The United States cannot afford to lose economic gains from immigrant labor. The economy would suffer a greater loss without immigrants and their labor contribution, especially during the US recession of 2008. The US economy would most likely deteriorate without the strong labor force that immigrants provided to this country. Despite the predominantly negative views that native-born Americans hold toward immigrants and the economy, their high representation in the workforce persists today. Immigrants do not accept “American” jobs, they accept jobs that Americans do not want (Delener and Ventilato, 2008). Immigrants contribute to various aspects of the economy, including bringing valuable skills to their jobs, contributing to the cost of living through taxes and lack of use of welfare, health care and social security. Social Security compared to native-born Americans, showing that the United States cannot afford to lose immigrants' contribution to the economy. First, immigrants come to the United States to work and bring valuable skills that help grow the economy, despite negative views surrounding their role in the U.S. economy. Since the 2008-2009 recession, opinion on immigration and its effects on the economy has been more negative than positive (Peri, 2012). A study by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government found that about 50 percent of American adults believe immigrants are a burden on the country because they "take away jobs, housing and health care," while the remaining 50 percent believe that "immigrants strengthen the country because of their consequences." to their hard work and talents” (Delener & Ventilato, 2008). Over the past decade, "more than half of the increase in the U.S. labor force... was the result of immigration... middle of paper... labor force, not the other way around." » .ReferencesCard, D. (2009). Immigration and inequality. American Economic Review, 99(2), 1-21. doi:10.1257/aer.99.2.1 Delener, N., Ventilato JM (2008). Immigration and the American economy: a strategic perspective. Proceedings of the Northeast Business & Economics Association, 155-159. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Griswold, D.T. (2012). Immigration and the welfare state. CATO Journal, 32(1), 159-174. Taken from EBSCOhost. Hanson, G.H. (2012). Immigration and economic growth. CATO Journal, 32(1), 25-34. Taken from EBSCOhost. Orrenius, P.M., Nicholson, M. (2009). Immigrants in the American economy: a host country perspective. Journal of Business Strategies, 26(1), 35-53. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.Peri, G. (2012). Immigration, labor markets and productivity. CATO Journal, 32(1), 35-53. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.