Ease of Illegal Immigration Encourages Mexicans to Get Less Schooling
"Poorly functioning Mexican and Latino educational systems are a central
problem behind current immigration dilemmas, and the United States is partly responsible. If the United States took in a higher ratio of legal immigrants, and required more education, the entire North American region would be better off," says Tyler Cowen in the New York Times. Cowen, who generally favors more immigration, continues, "A high school diploma brings higher wages in Mexico, but in the United States the more educated migrants do not earn noticeably more than those who have less education. Education does not much raise the productivity of hard physical labor. The result is that the least educated Mexicans have the most reason to cross the border. In addition, many Mexicans, knowing they may someday go to the United States, see less reason to invest in education."
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