Selecting highly educated immigrants may not significantly raise the average education of the U.S. labor force

1.0N-IUSSPhttps://www.niussp.orgJennifer Van Hookhttps://www.niussp.org/author/vanhook/Selecting highly educated immigrants may not significantly raise the average education of the U.S. labor forcerich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="YshSO8o8Io"><a href="https://www.niussp.org/migration-and-foreigners/selecting-highly-educated-immigrants/">Selecting highly educated immigrants may not significantly raise the average education of the U.S. labor force</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.niussp.org/migration-and-foreigners/selecting-highly-educated-immigrants/embed/#?secret=YshSO8o8Io" width="600" height="338" title="“Selecting highly educated immigrants may not significantly raise the average education of the U.S. labor force” — N-IUSSP" data-secret="YshSO8o8Io" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(c,d){"use strict";var e=!1,o=!1;if(d.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage);else if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(!t);else if(!(t.secret||t.message||t.value));else if(/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret));else{for(var r,s,a,i=d.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),n=d.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),l=0;l<n.length;l++)n[l].style.display="none";for(l=0;l<i.length;l++)if(r=i[l],e.source!==r.contentWindow);else{if(r.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message){if(1e3<(s=parseInt(t.value,10)))s=1e3;else if(~~s<200)s=200;r.height=s}if("link"===t.message)if(s=d.createElement("a"),a=d.createElement("a"),s.href=r.getAttribute("src"),a.href=t.value,!o.test(a.protocol));else if(a.host===s.host)if(d.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener("message",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),d.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",t,!1),c.addEventListener("load",t,!1);function t(){if(o);else{o=!0;for(var e,t,r,s=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf("MSIE 10"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(/Trident.*rv:11\./),i=d.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),n=0;n<i.length;n++){if(!(r=(t=i[n]).getAttribute("data-secret")))r=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),t.src+="#?secret="+r,t.setAttribute("data-secret",r);if(s||a)(e=t.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute("security"),t.parentNode.replaceChild(e,t);t.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:r},"*")}}}}(window,document); </script> https://www.niussp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/vanhook_niussp.jpg1200600In the U.S., adopting a Canadian‐style admissions policy, i.e., explicitly selecting immigrants based on educational attainment, would not significantly improve the educational level of the labor force, and the (unlikely) elimination of all unauthorized immigration or family reunification would be even less effective in this respect. Using a simulation model, Jennifer Van Hook, Alain Bélanger, Patrick Sabourin and Anne Morse also show that these modest policy effects would be conditional on continued intergenerational mobility and high levels of immigration.