From Long Island Wins: February 19, 2010

Written by Maryann Sinclair Slutsky Friday, 19 February 2010 00:00

Why Immigration Reform Will Pay Off

It’s hard to keep up with all the ways people communicate these days.

My kids send me text messages. My colleagues email nonstop. And on Twitter, I read all kinds of strange musings from people I’ve never met.

But a good, old-fashioned phone call still has its place in our society.

Case in point: On Feb. 4, my organization, Long Island Wins, and the Long Island Immigrant Alliance – an advocacy group of which my organization is a member – organized an all day call-in to Senator Chuck Schumer’s Long Island office in Melville.

The purpose of the call-in was to show support for an immigration reform bill that Schumer has been working on for the past few months. Because the bill is vital to the future of Long Island, we wanted to let him know as loudly as possible that Long Island residents support his efforts – and a ringing phone still makes more noise than a status update.

“Why does immigration reform matter for Long Island?” Well, you might be surprised, but one of the major benefits of the bill would be economic growth (We could use more of that these days). But before we talk about the economic benefits, let me explain what I mean when I refer to comprehensive immigration reform.

No matter what your views on immigration, most people agree that our immigration system is broken and outdated. For years, politicians have promised changes, but we haven’t seen substantial progress.

An immigration reform bill would make long-overdue changes to our immigration system. Some of those changes would be:

• an earned path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who play by the rules, pay taxes, learn English and pass a background check;

• improved future immigration flows that more accurately meet the needs of the U.S. labor market;

• smarter immigration enforcement policies that will make our communities safer;

• and border security that seeks to maintain legal order rather than simply punishing immigrants.

These changes will positively affect all Long Islanders, immigrant and native-born alike, most notably in regard to the economy.

According to the Immigration Policy Center, the 1986 immigration reform bill raised wages for all workers and led to increases in educational, home, and small business investments by newly legalized immigrants.

The study showed that immigration reform in 2010 would increase the U.S. GDP by at least 0.84 percent, which translates into at least a cumulative $1.5 trillion in added GDP over 10 years. And with 465,000 Long Island immigrants that means more money for our communities, too.

With our current broken immigration system and enforcement-only strategies, we’re continuing a vicious cycle of unauthorized immigration, which only hurts our economy.

Looking for economic stimulus that won’t cost taxpayers? Pick up the phone and tell Schumer that you support immigration reform.

Maryann Sinclair Slutsky is the campaign director of Long Island Wins, a campaign promoting policy solutions to local immigration issues. Visit their website at www.LongIslandWins.com.