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Drum Major Institute for Public Policy | Principles for an Immigration Policy
Priciples fr aImmigrati Plicy t
Stregthe & Expa
the
America Mile Class
By Amy M. Traub, with assistace frm Aft Brache a Amy Taylr
2009 Edition
ContEntS
EXECUtiVE SUMMARY 1intRodUCtion 4intRodUCinG tHE MiddLE CLASS & tHE MiddLE-CLASS tESt 7MiddLE-CLASS tESt PARt i:8iMMiGRAtion PoLiCY SHoULd BoLStER—not UndERMinE—tHE CRitiCAL ContRiBUtion tHAt iMMiGRAntS MAKE to oUR EConoMYAS WoRKERS, EntREPREnEURS, tAXPAYERS And ConSUMERS.MiddLE-CLASS tESt PARt ii:12iMMiGRAtion PoLiCY MUSt StREnGtHEn tHE RiGHtSof iMMiGRAntS in tHE WoRKPLACEBEHind PARt ii:15tHREE ARGUMEntS AGAinSt tHE RACE to tHE BottoMAnd WHY tHEY’RE WRonGPUttinG tHE tESt to WoRK:18WHY GUESt WoRKER PRoGRAMS And EnfoRCEMEnt-onLY PRoPoSALSdon’t MAKE tHE MiddLE-CLASS GRAdEConCLUSion21iMMiGRAtion PoLiCY And BEYondALSo fRoM dMi 22WHo iS tHE dRUM MAJoR inStitUtE foR PUBLiC PoLiCY? 23
Priciples fr aImmigrati Plicyt
Stregthe & Expa
the
America Mile Class
2009 EdITIon
By Amy M. Traub, with assistace frm Aft Brache a Amy Taylr
Drum Major Institute for Public Policy | Principles for an Immigration Policy
1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As Congress again prepares to debate comprehensive immigration reorm beore the end o 2009, the DrumMajor Institute or Public Policy releases “Principles or an Immigration Policy to Strengthen and Expand theAmerican Middle Class: 2009 Edition,” building on our earlier immigration research.In the depths o the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Americans have nevertheless rejectedthe impulse to blame immigrants or their economic woes and instead show strong and growing support or legalizing undocumented immigrants. This report was written to encourage a new immigration reorm packagedriven by the needs o the nation’s middle class and low-income American workers striving to stay aoat throughthe economic crisis and earn a middle-class standard o living.We reveal that the American middle class relies on the economic contributions o immigrants both authorizedand undocumented, but also that the exploitation o undocumented immigrant workers threatens to drive laborstandards down or current and aspiring middle-class workers. Based on these fndings, we propose a two-old litmus test or evaluating immigration policy:
DMI’S MIDDLE-CLASS TEST:
In order to strengthen the American middle-class and expand it to more working people,immigration policy must:
Bolster—not undermine—the critical contribution that immigrants make to our economy
1.
as workers, entrepreneurs, taxpayers and consumers,
and
Strengthen the rights o immigrants in the workplace.
2.
ThE FInDIngS:
•
The American middle class relies on the economic contributions o immigrants both authorizedand undocumented.
U.S. natives gain an estimated $37 billion a year rom immigrants’ participation in the U.S. economy,
•
according to the President’s Council o Economic Advisors.On average, immigrants pay more in taxes than they use in government services, and these taxes und
•
programs like Social Security that strengthen and expand the middle class.Undocumented immigrants alone contribute an estimated $7 billion a year in ederal Social Security taxes.
•
The middle class relies on the goods and services that the authorized and undocumented immigrants in
•
the U.S. now produce. By increasing consumer demand, immigrants generate economic growth that benefts the middle
•
class: immigration is a major contributor to the expansion o Hispanic and Asian-American consumermarkets—which total an estimated 13.6 percent o the nation’s 2008 purchasing power.
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