Study Finds Comprehensive Immigration Reform Would Boost U.S. Economy and Wages
Enactment of comprehensive immigration reform would boost the U.S. economy, generating an additional $1.5 trillion in gross domestic product (GDP) over 10 years and raising wages for both immigrant and native-born workers, according to a new study by the Center for American Progress and the Immigration Policy Council.
The study, “Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” examined the economic effects of three scenarios: 1) comprehensive immigration reform that creates a pathway to legal status for unauthorized immigrants in the United States and establishes flexible limits on permanent and temporary immigration to respond to U.S. labor demand, 2) a program for temporary workers that excludes a pathway to legal status and flexible immigration limits, and 3) mass deportation of all unauthorized immigrants.
The study found that comprehensive immigration reform would create the greatest benefits to the U.S. economy and to workers. Along with raising GDP and wages for immigrant and native-born workers, in the first three years comprehensive reform would also generate up to $5.4 billion in additional tax revenue and increase consumer spending to support nearly 900,000 new jobs.
By comparison, the temporary worker program would also increase U.S. GDP but only by half as much as comprehensive reform, and it would suppress wages for both immigrant and native-born workers.
The mass deportation option would actually decrease U.S. GDP by $2.6 trillion over 10 years (not including the cost of deportation). Although it would raise wages for low-skilled native-born workers, wages for higher-skilled native-born workers would fall and the nation would suffer large job losses due to diminished economic activity. The study notes that the deportation scenario is not realistic given the impossibility of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. Beyond the economic implications, mass deportation would raise serious civil and human rights concerns.
The report concludes: “Legalizing the nation’s unauthorized workers and putting new legal limits on immigration that rise and fall with U.S. labor demand would help lay the foundation for robust, just, and widespread economic growth.”