Angela Kelley on Immigration Reform and the Economy

Why should Congress enact comprehensive immigration reform in the current economy?

Frankly, because of today's weak economy, it's exactly why we should enact comprehensive immigration reform. If we take the 7-8 million workers that are here without status, and we require them to requester, to pay taxes, and to work, then what we will have is 1.5 trillion dollars in economic growth over 10 years. CAP has released a paper with the Immigration Policy Center that's been put together by an economist from UCLA that shows that we've got these workers here that are already here, that are already working, and they're getting legal status will enable them to earn more money. It will lift both native-born and immigrant workers' wages. And frankly, it will help out the economy back on track.

Is legalizing undocumented immigrants really the best solution?

The reality is that we have 12 million people living here without status; 7-8 million of them are workers. Their presence, without legal status, means that an unscrupulous employer can hire them, can pay them less, and not hire a person who is here legally, not hire a U.S. citizen, not hire an authorized worker. So what are our options? One option is we could try to deport everybody, and CAP's research on this shows that that would cost over 40 billion dollars a year for five years, for a total of over 200 billion dollars--not a wise use of our dollars. It's not realistic to deport that many people. What makes a lot more sense is to require these people to register, to come forward, and work. And through their work, they will make more money, they'll make investments in the community, and there won't be this pool of workers that bad guy employers can turn to and not hire a U.S. worker. Simply, it will level the playing field in a way that currently doesn't exist right now.

How will legalizing undocumented immigrants affect native workers in the United States?

Legalizing undocumented immigrants is a win for native workers and for immigrant workers. It puts immigrant and native workers on a level playing field. Right now, native workers are disadvantaged by the fact that there are so many people working here without papers and unscrupulous employers who take advantage of them and pay everybody less than they deserve. Look, in today's economy what we need to do is pull out al the stops. We need to do everything we can to stimulate economic growth. If we legalize the people who are already working; if we require them to register, pay taxes, make sure that we know they're playing by the rules, we will generate 1.5 trillion dollars in economic growth over 10 years. That's not chump change. That's money that our country needs. What's the alternative? If we deport 12 million people; if we deport all of those workers, then what we have is a cost to the economy of 2.5 trillion dollars. We can't afford to lose that money. What we need to do is to legalize workers to make sure that they benefit our country, our economy; that they pay taxes; and that there's an even playing field for U.S. workers that are trying to get back on their feet.