The Brains Coming Ashore

"Legal immigrants are high-skilled"


"Most studies of foreign-born workers mix
legal and illegal entrants and find that immigrants'
job skills are low and declining."

But the study described in this article, which only
studied males, finds the following.  "For most
of the last 25 years, the job skills of male LEGAL
immigrants have exceeded those of native-born
male workers -- and since 1986, male legal
immigrants's skills have been rising."

"Changes in immigration laws explain much of
the trend.  A 1976 law to limit visas to foreign
physicians pushed down immigrants' average
skill levels.  But they have since risen because
of laws passed in the 1980s to boost the number
of visas available to highly skilled workers and
to crack down on fradulent marriages by
immigrants trying to get around quotas.  Better
education in countries of origin has also
contributed."