If Immigration Reform Made A Positive Impact In The 80′s, Then Why…..?
…..do some consider it a negative today? Do the people that push against it have a better plan for economic recovery?http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/vie…
The Economic Boost of Legalization
As President Obama moves to put immigration reform on the table, questions have emerged about his timing. But the more the nation delays introducing a path to legalization for the undocumented immigrants here, the longer we are without a critical foothold towards economic recovery.
Immigrants have fueled the growth and prosperity of the United States, from its inception as a nation. This is no less the case today. Studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha to Adelphi University in Long Island have shown the net benefit of immigrant contributions—including the undocumented—to cities throughout the country.
Through legalization, that potential would be increased.
Researchers point to the effects of prior immigration reform in 1986. Then, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) helped transition many undocumented workers out of an underground status. In the years following the Act, these workers saw their average hourly wages increase by 15 percent. Higher wages generated more city, state and federal tax revenue and more purchasing of goods and services, which created more jobs. This, during the recession of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s.
Legalization also has a broader, positive effect on the workforce. It eliminates the vulnerability of undocumented workers to employer exploitation, and thus the ability of employers to down-press wages in certain industries. And with a legalized status, immigrant workers are more likely to start businesses and make investments that economically sustain communities.
GreasyTo on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 2:41 am
because they are stuck on that “reform = dem votes”. They really need to get over it! They can’t accept that they lost the elections so now they are going to work hard for four years spreading their rhetoric.
Sparky on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 2:57 am
Human exploitation, human smuggling and trafficking, corruption, organized crime, materialism and hedonism, are American values. Aren’t they? So Immigration will be always a controversial issue.
I admire Mexicans in USA because they shave their b-utts with the US media propaganda machine of defamation and hate.
! Viva Mexico!
El Buckaroo del Oeste on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 3:39 am
Some people think that just because they are born of a certain color or in a certain place, they have to have more power or more wealth or more rights or more of everything. Isn’t that what Hitler taught them…?
dude on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 4:05 am
That’s those Republicans for you. Just in it for themselves and their political party. They don’t care about the rest of us tax paying citizens.
ScottySc on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 4:24 am
Well, because some people are just selfish, racist….bigots who don’t want to share. And that is very, very sad to see.
Caroloft on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 5:00 am
racist bigots that don’t care about the rest of us Americans.
jimmyknu on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 5:11 am
It’s just the Mexican haters!
Shorty on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 6:02 am
You are so miss informed!
Charles R on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 6:46 am
It had a negative to begin with!
The One and Only! on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 7:23 am
Negative thinkers! ignore them. History is proof, not their false claims.
To Lucero, illegal immigration was just blown up before this election. Why? because those creative politicians wanted you to think it was really bad, and promised you that if you voted for them, they’d take care of the issue, which really isn’t an issue. News for you honey! it’s been going on for a long time, and with the rise in hate groups after the obama elections, they are using that immigration debate to fuel America with their propaganda.
Hate Group Numbers Up By 54% Since 2000
Extremists are also exploiting the economic crisis, spreading propaganda that blames minorities and immigrants for the subprime mortgage meltdown. Tough economic times historically provide fertile ground for extremist movements. http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?a…
paperboy on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 7:30 am
Wait a minute. If the immigration reform of the 1980s was so great, then why do we have a problem NOW?
We would not have all these illegal aliens today if the immigration reform of the 1980s had really worked and had a positive effect.
Just enforce the law. You can’t tell if something works or not if you don’t really try it.
Some of these answers are just incoherent. And I am not white and I don’t approve of illegal immigration. Sometimes people feel they have no other choice, but they must take responsibility for their lives and the choices they make. There is always a choice. You might not like the alternative (such as staying in a poor or repressive country) but you do have a choice.
Added: I don’t believe that it is not a problem. It has been going on for years but when you are in an economic crisis you should not have people coming in illegally and working when you have over a 10% unemployment rate of your own citizens. This is not to say that the people coming illegally are the cause of the problem, they aren’t. However, common sense would be that in time of crisis some things have to be dealt with that might have been ignored in times of prosperity. And they shouldn’t have been ignored during times of prosperity either.
And, if you are born in a country and are a citizen you DO have more rights than a non-citizen. This is not Hitlerish or Nazism. This is how EVERY nation of the world works.
Lucero on Sun, 27th Dec 2009 8:21 am
Flaw in your post. Immigration reform in the 80′s had a NEGATIVE impact on this country. It created an even greater infux of illegal aliens into this country.