Economic Impact
Immigrants are essential to the U.S. economy, filling roles from high-skilled tech sectors to agricultural labor and driving economic growth. They also contribute to the tax base and consumer spending. We champion reform that will maximize this effect and create a more diverse and competitive workforce.
The Sins of the Fathers: The Children of Undocumented Immigrants Pay the Price
For the undocumented in America there is little doubt that the iniquities of the father are visited upon the child. On November 7th, for instance, an astounding 71 percent of voters in Arizona passed a referendum (Proposition 300) which states that only U.S. citizens and legal residents are eligible for in-state college tuition rates, tuition and fee waivers, and financial assistance. These are kids brought by their parents to this country as young children, in many instances infants in their mothers’ arms, and in every instance as children for whom the decision to come here was made without their participation. And yet, they shall pay the price, perhaps with their futures. The same referendum would deny childcare to the U.S.-citizen children of undocumented parents. Yes, the child is a citizen of the United States, but voters in Arizona have concluded that to provide the child with care is to reward the parents for the sin of seeking a better life in America. Read More
The Global Battle for Talent and People
America’s strength lies in its openness and dynamic character. Current concerns about the U.S. economy should not distract from an understanding that in the long term America’s economic success requires the nation to attract 1) skilled professionals from across the globe to increase the competitiveness of American companies and 2) workers at the lower end of the skill spectrum to fuel the growth of the U.S. labor force, filling jobs created by the aging of the population. Read More
Bad for Business: How Anti-Immigrant Laws Can Hurt the Kansas Economy
While proponents of harsh immigration laws in Kansas claim that passing these laws would save the state money, experience from other states shows harsh immigration-control laws will actually cost the state millions of dollars. Implementing the laws and defending them in the courts would cost Kansas’s taxpayers millions they can ill afford. The laws would make it more difficult for businesses to operate in the state and would deter investment, and the loss of taxpayers and consumers could devastate Kansas’s economy. Read More
Making a Difference in America: Immigrants Continue to Benefit our Nation
Immigration is inextricably part of the American national identity and always has been. Immigrants are an integral part of the structural fiber that has kept the great melting pot flowing with creative ingenuity. The immigrants of times long past laid the framework for this great nation with their blood, sweat and tears. Read More
50 Welcoming Communities Honored at the White House
More than 50 U.S. cities and counties were honored at the White House on Thursday, for their work in creating inclusive and welcoming communities that engage in local immigrant integration efforts. The localities honored are part of the Building Welcoming Communities Campaign—a partnership among The White House… Read More
Immigrant Workers Enhance and Expand the U.S. Economy
Over the years, more and more economists have come to the conclusion that immigrant workers “complement” the native-born majority of the labor force by bringing different sets of skills and different demographic profiles with them, both of which enhance and expand the economy as a whole. Immigration restrictionists, in… Read More
Why Broadening U.S.-Mexico Cooperation is Good for America
The U.S.-Mexico border is not simply the dividing line between two separate nations. It is a vast expanse of communities that span both sides of the border, integrating the United States and Mexico economically and socially. In other words, it is impossible to capture the reality of El Paso without… Read More
States Will Need Immigrants to Counter Aging of the Labor Force
New population projections from the University of Virginia’s Demographics Research Group show that in many states in the Northeast and Midwest, growth of the working-age population is slowing due to aging, lower fertility rates, and people moving out of the state. The aging of the workforce in the… Read More
What Everybody Ought to Know About Undocumented Immigrants and Taxes
Most Americans pay taxes dutifully with the hope that they will be put to the best uses possible—and with the knowledge they will one day collect benefits from those contributions. However, undocumented immigrants who pay their taxes each year know full-well they may never actually receive many of the benefits… Read More
New Studies Show Refugees are Integrating
At a time when politicians and others are expressing concern about the U.S.’s refugee resettlement process, two new studies show that refugees want to integrate and are indeed integrating into the fabric of our country. However, there is much variation depending on the refugees’ country of origin, and there remains… Read More
America's story is an immigrant story.
