May 28, 2026 11:04AM # Do Immigration Quotas Benefit Native-Born Workers? By [Jeffrey Miron](https://www.cato.org/people/jeffrey-miron) --- SHARE Listen to this article Generated with [ ElevenLabs](https://elevenlabs.io/) AI technology. Loading the [Elevenlabs Text to Speech](https://elevenlabs.io/text-to-speech) AudioNative Player... In 1921 and 1924, Congress [set](https://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act) nationality-based quotas for immigration. [Recent research](https://www.cato.org/research-briefs-economic-policy/immigration-restrictions-natives-intergenerational-mobility) looks at the impact > on the intergenerational mobility of US-born men.… \[The authors use\] county-level measure\[s\] of exposure to the quotas … \[and\] data from the 1900, 1920, and 1940 US censuses and the Census Tree project … to link US-born sons to their adult outcomes and trace family background, geographic location, and occupational status over time. Outcomes differed by race: > \[T\]he quotas slowed intergenerational mobility among US-born white men.… For \[them\] the negative effects of the quotas were smaller for sons of wealthier fathers.… US-born white men from more exposed counties \[also\] earned substantially lower wages in adulthood. Alternatively, > \[f\]or black men, quota exposure was associated with increased intergenerational mobility, although \[the results\] cannot rule out the possibility of no effect.… \[T\]he quotas may have reduced competition for lower-skilled urban jobs, modestly improving occupational prospects for black men. The most likely explanation for the quotas’ effects > is that immigrants complement native workers by raising their productivity and enabling them to specialize in higher-quality tasks.… \[Indeed,\] the negative mobility effects were nearly twice as large for white men living in counties with more reliance on non-English-speaking immigrant workers. *Cross-posted from* [*Substack*](https://jeffreymiron.substack.com/)*.* ##### Related Tags [Immigration](https://www.cato.org/immigration) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).