Sending‑country income predicts immigrant skill mix

Immigrant skill composition is not random: countries with flatter internal income distributions tend to send higher‑skill migrants to the U.S., while countries with high internal inequality disproportionately supply lower‑skill migrants. That pattern affects how readily newcomers converge economically and how much pressure immigration places on local wages and public services. — If true, policy should target migration by sending‑country economic structure (not only skills or numbers), because origin‑country inequality shapes the kinds of workers who arrive and the long‑run assimilation challenges.