ABIC Applauds White House Economic Advisors’ Conclusion: Providing Permanent Legal Status to Undocumented Workers is Germane to the Budget and Benefits Society as a Whole
WASHINGTON, DC — In a report issued today, the White House Council of Economic Advisors made a strong case for immigration proposals in the administration’s Build Back Better legislation pending before Congress. “Allowing currently unauthorized workers to engage fully in the labor force would not only benefit the immigrants and their families, but society as a whole,” the report stated.
The statement comes at a key moment in the debate on Capitol Hill where the Senate Parliamentarian is considering whether proposals to grant pathways to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farmworkers, and essential workers qualify for inclusion in the budget reconciliation process, the vehicle for approval of the Build Back Better package.
”The economic advisors’ analysis clearly shows how the federal government would directly gain from an expanded ‘formal’ workforce that would be created through permanent legalization of immigrants, increased tax revenues and the economic benefits would positively impact every American worker,” said Rebecca Shi, Executive Director of American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC). The economic benefits of these proposals, particularly at a time of severe labor shortages across the U.S., is the focus of the bipartisan group’s work.
“There is no doubt that immigration reforms belong in the budget package because of the expected economic growth. Providing green cards also has been included in previous budget reconciliation bills, as recently as 2005 under President George W. Bush and was approved by Republican Senators Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn ” Shi said.
The blog noted how the expanded workforce would result in wage gains and increases in gross tax revenues. “Moreover, undocumented immigrants are disproportionately of prime-working age and relatively younger than prime-age U.S. citizens. Therefore, they are likely to have many working years during which they will be paying these higher payroll and income taxes if they are legalized,” the White House stated.
To critics who claim that legalization of undocumented immigrants could be costly because it could eventually lead to their use of social insurance benefits such as Medicare, the White House pushed back on that point in the blog: “…granting permanent legal status would also likely raise tax revenues, increase productivity, and have additional benefits for the children of these immigrants, generating substantial economic value for the country.“
ABOUT
The American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC) promotes common sense immigration reform that advances economic competitiveness, provides companies with both the high-skilled and low-skilled talent they need, and allows the integration of immigrants into our economy as consumers, workers, entrepreneurs, and citizens. ABIC is active in key states and communities across the country engaging activists, advocates, business leaders and elected officials on the urgency of passing immigration reform that boosts our economy, creates jobs, eases the labor shortage and supports families.
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