Behind the Smoke: What Immigration Reform Really Means
As commonsense immigration reform moves through the U.S. Senate , people and groups on the losing side of the debate are making outrageous claims in bogus studies and TV commercials. Let’s take a minute and revisit some of the facts about immigration reform.
Immigration reform with a path to citizenship and workplace rights doesn’t just benefit aspiring citizens and their families. It's good for all workers. Earlier this year, we published a 10-point checklist showing how all workers will benefit from fixing our broken immigration system. Here are just a few. Read the entire article .
Wages will rise for both immigrant and native workers.
In Immigration for Shared Prosperity , former Secretary of Labor Ray Marshall writes that studies show immigration reform with a path to citizenship can raise wages for immigrant workers by 6%. Also, the study Raising the Floor for American Workers reports that under a path to citizenship, “The wage floor rises for all workers—particularly in industries where large numbers of easily exploited low-wage [aspiring Americans] currently work.”
More jobs will be created.
The higher earning power of aspiring citizens in just the first three years of comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship would generate up to $36 billion in net personal income and enough consumer spending to support 750,000 to 900,000 jobs, according to the study Raising the Floor for American Workers .
The billions of dollars a year in wage theft for both aspiring citizens and native workers will be significantly reduced.
In New York, Los Angeles and Chicago alone, low-wage workers in immigrant-dense industries lose about $56 million a week in wage theft, according to the study Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers , which notes that the abuses are not limited to aspiring Americans. “The best inoculation against workplace violations [wage theft] is ensuring workers know their rights and have full status under the law to assert them.”
Workers’ rights—including the right to join a union—will be strengthened.
Today, writes Marshall , unscrupulous employers threaten workers with retaliation, “when workers attempt to organize a union, file wage claims or exercise other workplace rights.” Immigration reform with a path to citizenship that guarantees workplace rights for aspiring citizens will lessen the threat of employer retaliation and allow workers to defend their rights
A myriad of myths of about immigration reform—mostly generated by anti-immigrant groups and politicians—are swirling around the debate. Click here for the Seven Immigration Myths and Facts . Below is an important one to keep in mind next time you hear or see some outlandish claim about immigration reform.
Myth: Anti-immigrant politicians have the best interests of America's workers in mind.
Fact: The most rabidly anti-immigrant politicians in U.S. politics are also some of the most anti-worker politicians in the country. Many such politicians have skillfully diverted attention from their anti-worker agenda by drumming up anti-immigrant anxiety and fear in their constituents.
Despite efforts to couch their anti-immigrant policies in populist, pro-worker rhetoric, the truth is that many of the politicians who are the greatest opponents of immigrant workers are the greatest opponents of U.S.-born workers as well.
