ABSTRACT
Historically, the most contentious issue in the debate surrounding immigration has been the effect of immigrants on the wages and em ployment of native-born citizens. During the 1980s, this issue took on particular urgency as low-skilled workers experienced a decline in their real wages. At the same time, the decade witnessed the largest inflow of immigrants since the 1900s, many of them low skilled. Pol icymakers and researchers seeking the cause of the decline in real wages of low-skilled natives are thus focusing on the possibility that immigrants have increased the relative supply of low-skilled workers and driven down wages of low-skilled native-born workers.
