A groundbreaking new study concludes that comprehensive immigration reform would provide a much-needed boost to the nation’s economy. The Center for American Progress (CAP) and Immigration Policy Center (IPC) released a joint report Jan. 7, “Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform”, which shows that legalizing the roughly 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States through comprehensive immigration reform, as well as making future flows more flexible, would grow the economy by $1.5 trillion over 10 years. “The report confirms what we’ve found in Washington State – that the economic benefits of comprehensive immigration reform are profound and exactly the type of boost our ailing economy needs,” said Seattle’s OneAmerica Executive Director Pramila Jayapal. OneAmerica released a report last year that explored the substantial contribution of immigrants to Washington’s economy and a variety of industries. Researchers found that comprehensive reform would generate additional tax revenue and consumer spending sufficient to support 750,000 to 900,000 jobs and boost wages for native-born and newly legalized immigrant workers alike.
