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Nativists Fail to Grasp Economics of Immigration Reform
This week, the New York Times gave voice to the nativist argument that legalizing unauthorized immigrants would drain the federal budget because newly legalized immigrants will start using public benefits. However, this flawed fiscal accounting overlooks the myriad ways in which immigrants, just like the native-born, contribute to the U.S. economy over the course of […]
Read MorePoliticians Invent Doomsday Predictions About Immigration Reform
Nativists are rarely encumbered by facts. By its very nature, nativist rhetoric is based on stereotype and mythology, not empirical evidence. Regrettably, some of our elected leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate have embraced the mirage of nativism as they embark on a crusade to derail any meaningful reform of the U.S. […]
Read MoreWhy Should We Support a Legalization Program for Unauthorized Immigrants?
As the immigration debate heats up in Congress, the central question for much of the American public will be whether or not to create a pathway to legal status for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants now living in the United States. In formulating an answer to that question, however, it is necessary to ask two […]
Read MoreEconomic Progress via Legalization: Lessons from the Last Legalization Program
The data analyzed in this report indicates that unauthorized immigrants who gained legal status in the 1980s through the legalization provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) experienced clear improvement in their socioeconomic situation. Between 1990 and 2006, the educational attainment of IRCA immigrants increased substantially, their poverty rates fell dramatically, and their home ownership rates improved tremendously. Moreover, their real wages rose, many of them moved into managerial positions, and the vast majority did not depend upon public assistance. The findings presented in this report support the notion that legalization of unauthorized immigrants can play a role in promoting economic growth and lessening socioeconomic disparities. Reforming our immigration system is not an obstacle to getting our economy back on track—it is part of the solution.
Originally Published Nov. 5, 2009
Legalize Who?: A Portrait of the 11 Million Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States
As the immigration debate heats up in Congress, the central question will be what to do about the 11 million unauthorized immigrants now living and working in the United States. The media often portrays this population as barely literate young men who pour over the southern border and live solitary lives, rather than providing a nuanced understanding of who the 11 million really are: adults and children, mothers and fathers, homeowners and churchgoers who are invested in their communities. This fact sheet attempts to provide a basic understanding of who the unauthorized are as people: where they live, where they’re from, how long they have been here, and what family and community ties to the United States they have.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources provide this very necessary social context to the immigration debate. And what the data reveal are that most of the unauthorized have been here for over a decade. While they are concentrated in California, Texas, Florida, and New York, there are sizeable unauthorized populations in other states across the country. Three-fifths of unauthorized immigrants come from Mexico, but significant numbers also come from Central America and the Philippines. Nearly half of all adult unauthorized immigrants have children under the age of 18, and roughly 4.5 million native-born U.S.-citizen children have at least one unauthorized immigrant parent. More than half of unauthorized immigrant adults have a high-school diploma or more education. Nearly half of longtime unauthorized households are homeowners. And approximately two-fifths of unauthorized immigrant adults attend religious services every week. In other words, most unauthorized immigrants are already integrating into U.S. society not only through their jobs, but through their families and communities as well.
Hatch wants more visas for skilled immigrants
Salt Lake Tribune January 29, 2013 A new immigration bill led by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would greatly increase the number of foreign-born scientists and engineers who are allowed to live and work here. … [Overstock.com President Jonathan] Johnson said his company is always looking for engineers and software developers and can’t find enough domestically, […]
Read MoreGetting to a Citizenship Consensus
Immigration reform is enjoying a resurgence of support in both parties, with groups from a variety of backgrounds coming out in favor of a range of changes to our current system. The most striking change may be the melting of opposition to a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. […]
Read MoreImmigrants Add Billions to the Arkansas Economy
A perennial question in the immigration debate is whether or not immigrants contribute more to the economy than they cost. That is, do they add more economically as workers, taxpayers, consumers, and entrepreneurs than they “consume” in public education, public healthcare, and public benefits? In some ways, this question is misleading. Education and healthcare are […]
Read MoreMomentum on Immigration Reform Continues to Build
News stories continue to highlight the growing likelihood that immigration reform will play a prominent role in Congress this spring. According to an article in Sunday’s New York Times, both the White House and Congress are deeply engaged in immigration reform legislation, with a bipartisan group of Senators working methodically through tough issues like enforcement […]
Read MoreWhy Immigration Reform and Gun Control Aren’t in Competition
Ever since the horrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, political odds makers have been betting that gun safety will top the President’s list of priorities this year, despite previous statements prioritizing immigration reform. That’s an unfortunate characterization, pitting two important issues against one another and adding to the mistaken idea that immigration reform is such a […]
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