Immigration Reform Will Benefit the Middle Class

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-01-13 18:56:00 UTC
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Reports of the economic benefits of comprehensive immigration just keep on coming. In the latest, the Drum Major Institute has released an analysis of Rep. Luis Gutierrez's CIR ASAP bill that comes to the cheering conclusion that its passage will be a win for the middle class.

On the two-question "middle-class test," CIR ASAP makes the honor role. Gutierrez's bill gives the right answer to the question of bolstering the "critical contributions that immigrants make to our economy," and for strengthening immigrants rights in the workplace.

DMI points out that when immigrants lack employee rights, employers laugh off labor standards, keeping working men and women out of the middle class -- and exerting downward pressure on those already living in the middle. Offering undocumented workers the chance to become legal encourages their work to enter the light of day, making it easier to enforce American labor laws and stop exploitation.

The analysis also cites a Department of Labor Study that looked at the impact of 1986 legalization -- which also occurred during a recession -- and found that wages increased for newly documented workers went up 15% in five years. That means more taxes to the government, and more consumer spending power to oil up the economic works.

Photo credit: hellochris

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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