Immigration Reform Will Ease Economic Decline, Study Says

By Esther M. Gentile
New America Media
January 08, 2010

WASHINGTON--A new study by a leading academic researcher contends that legalizing undocumented workers through comprehensive immigration reform would yield $1.5 trillion to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over a 10-year period, generate billions of dollars in additional tax revenue, increase wages and consumer spending, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The study, “Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” was conducted by Dr. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, associate professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Hinojosa presented the findings during a telephonic press conference moderated by Angela Kelley, vice president for immigration policy and advocacy at the Center for American Progress.

“Number one … legalization produces an immediate economic impact, based on what we’ve known happens in previous legalizations. The reason is because legalization empowers workers immediately to become much more committed and integrated into the economy," Hinojosa said.

The report analyzed the economic impact of legislation passed in 1986. Even in an economic downturn, the legalization of undocumented immigrants caused them to move on to better-paying jobs, resulting in more spending and higher tax revenue.

“Undocumented immigrants … are in a sense a hidden economic engine that we have kept repressed in this country” to the extent, Hinojosa said, that when “we allow them to join the economic mainstream we see an immediate impact in terms of wages and on productivity.”

By creating a temporary worker program to allow for future flows of immigrants – something left out of the 1986 legislation – comprehensive immigration reform would have a magnified effect on the economy. “When we allow more low-skilled immigrants to come in, it expands the overall economic pie, and creates jobs up the ladder, like managers, accountants, and salespeople,” said Daniel Griswold, director of the center for trade policy studies at the Cato Institute.

The study also found that enforcement-only policies have a quantifiable negative impact on the U.S. economy beyond the cost of deportations. Unauthorized workers have lower wages, which hurts the wages of American workers and drags down economic growth, according to Heather Boushey, senior economist at the Center for American Progress.

“The movement toward full deportation in this country produces close to $2.6 trillion in economic decline,” according to Hinojosa. “It really accelerates the movement toward recession and depression, like we saw, by the way, in the 1930s.”

“I think there are two very important things about this report,“ noted Benjamin Johnson, executive director of the American Immigration Council. “One certainly is that it shines a spotlight on the potential for a very large impact on our economy in a time when we need it. Even in Washington, D.C., $1.5 trillion is a lot of money. But the report also reminds us of where the focus of an immigration reform effort ought to be, and that is about how do we provide benefits to the American economy and to the American worker.”

Legalizing undocumented workers, the panelists said, would neither take jobs away from American workers nor increase the number of unemployed.

“It cannot be in any way justified to try to oppose immigration reform on the basis of an economic argument,” Hinojosa concluded.

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0581c954ae507dd951e0a3a56cf0e18e

With fewer jobs, fewer illegal immigrants

The US recession and stricter law enforcement are keeping many Hispanics from coming.
By Brian Whitley
The Christian Science Monitor
December 30, 2008

The economic downturn – along with more aggressive enforcement – is reducing the flow of illegal immigrants to the United States.

Not only are fewer people – mostly Hispanics – slipping into the United States, they're getting fewer jobs. New data shows that Latino participation in the labor force – normally among the highest – has dropped along with a decline in new arrivals.

"The picture has definitely changed," says Randy Katz, a demographer at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, though he cautions that it's too early to say whether the changes are permanent. "Unauthorized Hispanic immigrants are fairly responsive to job markets."

Tougher enforcement and the construction of a new border fence may also be playing a role. The number of illegal aliens removed or returned home this year rose 20 percent compared with a year ago, according to a Department of Homeland Security statement. There was also a 27 percent increase in arrests made while raiding workplaces by the US Immigration and Customs.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1230/p03s07-usgn.html

ICE Conducts 1,172 Raids in 11 Months

ICE Conducts 1,172 Raids in 11 Months
La Opinión, News Report
Jorge Morales Almada
Translated by Elena Shore
Posted: Oct 17, 2008

LOS ANGELES -- In less than a year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has conducted 1,172 worksite raids across the country. In 11 months, from Oct. 1, 2007 to Aug. 31, 2008, ICE arrested 4,956 people in these operations, of which 1,022 were either wanted for criminal charges or had a deportation order against them. Of those arrested, 116 people were owners, managers, supervisors or human resources employees who were accused of hiring undocumented immigrants.

Those who did not have documents to work in the country were charged with identity theft, Social Security fraud or were given an administrative charge under immigration law.

This data is limited to ICE raids on companies or factories, and does not include the organization's actions in specific neighborhoods or homes.

One of these raids was carried out May 12 in the meat processing plant Agriprocessors Inc., in Postville, Iowa, where 389 undocumented workers were reportedly detained.

According to information disclosed by ICE to The Des Moines Register in Iowa, this raid cost more than $5.2 million in research, operational and processing expenses. This figure does not include expenses by the Department of Labor or the federal attorney general.

ICE did not have data on how much has been spent on the more than 1,000 raids that have been conducted in the country between October and August.

Considering that $5.2 billion was spent in the Postville raid to detain to 389 workers – or more than $13,300 spent per detainee –then for the nearly 5,000 arrests made in more than 1,000 ICE raids, ICE would have spent an estimated $66 million.

"ICE specializes in wasting money and ruining lives," said Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)."

In these times of economic hardship, we need to do a better job of reviewing how they are spending tax dollars. Wasting funds and breaking apart working families are not consistent with American values. The worst part about these raids is that apart from the people who were trapped in the wrong place at the wrong time, many times they have been denied their right to due process,” she added.

On Tuesday Congressman Steve King, R-Iowa, told the Iowa press that ICE should enforce the law regardless of the cost to taxpayers.

“If we start saying, 'Well, it costs too much money to enforce the law,' then we will see more and more of these radical, pro-illegal immigration activists drive more wedges between us and make it harder to enforce the law," Congressman King told the Des Moines Register.

During fiscal year 2007, ICE was able to collect about $30 million in fines to employers who hired undocumented immigrants.During the same time period, from Oct. 1, 2006 to Sept. 30, 2007, some 4,940 immigrants were arrested, of which 863 had criminal records. About 90 of these were business owners or supervisors.

As part of their job of impeding companies from hiring undocumented immigrants who are not authorized to work in the country, ICE has updated the records of 6.5 million employees through the E-Verify program.

http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=6eed205b6638330bde3f0734b45578c4

Postville’s economy in flux

Postville’s economy in flux
By Lynda Waddington
The Iowa Independent
9/15/08 6:44 AM

More storefronts are empty now in downtown Postville than they were four months ago when federal immigration enforcement agents raided the large Agriprocessors Inc। meatpacking plant in town. But that’s only part of the story when it comes to the town’s economy.

“It’s been tough,” said Bruce Stockman, owner of Best Place Auto Repair। His business, located just across the street from Agriprocessors human resources office and the plant gate, was frequented by many workers and supervisors at the plant. He pointed past a large multilingual metal sign on the front of the building to his three service bays. A white pickup sits in the first bay, but the other two are empty.

“I know there’s been a lot said [about Agriprocessors and the people that run the plant],” Stockman said। “But they’ve always done right by me — they’ve always treated me well, paid their bills and we’ve had a good working relationship.”

Not all business owners and managers in Postville, however, share Stockman’s assessment of the local economy। Sharon Drahn, editor of the Postville Herald-Leader, points out that economically there were two Postvilles.

“The immigrant community set up its own businesses in town,” she explained। “They were primarily patrons of those businesses. This is not to say that they didn’t buy from other businesses in town, but they didn’t make up most of the non-Hispanic business’s customer base.”

http://iowaindependent.com/5448/postvilles-economy-in-flux

ICE stepping up Ohio deportations

ICE stepping up Ohio deportations
Published: Sept. 10, 2008
United Press International

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they are stepping up the number of deportations from Ohio where 3,300 have been sent home this year.

That's up from 900 for all of 2007, the Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday. It said immigration officials have upped the number of agents in the state from eight to 40 as officials continue a crackdown on mainly Hispanic illegal immigrants in the Midwestern state.

The Dispatch said it was allowed to accompany immigration agents as they loaded shackled deportees onto a plane at an unnamed Ohio airport. The newspaper said there were 99 detainees put onto an unmarked, white U.S. Marshal's jet, 95 of whom were men and most whom looked younger than 35.

Before being put on the plane, the marshals checked the detainees' mouths, hair and hands for hidden objects as immigration agents and deputies loaded catered meals and the immigrants' belongings onto the plane.

Such deportations can cost as much as $6,000 per person, immigration spokesman Greg Palmore told the Dispatch.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/10/ICE_stepping_up_Ohio_deportations/UPI-57191221072234/

Immigration raid fallout is tough on town

Immigration raid fallout is tough on town
August 31, 2008
Elizabeth Crisp
elizabeth.crisp@clarionledger.com

Tensions had been building in this small southeast Mississippi town even before the immigration raid at the city's largest employer.

Feelings in the wake of Monday's raid now range from fear to anger to sympathy. And some residents are simply trying to move on.

At least 595 people were taken into custody when agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stormed Howard Industries, a company of more than 4,000 workers that specializes in technology products. It was the single-largest workplace immigration raid in U.S. history.

Lashonda Dase, the store manager of a local pawnshop, questions whether the company knowingly hired illegal workers over those who are here legally.

"You're basically keeping 600 people who are legal to work here from working," she said. "That could be 600 households, 600 children who've been suffering.

"It was wrong if they knew."

No one at Howard Industries has been charged, but the investigation is ongoing. Arrests at companies often can come weeks, months or even years after raids.

The company has denied any wrongdoing.

Wanda Benson, the city's public relations director, would not discuss anything for this story, including questions about Laurel's Hispanic community, Howard Industries' role in Laurel or how the raid stands to impact the city's future.

"Maybe at a later date the city will make a formal statement, but we have nothing to say at this time," she said.

Nearly all of the city's Mexican restaurants closed following the raid and have not reopened.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080831/NEWS/808310370/1001/news

Immigration Raids Cripple Small Towns

Immigration Raids Cripple Small Towns
Towns Say Mass Deportations Cause Economic and Humanitarian Crisis
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Aug. 29, 2008 —

When federal agents swooped down on an electrical transformer plant in Lauren, Miss., this week, seizing 595 immigrants, the scene resembled a paramilitary operation: sealed exits, workers shackled at the wrists, waist and ankles.

The dramatic raid -- the nation's biggest in a search for evidence of identity theft, Social Security fraud and individuals living illegally in the United States -- sent echoes throughout the town of 20,000 and beyond.

"They've 'Postvilled' again," said Erik Camayd-Freixas, a federal translator who witnessed the second-biggest immigration raid in Postville, Iowa, in May when 389 were arrested at a kosher meat processing plant.

Three months later, Postville is a "ghost town," according to Camayd-Freixas, having lost one-quarter of its 2,300 population. Agriprocessors Inc., the plant, runs at half-capacity, lunch counters are empty and property values have plummeted in an already strained economy.

In the last two years, raids have intensified in the absence of comprehensive immigration reform. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff has publicly said he will enforce laws on the books, not ignore them.

The result has been felt in towns like Laurel and Postville, which have lost workers, taxpayers, tenants and businesses.

Officials point to a slight downturn in people sneaking across the border, but there is still no solution to the nation's immigration crisis. And in a contentious election year, both presidential candidates treat the issue like a political hot potato.

"Enforcement belongs at the border and not at the American heartland, because there is immense collateral damage on American citizens and communities like Laurel and Postville," said Freixas. "It brings out the best and worst of humanity."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5679696&page=1

Farmers: Immigration Raids Imperil Harvests

Farmers: Immigration Raids Imperil Harvests
Jay Gallagher and Leah Rae
The Journal News (NY)

ALBANY - With the harvest season beginning, farmers around the state say crackdowns on immigrants are causing a widespread labor shortage that threatens this year's harvest of some fruits and vegetables.

"Some farmers are flat-out short of hands," said Pete Gregg, a spokesman for the state Farm Bureau. "They're worried about leaving fruits on the trees and vegetables on the ground."
New York is home to a labor-intensive farming industry that expects this year to produce 3 billion apples, second to Washington state, as well as cabbage, corn, cherries, peaches, strawberries and blueberries. Most of those crops have to be picked by hand.

At Cascade Farm in Patterson, David Frost is preparing to work harder and longer hours when four of his employees return to high school and college, halfway through the growing season. It's impossible to find replacements, he said, even though there is no shortage of willing laborers nearby.

"We've checked with a lot of day laborers, and none of them have papers," said Frost, who runs an educational farm with a range of organic produce. "And we're a not-for-profit, so we don't want to jeopardize our status with any kind of problems. So we're doing it by the book.
"They all need work. We need them. But they don't have papers," Frost said.

About half of the nation's 1 million hired farmworkers do not have legal authorization to work in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Earlier migrants have had opportunities to legalize their status, but Congress has deadlocked over a proposed legalization program. Of farmworkers who entered the United States since 2001, only 2 percent have legal status, according to the National Agricultural Workers Survey.

http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008808140410