Numbers USA - Impact of Large-Scale Immigration on American Workers

This Issue: Authoritative study confirms immigration is a redistributive policy for workers and taxpayers

Fri, Sep 23^th

The National Academies of Science unveiled a lengthy and authoritative study on the impact of large-scale immigration on American workers and the economy. Dr. Steve Camarota from the Center for Immigration Studies summed up the report best in a column he wrote for the National Review:

"[T]he best way to think about immigration is that it is primarily a redistributive policy, transferring income from some workers to owners of capital and from taxpayers to low-income immigrant families."

Here are the report's most significant findings:

• Immigrants, both legal and illegal, reduce annual wages by 5.2% for some native-born workers. Since two-thirds of immigrants have no more than a high school degree, vulnerable native-born workers suffer the most because they're most likely to compete with immigrants for jobs.


• Immigrants cause a fiscal drain because they pay less in taxes than they receive in government services, costing U.S. taxpayers as much as $299 billion per year most of which is passed to the states. For example, immigrants cost the state of California nearly $19 billion per year.


• There is a small net benefit to the economy of $54.2 billion, but the benefit is realized by a $493.9 billion wage transfer from low-skilled workers to business. The wage transfer results in a 0.31% increase for all native-born workers.

The negative fiscal consequences of mass immigration on federal and state deficits and the wages of low-skilled American workers is a direct result of the current immigration system favoring extended family members and lottery winners over skilled workers.

About 63% of the green cards issued in 2014 were issued through the family-preference categories, according to DHS statistics. Combine that with another 55,000 who came through the Visa Lottery, and 7 out of every 10 green cards were, and continue to be, given to foreign citizens with no regard for their qualifications or educational attainment.

The NAS study found that skilled immigrants can have a more positive impact on the economy, which is why NumbersUSA favors limiting immigration to mostly spouses and minor children and extraordinary-skilled foreign workers.

You can read more about the report's findings here. Our Director of Research, Eric Ruark, has also posted a blog on the media's slanted news coverage here. We've also posted new faxes on your Action Board so you can tell your Members of Congress about the findings.

SPENDING BILL UPDATE

Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), unveiled a short-term spending proposal that would keep the government funded past Sept. 30. The good news is that the proposal does not extend an increase of H-2B, low-skilled foreign worker visas. Thanks to all the NumbersUSA activists who have been phoning and faxing over the last few weeks, urging Congress not to increase H-2Bs!

The news is not all good, however. First, the McConnell proposal doesn't have enough votes to pass through the Senate. (The House will likely pass whatever the Senate approves.) So there is still some wheeling-and-dealing left to be done.

Second, Congress first expanded the H-2B program through last December's omnibus bill, and Congress will have to pass another one this December. So the fight over H-2B visa increases is far from over even if we can win this month's battle.

McConnell's proposal doesn't impact the refugee program, so we'll likely have to wait until the lame-duck to see how Congress responds to Pres. Obama's plan to increase refugee resettlement by 30% in FY2017.

Chris Chmielenski

Feature Check out our Presidential VOTER GUIDE Clarifying immigration positions of all presidential nominees is the purpose of our new Voter Guide. We update it daily if any candidate shifts stances. The Voter Guide shows each presidential nominee's stance on the 10 most important immigration policy issues and where the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Green Parties' presidential nominees stand on them. The issues include: E-Verify Chain Migration Visa Lottery Border High-Skill Visas Work Permits to Illegal Foreign Workers Sanctuary Policies Our analytical team meets each week to jointly study, discuss, and debate all new statements by nominees and to agree on how to present the public with the most fair, accurate, and helpful descriptions. Only NumbersUSA's Voter Guide focuses exclusively on the effect immigration policy stances have on the American worker. Action We have posted several faxes on your Action Board about the upcoming spending bill. If you haven't sent these faxes yet please visit your Action Board to send them and any others we may have posted this week. Action Board Account Please make sure your Account information is up to date. You can update your mailing address, email address, phone number, and email subscriptions on your Account page. Click on this link to view your Account Settings.

The New York Times Ignores NAS Findings That Immigration Policies Hit Poor, Minorities Hardest Eric Ruark Fri, Sep 23th Julia Preston wrote an article for The New York Times with the headline "Immigrants Aren't Taking Americans' Jobs, New Study Finds."

Obama Pushes Refugee Resettlement at U.N., Ignores Growing U.S. Resistance Wed, Sep 21st President Barack Obama attended a United Nations conference on refugees and migrants, and hosted a summit on refugees, where he pushed attending nations to expand resettlement and financial commitments. Obama touted his plans to increase U.S. resettlement, which are faring better on the world stage than at home.

High Levels of Immigration Hurt the Environment Wed, Sep 21st The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) released a report today that shows the harmful impact mass immigration to the U.S. has on the environment. Immigration from overseas to the U.S. increases the world's overall carbon emissions and reduces the amount of open spaces left in the country

Over 800 Illegal Aliens with Deportation Orders Were Granted Citizenship Tue, Sep 20th DHS' inspector general released an audit on Monday that showed that around 858 immigrants who had pending deportation orders were mistakenly granted citizenship. These immigrants, many of whom are from countries that pose national security concerns, were able to commit fraud since DHS did not have their fingerprints on file to check their identity.

McDonalds Replaces 70 Americans with Foreign H-1B Workers Mon, Sep 19th McDonalds has joined the growing national trend of outsourcing American jobs to cheaper, foreign workers. The McDonalds in Ohio fired 70 American accountants and replaced them foreign, H-1B workers.

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