I don’t want this to get lost in the shuffle of a big news week: a new study from the DC-based Immigration Policy Center concluded yesterday that a path to legalization for undocumented workers would create jobs and boost the economy.
Not only do legalized workers earn more, spend more, and pay more in taxes, that increased consumer spending creates more American jobs. This is only the latest research to conclude that this is true — a 2009 study by the libertarian Cato Institute found the same thing.
The new research adds to another report from earlier in the month, which found that even less-skilled workers benefit from the presence of undocumented people. Without immigration, the study found, “less-skilled workers would also be forced to pay higher prices for food, medical care, and housing.”
We’ve talked a lot about the Dream Act as a small, common-sense reform that helps families. What we don’t often talk about is that creating a path to citizenship is also a jobs program for all Americans.
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