Labor Market Competition and Individual Preferences over Immigration Policy

This paper uses three years of individual-level data to analyze the determinants of individual preferences over immigration policy in the United States. We have two main empirical results. First, less-skilled workers are signiŽ cantly more likely to prefer limiting immigrant in ows into the United States. Our Ž nding suggests that, over the time horizons that are relevant to individuals when evaluating immigration policy, individuals think that the U.S. economy absorbs immigrant in ows at least partly by changing wages. Second, we Ž nd no evidence that the relationship between skills and immigration opinions is stronger in high-immigration communities.