Obama’s Immigration Policy and US Economy

US President Barack Obama’s new immigration policy is said to have a very positive impact on the country’s economy. Analysts say that giving illegal immigrants a chance to get them authorized to work according to the legal provisions would prove to be an increment in the US economy.

Analysts argue that letting illegal immigrants to get them registered legally in the country would add to the already booming Federal revenue figures. They say that these immigrants work in the US and contribute to certain programs like the Social Security Administration by contributing through payroll taxes and other deductions. As they have no documentation therefore, they cannot benefit from these programs. Hence, whatever they pay remains in these programs as surplus.

The Chief of the Social Security Administration said that these immigrants have till now contributed more than $200 billion into the program’s trust fund. He said that the contributors will never get a penny from this amount that they contributed, as they were never registered with the State department.

Other officials say that legalizing the illegal immigrants living in the United States would contribute handsomely to the federal revenue, estimating the contribution to be at least $48 billion, which after deducting additional costs to public services, would give the Federal government net revenue of $25 billion.

Due to such facts, the areas that have been noted to experience a substantial growth in their economy are the ones which saw the largest increase in their immigrant labor force.

Immigrants working in America have been said to complement the native-born American workers rather than compete with them. A research said that such attitude towards their native counterparts can be credited to some fears of working in a new atmosphere.

These immigrant workers can also help increase the wage rate in the market for native-born workers. Another research has shown that due to authorization of undocumented immigrants to work, the market will experience an inflow of labor force and consequently the “minimum wage limit” for all the workers would automatically increase due to the aggregate demand and aggregate supply interacting in the market. This will result in an overall increase in wage rate to accommodate the increase in the labor market.

In terms of education, the policy’s provisions that encourage the immigrant students to continue and complete their academic qualifications would also have a positive effect on the economy. It will evidently increase the number of skilled labor present in the market and will support the economy on short as well as long term basis.

This new policy might also decrease the unemployment rate in the country. It is so because illegal immigrants tend to fill those empty positions in the market, both lower and higher skilled positions, for which the native-born Americans population is not able to meet the demand.

The legalization of undocumented immigrants could have far more benefiting effects on the country as a whole. This policy ensures the possibility of immigrants being able to enhance their educational interests and professional skills which proves to be a boost for the nation’s economic growth.

Tags: Immigartion, United States, united states immigration, United States of America, US President, USA immigration