Immigrants Displacing Young Labor?

FUNCTIONALIST STANDPOINT:

From a functionalist standpoint, these immigrants are a part of our society that provides a vital function in the workforce which is contributing to our societies’ equilibrium. A functionalist would say that without the fulfillment of this groups function, our society would come to an unbalance resulting in a sort of chaos. These immigrants often labor in jobs which teens, young adults, and most U.S. born workers do not want because of interests and social stigmas. Hence if they did not fulfill these functions, these jobs would remain vacant, and thus our economy would become crippled. A functionalist might also suggest that with the retirement of the baby boomers generation, a large need for employment will be created, and furthermore, the need for immigrant workers to satisfy these jobs will also be augmented.

CONFLICT STANDPOINT:

A conflict theorist would suggest that these immigrant workers are taking valued and limited jobs from able-bodied U.S. workers, especially among teenage and young adult workers. Both immigrants and young adults frequently compete for the same jobs because these employment opportunities are largely available for unskilled workers. They also might add that because of these