[CTC_TRADE] EPI | An immigration system where everybody wins

[Citizens Trade Campaign]

An immigration system where everybody wins

EPI has recently published a series of papers that make a strong case that
immigration brings economic benefits not just for individual immigrant
workers and their families, but also for native-born workers, and that those
benefits are greatest when the immigrant workers become citizens.

This trend seems to hold true for both low- and high-skilled workers. In his
recent paper
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=hhaNUCcdeXYoShqHjwz1
8lupCYHpgn7G> Bridge to Immigration or Cheap Temporary Labor? EPI research
associate
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=TgH%2FanaIRN%2BEHsMu
C17RAlupCYHpgn7G> Ron Hira focuses on the H-1B and L-1 visa programs for
high-skilled workers, and argues that these visas are often used to recruit
cheap temporary labor or to outsource U.S. jobs. His research shows that
many companies employ large numbers of H-1B of L-1 visa holders but pay them
less than what U.S. citizens earn for comparable work, and never sponsor
most of them for citizenship.

Economist
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=G4quKXUWqo1nkEvZON%2
BmglupCYHpgn7G> Heidi Shierholz' new paper,
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=r99Q5rikytbcTB%2F3f4
yW31upCYHpgn7G> The Effects of Citizenship on Family Income and Poverty,
looks at a much broader pool of immigrant workers and also finds that
citizenship leads to higher wages, as well as lower levels of poverty, even
after accounting for other differences between citizen and non-citizen
immigrants, such as age and level of education. Shierholz said the research
shows how citizenship can help millions of people reap greater rewards for
their work while at the same time boost tax revenues as workers wages rise.

This matter of how citizenship benefits local economies through higher tax
revenues is examined in more detail in
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=hBSsLcbEqwy3kdbxu%2B
YcqVupCYHpgn7G> The Economic Benefits of Immigrant Authorization, a new
study by the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration at the University
of Southern California, which was co-authored by EPI board member Manuel
Pastor. The paper looks at the 1.8 million unauthorized Latino workers in
California, and shows that those workers who are citizens earn substantially
more than those working in the shadows. Pastor's paper estimates that
granting California's unauthorized immigrants legal status could result in a
total gain for California of $16 billion a year.

 

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