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It is worth noting that non-Latino immigrant groups consistently outperform natives in
each generation. They arrive in the United States with a lower high-school drop out rate
than that of natives, and these rates fall farther below the native average in each
subsequent generation.73 Highly skilled immigrants are increasingly visible in medicine,
computer science, and engineering, and they make key contributions to the country’s
knowledge-driven economy. Immigrants as a whole have comprised 46 percent of the
growth in the U.S. labor force since 2000,74 and refugees and immigrants, both legal and
undocumented, are estimated to contribute a net surplus of nearly $30 billion to the U.S.
economy each year.75
Moreover, the rapid pace at which immigrants are opening new businesses has made
immigrant communities an essential source of neighborhood and city revitalization. A
February 2007 study by the Center for an Urban Future found that the number of
businesses opened and the job growth experienced in immigrant-dominated
neighborhoods from 1994 to 2004 in the New York City region far exceeded the
corresponding figures the city as a whole.76 Census results dating as far back as 1880
reveal that immigrants are more likely to be self-employed than native-born
residents.77 The 2007 study showed that, in New York, the number of self-employed,
foreign-born individuals grew by 53 percent between 1990 and 2000, while the self-
employed number for the native-born decreased by 7 percent. More generally, the study
found that more businesses are being started by foreign-born than native-born
entrepreneurs in major cities nationwide.78 Beyond providing essential services,
immigrants are thus driving growth in a range of sectors including restaurants and food,
real estate, and health care, while also helping to boost tax revenues and create jobs.

Muslim Immigration Since 9/11

The 9/11 attacks greatly intensified Americans’ awareness of the link between immigration
and national security, and it is not surprising that immigration policy has since been
employed in the larger effort to prevent further attacks. At the same time, it is important to
recognize the extent to which the national security issue has also been used to galvanize
bipartisan support for broader and otherwise highly contentious immigration legislation. In
an effort to revive the 2007 revised immigration reform bill after it was shelved yet again
by a clearly divided Senate, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said, “This is a national
security bill. We are fixing a national security problem.”79
Whether the government’s new security-related immigration measures are essential or
effective has been a matter of intense national debate, as have the measures’ implications
for the rights of immigrants. It is indisputable that most Muslims in the United States are
immigrants, many fairly recent, and that they have come under heightened scrutiny from
law enforcement agencies and others. Anxiety, hostility, and bias regarding Arab and
Muslim immigrants is not inconsiderable in the population at large. A 2006 Gallup survey
found that one-third of Americans believe Muslim Americans sympathize with al-Qaeda,
and 39 percent think Muslims should be required to carry a special identification card. The
survey also found that only 49 percent of Americans consider Muslim Americans to be
loyal to the United States.80

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