Perspectives on Immigration

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The Need for a Fundamental Rethinking of Immigration Policy

Immigration Policy Center Director Benjamin Johnson testifed at the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that the U.S. needs to progress from treating immigration policy as an “enforcement-only” issue and start treating immigration as an economic resource. According to Johnson, immigration should be seen as a means to fill gaps in our labor force – gaps for high-skilled and low-skilled jobs.

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Managing Immigration as a Resource

Benjamin Johnson, July 2006

Benjamin Johnson, Director of the Immigration Policy Center, discusses the futility of an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform and the need for a more comprehensive strategy to deal with the problem of undocumented immigration. In this new "Perspective," he argues that immigration cannot be treated simply as a law-enforcement issue. Rather, the United States must begin managing immigration as a national resource.

Immigration Adds Billions of Dollars to U.S. Economic Growth Every Year

IPC Research Fellow Dan Siciliano told the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee that immigration is directly responsible for billions of dollars annually in U.S. economic growth. Siciliano, who also is Executive Director of the Program in Law, Economics and Business at Stanford Law School, explained to the Committee that "if the United States were to reform the immigration system to better address the demand for foreign-born labor, the economic benefits of immigration could be even greater than what we have already experienced."

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Guest Workers Program With a Path to Legalization

Bill Ong Hing, April 2006

With modification, President Bush's guestworker proposal has it right. As a nation, the United States ought to do the right thing, especially when it comes to Mexican migrants, given our long historical ties with Mexico. We have demonized the undocumented, rather than seen them for what they are: human beings entering our country for a better life who have been manipulated by globalization, regional economies, and social structures that have operated for decades. The right thing to do is to develop a system to facilitate the flow to the United States of Mexican migrants who are seeking employment opportunities. Given the economic imbalance between the two nations, we know that the flow will continue-legally or otherwise.