United States, laws preventing such movement often seem more reasonable. Some of the tensions over

immigration stem from worries over how it might affect a country’s culture, including differences in language,

and patterns of family, authority, or gender relationships. Economics does not have much to say about such

cultural issues. Some of the worries about immigration do, however, have to do with its effects on wages and

income levels, and how it affects government taxes and spending. On those topics, economists have insights

and research to offer.

Historical Patterns of Immigration

Supporters and opponents of immigration look at the same data and see different patterns. Those who express

concern about immigration levels to the United States point to graphics like Figure 14.17 which shows total

inflows of immigrants decade by decade through the twentieth and into the twenty-first century. Clearly, the
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