Mоntgоmery CоllegeEnglish Lаnguаge for Acаdemic Purposes ProgramELAI 990 Diagnostic ExamImmigration Boosts Wages and Decreases PrejudiceOne of the toughest talkers on the topic of immigration is President Donald Trump. He’s built his political career on calls to secure the border and defend America against what he says are immigration’s dangers, warning of shrinking wages and stretched benefits programs. “When you have millions of people coming in,” he recently told a crowd in Michigan, “they’re going to take your jobs.” Immigrants stealing work from existing residents is an old contention—with a history stretching back at least 100 years right up to present-day, such as accusations that Tyson Foods could replace American workers with immigrant labor. But it’s also a false one, according to Boston University economist Tarek Hassan, whose recent studies have shown immigrants actually help fuel local economies by sparking innovation and driving up wages. The effects of a migrant influx can last for decades, too, enhancing a region’s attractiveness to foreign investors and opening long-term export opportunities, even 100 years later. Oftentimes, when immigrants move into an area, so do native workers, drawn by the promise of an invigorated economy. In one recent paper, Hassan, a Boston University College of Arts & Sciences professor of economics, also showed that living near people from other countries can shift native views on people of foreign descent, decreasing hostility and prejudice, while boosting empathy and knowledge. Residents who live alongside those people may also be less likely to vote for political candidates who demonize them.But there are important details that complicate the picture—at least from an economics perspective. Hassan’s research has shown that not everyone benefits the same way from a rush of migration, and that may be a reason why some of the millions of voters want to slow immigration. Despite the overall positive effects to a community, the flow of new residents does nothing to boost the wages of existing workers who don’t have a high school diploma. And the education and skill level of migrants matters, too: more education equals a more positive economic effect.“The headline finding is that immigrants are good for local economic growth and, in particular, educated migrants are doing a lot of that,” says Hassan. “At the same time, the data point to why some people might have problems with this. It’s an uneven story where the immigration we’ve experienced in the last 40 years has been disproportionately benefiting the more educated local population.”Immigration’s Impact on Economic GrowthHassan admits he finds the national debate on immigration frustrating. “There’s very little interest in nuanced information—on both sides of the debate. There’s this view among some people that all immigration is good and should be encouraged, and there’s this other view that all immigration is terrible. There’s not much interest in listening to each other.” With his research, he hopes to foster a more informed conversation.Hassan and his colleagues have examined decades of US migration data to look at the impact of new arrivals on economic growth, wage levels, and innovation, which they measured through the number of new patents filed in a particular area. More new ideas, he says, generally means more new businesses and products. His research team also estimates that, since 1965, migration of foreign nationals to the US may have contributed to an additional 5 percent growth in wages.“More immigrants create more economic growth,” says Hassan. “And because it creates more economic growth locally, it raises the wages of the people who are already there.”In an earlier paper, Hassan looked at migration’s impact over an even longer term: 100 years or more. With an international research team, he studied how the pull of one area for migrants from the same country could help attract foreign investment to that region for years afterward.“You can still see today that places where Germans settled within the Midwest 100 years ago are much better at attracting foreign investment from Germany than places that didn’t see that migration,” says Hassan.Immigration FearsBut what about those whose wages aren’t getting an upgrade or who—to quote Trump—fear a wave of immigrants may threaten their way of life, bringing in “languages that nobody in this country has ever heard of” or “poisoning the blood of our country”?“On average, the people who are most scared of immigration are typically the people who don’t actually live in very ethnically diverse places,” says Hassan.Hassan and his fellow researchers have also investigated how having neighbors of foreign descent, specifically Arab Muslims, shaped prejudices and attitudes. They surveyed more than 5,000 Americans about their contact with Arab Muslims and knowledge of Islam, and sifted through data on migration, charitable donations, implicit prejudice, and support for Trump and the so-called “Muslim ban.” Hassan and his colleagues found that living among a large Arab Muslim population decreased prejudice, reduced support for policies targeting Arab Muslims, and increased knowledge of Islam and Arab Muslims—it even resulted in people making more donations to charities supporting their neighbors’ ancestral countries.“Long-term exposure to people with a given ethnic background makes you more informed about them, maybe makes you like them more,” says Hassan. “It also increases political support for concerns these minorities might have. It traces a lot of xenophobia to people who don’t interact with people with foreign ancestry.”(Adapted from “Do Immigrants and Immigration Help the Economy?” by Andrew Thurston in The Brink (Boston University), April 4, 2024)----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Write a well-developed essay of about 350 words on one of the topics below. Make sure you understand the prompt and develop it with sufficient support, including your own experience, opinion, and/or facts. Copy the prompt you write the essay in response to on the top of the page in the text box to indicate clearly which prompt you are responding to.In addition, you may refer to an idea or two in the reading (paraphrase carefully), but you must not summarize its main points. You have 90 minutes to complete this task.1. Economic Contributions of ImmigrantsDrawing on Hassan’s research, describe two ways that you personally have seen in which immigrants can positively impact local economies. When you answer this question, mention one or more details from Thurston’s article. Also, include examples from a community you know—either in your home country or in the U.S.—where immigration has influenced economic growth, innovation, or job opportunities.OR2. Living Among DiversityAccording to the article, living near people of foreign descent can reduce prejudice and increase empathy. Discuss two ways that this can happen. In your discussion, mention one or more relevant details from Thurston’s article. Also, include examples of a time when you lived, studied, or worked in a diverse environment and it affected your understanding of others.