THE WHITE HOUSE The Economic Benefits of Fixing Our Broken Immigration System: Impacts for Virginia Families America has always been a nation of immigrants, and throughout the nation’s history, immigrants from around the globe have kept our workforce vibrant, our businesses on the cutting edge, and helped to build the greatest economic engine in the world. However, America’s immigration system is broken and has not kept pace with changing times. Today, too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers and there are 11 million people living and working in the shadow economy. Neither is good for the U.S. economy or Virginia families. Commonsense immigration reform will strengthen Virginia’s economy and creates jobs. •According to Regional Economic Models, Inc., a set of reforms that – like the Senate bill – provides a pathway to earned citizenship and expands a high-skilled and other temporary worker programs would together boost Virginia’s economic output by $987 million and create approximately 11,002 new jobs in 2014. By 2045, the boost to Virginia’s economic output would be around $7.2 billion, in 2012 dollars. •Immigrants already make important contributions to Virginia’s economy. For example, Virginia’s labor force is 14.9% foreign-born. Commonsense immigration reform fosters innovation and encourages job creation in Virginia. •17.5% of Virginia business owners are immigrants. These businessmen and women generate $3 billion in income for Virginia each year. •In Virginia, 38.8% of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) graduates at the state’s most research-intensive schools are foreign-born. Also, 37.5% of the state’s STEM PhDs are foreign-born. Commonsense immigration reform increases workers’ income, resulting in new state and local tax revenue. · Providing a pathway to earned citizenship and expanding high- and low-skilled visa programs will increase total personal income for Virginia families by $2.7 billion in 2020, according to Regional Economic Models, Inc. · Commonsense immigration reform would have increased the state and local taxes paid by immigrants in Virginia by approximately $77 million in 2010, according to one study. Commonsense immigration reform will contribute to the recovery of Virginia’s housing market and will strengthen Virginia’s technology, agriculture, and tourism industries, among others. •Immigrants significantly increased home values in Virginia between 2000 and 2010 - in Fairfax County, the increase was $7,383 for the median home. •There are 47,383 farms in Virginia that sell approximately $2.9 billion in agricultural products. Noncitizen farmworkers accounted for 26% of all farmworkers in Virginia between 2007 and 2011. According to one study, in 2020 an expanded temporary worker program – like the one provided by the Senate bill – would mean 651 new jobs for U.S. citizens and immigrants (including jobs not only in agriculture, but also retail trade, construction, and other sectors) in Virginia, and increase Virginia’s real personal income by $28 million in 2012 dollars. •These provisions will increase tourism to the U.S., including to Virginia – which saw approximately 362,000 overseas visitors in 2011. Many Virginia residents and stakeholders support comprehensive immigration reform. •In fact, according to polling by the Partnership for a New America, 63% of Virginia residents support enacting commonsense comprehensive immigration reform.
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 20:04:51 +0000
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