting Immigration Facts, Fiction," in the Harvard Gazette, Freeman is quoted as saying:

“Those people come for jobs. And when there are no jobs — and the country certainly is not in a good situation with respect to jobs — we then see the immigrants stop coming,” he said. There’s also a decrease in those coming in with non-immigrant work visas. Still arriving are students in higher education, many of whom historically settle here, he said.

“If you don’t want [undocumented workers] in the country, you should be happy. But in fact you would be much happier if they were trying to get into the country because that means we have a good recovery,” Freeman said.

Click here to read the article.