Like trade, immigration is a polarizing issue, although economists generally agree that it has almost no impact on wages and job opportunities for natives. This conclusion is based on fact that the number of jobs in the economy is not fixed. Since immigrants are both workers and consumers, their spending on food, clothing, housing and other items creates new job opportunities. Moreover, many immigrants are highly entrepreneurial, establishing businesses that create jobs directly. In fact, many of the United States' leading technology companies were started by immigrants.
Immigrants also tend to cluster at high and low education levels.
Thus, many earn high wages in occupations such as math and computer science, while others fill jobs that American workers do not want. Trade and immigration have been made scapegoats for a multitude of societal problems. Escalating social welfare costs, wage stagnation, income inequality and job losses are all claimed to be exacerbated by immigration and trade. However, the overwhelming majority of evidence shows that both trade and immigration are highly beneficial to the economy.