Immigrants contribute more benefits to the United States than they receive in services. Contrary to American conservative propaganda, millions of undocumented immigrants pay taxes and, even if some don't pay taxes, they contribute in other ways such as consumer taxes. They perform millions of jobs including harvesting crops and play an important role in constructing new homes. If the American conservative position is correct - that undocumented immigrants violated U.S. laws by coming to the U.S. and should be arrested - American conservatives must demand, with the same level of intensity - the arrest and prosecution of U.S. business owners who hire undocumented workers. Research indicates strong enforcement efforts have a negative economic impact.
Undocumented and documented immigrants contribute to the enrichment of the United States with their culture and languages. Despite the rhetoric of American conservatives, immigrants learn English quickly and are willing to die for the United States. As of 2008, 65,000 immigrants had fought or were currently fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
A report by the National Research Council, fulfilling a mandate by the U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform {a congressionally appointed organization was asked "to examine the effects of immigration on the national economy, on government revenues and spending, and on the future size and makeup of the nation's population."
The study, The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration, was released on May 17, 1997. The conclusion: immigrants - regardless of legal status - contribute more to the United States than they receive in benefits.
James P. Smith, RAND Corporation senior economist and one of the group's chairpersons, stated "Immigrants may be adding as much as $10 billion to the economy each year. The vast majority of Americans are enjoying a healthier economy as the result of the increased supply of labor and lower prices that result from immigration."
What would be the impact of providing a pathway to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants currently in the United States? The best answer is examining the result of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. "That legislation came about in the middle of a financial downturn, when unemployment was on the rise. What's interesting is that while the economy fell and we found ourselves in a recession, taxes on the recently legalized undocumented immigrants helped contribute to the economy."
A study by the libertarian Cato Institute stated that legalizing undocumented immigrants "would improve wages and working conditions for all workers." Two of the most important conclusions are that a national program to legalize current undocumented workers in the United States, with a law providing for new immigrants in the future, would increase productivity among immigrant workers and create jobs for other American workers. The gain would be approximately $180 billion over a ten year period. A more interesting conclusion concerned enforcement-only efforts. The study concluded such efforts would shrink the U.S. economy, reduce opportunities for high-skilled U.S. workers and the U.S. economy would lose $80 billion over a ten year period.
Note: In another posting, a discussion regarding job creation and the impact on health care.
Sources:
Jorge Ramos, A Country for All: An Immigrant Manifesto, Vintage Books, 2010, pp. 41-43.
James P. Smith and Barry Edmonston {Editors}, The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration, Washington, D.C., 1997 {Link: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?booksearch=1&term=Search+This+Book&record_id=5779&bottom_Search+This+Book.x=13&bottom_Search+This+Book.y=18}
Peter B. Dixon and Maureen T. Rimmer, Restriction or Legalization? Measuring the Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform, The Cato Institute, Trade Policy Analysis No. 40, August 13, 2009 {Link: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10438}
Maribel Hastings, "Economic Arguments for Legalization," America's Voice, March 25, 2009
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