June 17, 2021
JUST GRANT A BLANKET PARDON:
Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants Would Boost U.S. Economic Growth (Giovanni Peri and Reem Zaiour, June 14, 2021, Center for American Progress)
Today, 10.2 million undocumented immigrants are living and working in communities across the United States.1 On average, they have lived in this country for 16 years and are parents, grandparents, and siblings to another 10.2 million family members.2 At the same time, it has been nearly 40 years since Congress has meaningfully reformed the U.S. immigration system, leaving a generation of individuals and their families vulnerable. Poll after poll has illustrated that the vast majority of Americans support putting undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship. And as the nation emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and looks toward the future, legalization is a key component of a just, equitable, and robust recovery. [...]Scenario 1: Providing a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants in the United States would boost U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by a cumulative total of $1.7 trillion over 10 years and create 438,800 new jobs.
And then adopt the Ellis Island model: process and admit new immigrants at every entry point.
Posted by Orrin Judd at June 17, 2021 8:16 AM