Washington, D.C. – A new study released by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) today found that immigration reform would bring significant positive impacts to the U.S. economy by growing the labor force, jumpstarting new residential housing construction and reducing deficits in the long-term. The analysis, Immigration Reform: Implications for Growth, Budget and Housing, was designed to produce a complete and balanced assessment of immigration reform's economic and budgetary impacts.

 

Prepared in cooperation with Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC for BPC, the study looked at several important data sets surrounding the immigration reform debate, including tax revenues, economic growth and the impact of government spending.

 

The paper was authored by immigration analysts for BPC’s Immigration Task Force. The task force is co-chaired by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of HUD Henry Cisneros, and former Governors Haley Barbour and Ed Rendell.

 

“[This analysis] demonstrates that under almost every plausible approach, fixing our broken immigration system will benefit our economy. It also demonstrates that how Congress crafts reform matters to the overall economic performance,” said the co-chairs of BPC’s task force in a letter accompanying the study. “A balanced understanding of the costs and benefits of immigration reform is crucial to this process. We believe that it is both critical and possible to develop a bipartisan approach to immigration reform and hope that this analysis is helpful to achieving this goal.”

 

BPC's Becky Tallent, director of immigration policy, led a discussion with leading economists on the study's findings and the role of immigration reform in economic growth at an event hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today. Doug Holtz-Eakin, president of American Action Forum and former director of the Congressional Budget Office; Keith Fontenot, visiting scholar at the Brookings Institution; and Joel Prakken, senior managing director and co-founder of Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, participated.

 

“The Bipartisan Policy Center study reminds us that the result of immigration reform is what matters, not the process,” said Holtz-Eakin at today’s release. “Regardless of how it gets done, immigration reform is a pro-growth policy that will raise growth, strengthen housing markets, and firm up our nation’s finances.”

 

"What we've learned through the Bipartisan Policy Center study is that strong immigration will result in strong economic growth," said Tallent. "Our country has always been a beacon for entrepreneurial, hard-working individuals. It is imperative that we continue to attract these individuals to ensure future prosperity and labor market strength."