1. Reform would bring in more money than it costs in benefits
While many critics of immigration reform argue against the cost of providing increased public benefits, analysts say high spending is not a likely consequence. A Congressional Budget analysis of George W. Bush’s 2007 immigration reform proposal found it would cost the U.S. government $23 billion in more public services, but bring in $48 billion in revenue, according to the Washington Post.
2. Immigrants create jobs
In 2007, businesses owned by immigrants created 4.7 million jobs in the U.S. according to a White House report on immigration reform.
3. Immigration reform would boost the GDP by more than $1 trillion over 10 years
According to an estimate from UCLA professor Raul Hinjosa-Ojeda, that was cited by CNBC, immigration reform would boost GDP by $1.5 trillion, about 1 percent, over the next 10 years.
4. Immigrants are entrepreneurs
According to a White House study, immigrants are more than twice as likely as native-born Americans to start new businesses.
5. Immigration reform would boost the wages of native-born workers
According to a January report from the Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative of the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, American-born workers see between 0.1 and 0.6 percent boost in wages on average with an increase in immigration. This is due to immigration workers bringing skills that complement those of native-born workers, leading to new jobs.
6. Tech company say reform would boost their bottom line
Several tech companies, such as Microsoft and Google, have said that immigration reform would help them by allowing for more H-1B nonimmigrant work visas, the specialty occupation visa that is geared toward highly-skilled immigrants. These tech giants say they cannot find enough qualified people in the U.S. to fill their staffing needs.
7. Immigration reform would save $410 billion over the next 10 years
The bill proposed by the “gang of eight” senators would save $410 billion over the next decade, according to an analysis from the director of fiscal policy at the American Action Forum. The savings would be largely from a boost in GDP resulting from undocumented immigrants becoming tax payers and contributing money to the economy.
8. Immigrants start successful businesses
Over a quarter of technology and engineering firms started between 1995 and 2005 possessed a foreign-born owner, according to the Washington Post.
9. Reform would help fix the Social Security Problem
According to an analysis from the Social Security Administration, immigration reform would help bolster Social Security because more legal workers would mean more people contributing to payroll taxes to its trust fund. Undocumented workers already contribute $15 billion per year to Social Security.
10. Deporting immigrants is expensive
To deport the approximate 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States would cost an estimated $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years, according to a CNBC report. That’s because it costs the U.S. government more than a whopping $8,000 to deport each person!
11. Reform would help curb the deficit
Immigration reform would reduce the deficit of the federal government by $2.5 trillion over the next 10 years, according to an April analysis by the American Action Forum, a conservative think tank.
