WASHINGTON
(By Fernando Espuelas, Huffington
Post) October 15,
2010
A job-less recovery,
ballooning deficits,
fraudulent
foreclosures, middle
class anxiety
let's face it, we
are feeling the
mother of all hang-overs
from the Great
Recession.
But there is one
major catalyst, an
economic engine that
we've ignored, for
igniting robust,
sustainable economic
growth that will
lift all boats:
comprehensive
immigration reform
that brings 12
million undocumented
immigrants fully
into the economy.
Call it the "12
million people
stimulus bill"
project.
As Americans, we
need to be
strategists that are
thinking about the
next 100 years of
American global
leadership.
Comprehensive
immigration reform,
if the law is
intelligently
conceived and
executed, will be a
significant step in
increasing our
global
competitiveness.
Its passage will
spark economic
growth across broad
sectors of the
American economy,
from manufacturing
to retail.
Fully integrated
into the economy,
immigrants will add
to both the
financial and human
capital of the
country. New
businesses will be
created by these
immigrants, their
kids will be able to
plan college
educations, money
now squirreled away
will be invested in
productive
activities, the tax
base will expand. In
fact, several
studies have
projected a more
rapid growth in GDP
because of the
effect of
immigration.
According to the
Center for American
Progress report
"Raising the Floor
for American
Workers: The
Economic Benefits of
Comprehensive
Immigration Reform":
The historical
experience of
legalization under
the 1986 Immigration
Reform and Control
Act indicates
comprehensive
immigration reform
would raise wages,
increase
consumption, create
jobs, and generate
additional tax
revenue. Even though
IRCA was implemented
during an economic
recession
characterized by
high unemployment,
it still helped
raise wages and
spurred increases in
educational, home,
and small-business
investments by newly
legalized
immigrants. Taking
the experience of
IRCA as a starting
point, we estimate
comprehensive
immigration reform
would yield at least
$1.5 trillion in
cumulative U.S.
gross domestic
product over 10
years. This is a
compelling economic
reason to move away
from the current
"vicious cycle"
where
enforcement-only
policies perpetuate
unauthorized
migration and exert
downward pressure on
already low wages,
and toward a
"virtuous cycle" of
worker empowerment
in which legal
status and labor
rights exert upward
pressure on wages.
Objective economic
evidence strongly
suggest that
immigration in not
only needed for the
long-term economic
health of the United
States, it is in
fact today an
important driver of
growth in the
overall American
economic pie. This
is growth, moreover,
to the benefit of
all Americans.
Getting this part of
our national
strategy is
critical. A recent
study undertaken for
the Federal Reserve
showed the net
positive effect of
immigration for
native-born American
workers.
As the study states:
A net inflow of
immigrants equal to
1% of employment
increases income per
worker by 0.6% to
0.9%. This implies
that total
immigration to the
United States from
1990 to 2007 was
associated with a
6.6% to 9.9%
increase in real
income per worker.
That equals an
increase of about
$5,100 in the yearly
income of the
average U.S. worker
in constant 2005
dollars. Such a gain
equals 20% to 25% of
the total real
increase in average
yearly income per
worker registered in
the United States
between 1990 and
2007.
Sadly, this is an
issue that has
become violently
partisan. The
Arizona
anti-immigrant law,
for example, was
passed on a straight
party vote.
It is a fundamental
mistake to filter
immigration reform
through a partisan
lens. I think a more
accurate context
through which to
view immigration is
as a national
security issue.
America must look
forward to a
changing world and
be sure that we will
have the human
resources needed to
maintain our
economic and
military supremacy.
Our global
competitors are not
sitting still we
should not either.
As history has shown
us, countries that
have failed to keep
these factors in
balance tend to fade
as global powers.
The Chinese Empire,
Spain, France and
Britain are just
some of the examples
of former world
powers brought low
by bad policy
decisions. We should
not join them.
If this issue is
properly and
responsibly handled
by political leaders
leaders that
transcend petty
party concerns to
become statesmen and
stateswomen it is
an opportunity to
bring the country
together with a
smart, strategic
reform that is
pro-economic growth.
Leaders of both
parties must rise to
the occasion
America needs you to
do the right thing.
America needs a "12
million people
stimulus bill" now.
