The United States is a major destination for international migrants and has been attracting immigrants over the last few decades. However, in 2016 major changes in immigration policies led to a decline in the inflow of immigrants, particularly of the unskilled type. The rationale behind this policy shift was immigrants took up American jobs leading to worse economic conditions for the American citizens. This paper provides evidence suggesting the policies restricting unskilled immigrants in the US actually hurt the American citizens through lower consumption. To quantify the loss in consumption, I develop a general equilibrium framework and analyze the consumption change the American citizens would have enjoyed if unskilled immigrants did not decrease after 2016. I find that American citizens on average had a 10% loss in consumption due to lower unskilled immigration post-2016.
