IPC In The News

Study finds the economy would benefit from legalizing undocumented immigrants

Comprehensive immigration reform would produce at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years, according to a new report by a UCLA professor. Based on this report and other studies, Illinois would see significant economic gains from legalizing undocumented immigrants.

Published In: Medill Reports | 01/14/10

Why legal aliens don't drag down the wages of the native-born

IF CONGRESS has any sense, it will pass immigration reform this year. That's the topic of this week's column.

A new report from the Centre for American Progress, an Obamaphile think-tank, finds that comprehensive immigration reform would add $1.5 trillion to America's GDP over ten years.

Not everything that raises GDP is a good idea. Reihan Salam, a conservative writer, pointed out to me yesterday that annexing Canada would raise GDP by a lot. But it would have serious downsides, such as Americans having to find out where Canada is.

Published In: The Economist | 01/13/10

Immigration reform's economic impact is debated

As the U.S. unemployment rate hovers at around 10 percent, a key question is emerging in the unfolding immigration reform debate: whether legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants will further erode the economy or speed its recovery. The answer is hard to pin down because of clashing conclusions in recently issued reports.

Published In: Miami Herald | 01/12/10

Immigration Reform: An Economic Stimulus?

Over the past year Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has emerged as perhaps the most outspoken proponent within the Obama administration of a comprehensive immigration reform, one balancing a strong enforcement oriented approach with a clearer, more coherent, “fair and firm” pathway toward legal citizenship.

“Our system must be strong enough to prevent illegal entry and to get criminal aliens off our streets and out of the country,” Secretary Napolitano said in a policy speech in November, “but it must also be smart enough to reward the hard work and entrepreneurial spirit that immigrants have always brought to America—traits that have built our nation.”

Published In: Homeland Security Today | 01/11/10

Immigration reform needs addressing

Here's yet another argument supporting the need for comprehensive immigration reform, an issue that the Obama administration has thankfully targeted as a priority in 2010.

A study released last week concluded that legalizing the status of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in our country would create jobs, increase consumption, boost wages, add to tax revenues and, in sum, "yield at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years."

Published In: Arizona Star | 01/10/10

Legalization would boost U.S. economy, study says

Legalizing the status of the roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants living in America would create jobs, increase wages and boost the sagging U.S. economy, according to a study released Thursday. The study by UCLA associate professor Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda found that citizenship and flexible limits on legal immigration would serve future labor demands and boost wages for native-born workers.

Published In: San Francisco Chronicle | 01/08/10

Immigrant legalization viewed as a boon

Legalizing the status of the roughly 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in this country would create jobs, increase wages and boost the sagging U.S. economy, an academic study released Thursday says.

Published In: San Antonio Express | 01/08/10

Benjamin Johnson Discusses the Economic Benefits of CIR

No one ever said legislating "change" would be easy. With Congress mired in health care, cap and trade and more, why not take on another issue that has vexed it for years? Take immigration. Ben Johnson of the American Immigration Council says the stars have aligned for reform.

Published In: NPR | 01/08/10

Legalization would bring economic benefits

Based on the experience of immigration reform in 1986, a change in the law to legalize the undocumented would bring great benefits to the U.S. economy, adding to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) around 1.5 trillion dollars over the next 10 years.

Published In: La Opinión | 01/08/10

Study: Immigration Reform Would Boost US Economy

If the United States were to create a pathway to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants currently living in the country, it could boost its gross domestic product by $1.5 trillion in just 10 years, a new study claims.Conducted by a U.C.L.A. economist and released by the Immigration Policy Center and the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan research institute based in Washington, the study argues that if comprehensive immigration reform were passed it would result in higher wages, which would lead to a rise in consumption that, in turn, would create more jobs and generate more tax revenue.

Published In: Sphere | 01/08/10