The winners and the losers

Orange County Register: The winners from mass migration are the people in the middle and at the top of the economic pyramid. The losers are those at the bottom.

Economists agree that immigrants have depressed wages for the least-educated workers. In California, where immigrants dominate the ranks of the least educated, that means immigrants largely are hurting other immigrants.

The burden on taxpayers is a murkier issue. In 2007, the president's Council of Economic Advisers concluded that over the long term, immigrants contribute more in taxes than they consume in services. But other studies say that the poorest and least-educated immigrants – including most illegal immigrants – cost more than they pay.