A new study by Professor Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda, at the University of California at Los Angeles concludes that such an immigration reform program could add at least $1.5 trillion to the U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) over 10 years. This is how he explains it:
All immigrant workers in this scenario have full labor rights, which results in higher wages — and higher worker productivity—for all workers in industries where large numbers of immigrants are employed. As wage and productivity levels rise, the U.S. economy’s demand for new immigrant workers actually declines over time as the market shrinks for easily exploited, low-wage, low-productivity workers. [...]
The higher earning power of newly legalized workers translates into an increase in net personal income of $30 to $36 billion, which would generate $4.5 to $5.4 billion in additional net tax revenue. Moreover, an increase in personal income of this scale would generate consumer spending sufficient to support 750,000 to 900,000 jobs.
Not only will we greatly increase the GDP but we will collect about $5 billion more in taxes and produce an additional 750,000 to 900,000 jobs. Comprehensive immigration reform will be good for all of us. It will remove the immigration thorn from our politics. It will provide extra jobs, mitigating somewhat the jobless recovery. It will help reduce the federal deficit.
Overall, comprehensive immigration reform will be a boon to our anaemic economic recovery. Let's do it.
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