Immigration Reform Now
A project of the
Republican National Hispanic Assembly (RNHA)
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Immigration Reform Now
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Table of Contents
What is a guest worker program?President Bush proposes that the Federal Government offer temporary worker status to undocumented men and women now employed in the United States and to those in foreign countries who have been offered employment here. The workers under temporary status must pay a one-time fee to register in the program, abide by the rules, and return home after their period of work expires. It will offer an orderly system which addresses our economic needs, and it would remove the national security concerns created by having millions of unauthorized residents. Back to TopIsn’t a guest worker program just an amnesty program?The 1986 amnesty program granted permanent resident status only to those that could prove they had been illegal residents for a period of time. Other would-be immigrants were not eligible. A guest worker program grants a temporary visa to a worker that has an offer of employment. It does not favor those who might be here illegally. At the end of their visa period they need to leave the U.S. unless they have otherwise obtained permanent residency. Back to TopWouldn’t a guest worker program encourage further illegal immigration?As long as there is a system of legal immigration that matches our economic needs, people will use it. Our economy is growing very fast during a time in which our population would be decreasing if it were not for immigration. The insufficient mechanisms allowing workers to enter our country legally have caused illegal immigration. A guest worker program would provide those the necessary mechanisms and thus eliminate the incentive for immigrating illegally. Back to TopDidn’t we have an amnesty program before and now we have more illegal aliens?President Reagan signed an amnesty program in 1986. To qualify for that you had to have been living in the country illegally for a period of time. Laws requiring employer verification of worker's status and employer sanctions for violations were passed to discourage future illegal immigration. The problem was that although enforcement provisions were established, no avenues to that allow people to immigrate legally into this country were created. The US economy, in large part because of the fiscal policies started by Ronald Reagan, has continued to expand. At the same time that the Baby Boom generation has aged and the number of young workers has been declining. In the past few years, increased border enforcement has made it much more difficult and dangerous to enter the country illegally. Yet the number of people entering illegally has risen dramatically as the economic policies of the Bush administration have created close to 5 million new jobs since May 2003. Our immigration system has been one that increasingly relies on undocumented workers to fulfill our growing labor needs. It is the lack of a realistic legal immigration system for workers during a period of economic expansion and low population growth, and not a past amnesty program, that is the root cause of the high level of illegal immigration. Back to TopWhy do we need a guest worker program?A primary goal of immigration reform should be to secure our borders and protect this country from harm. Because screening the 10 million illegal aliens here will help reach those goals in the least amount of time, you should advocate for both strong enforcement and a way to register and identify them. A guest worker program, unlike the amnesty program of the past, will also control future illegal immigration by allowing legal immigration at levels that match our economic self-interest. Back to TopShouldn't we first focus on enforcement and then consider other reforms?Experience shows that enforcement alone -- without reform -- is doomed to fail. Since the federal government began its crackdown on illegal immigration in the
1980s, spending on the Border Patrol has increased ten-fold, and line-watch hours
have increased eight-fold. We have built fences miles into the desert. We have raided factories and
chicken-processing plants from coast to coast in an effort to enforce employer
sanctions. Yet the amount of illegal immigration grew. Yet our immigration system offers no legal channel for peaceful, hardworking individuals to enter our country even temporarily to fill the jobs they are being offered. Enforcement alone does not address the root cause of illegal immigration -- our supply of workers does not match our economic demands. Don't we have too many immigrants?Historically immigration has gone up during periods of high economic growth and down during periods of depression, war or fast internal population growth. Since 1972 the fertility rate of the U.S. has been at or below replacement level. At the same time this has been a period of unprecedented economic growth. In spite of the very high levels of immigration the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.7% which is lower than the average unemployment rate of the 70's, 80's and 90's. While it is true that immigration has increased in the last few decades it is not a historical anomaly nor has it adversely affected our labor market.
A very complete analysis of the recent trends in immigration can be found at: Rise, Peak and Decline: Trends in U.S. Immigration 1992 – 2004, from the Pew Hispanic Center. Back to TopDon't illegal immigrants just come here to take advantage of our social welfare system instead of working?All immigrants are looking for economic opportunity. Multiple studies document that the foreign-born are both less apt to come and more likely to leave when the U.S. economy is doing poorly. For example, in the period of economic slow down after 9/11 and before President Bush's economic stimulus package was passed in May 2003, the number of people apprehended at the border for trying to enter illegally dropped significantly.
If they were simply looking for social programs they would be migrating all the way to Canada. As the chart below shows, they migrate to areas where they can fill labor shortages that other Americans are not interested in filling. In some states, immigrants represent more than 90% of the labor force growth.
(Click on the graphs above to see the study which is the source for these graphs) Back to TopAren't immigrants taking up the jobs that Americans want?As the Baby Boom generation ages, the number of native born young workers continues to drop. Furthermore, these young workers are more educated and less interested in doing semi-skilled labor. In 1960, 50% of all native born adults working had a high school degree; today 90% do so. This is a positive trend but there are large numbers of jobs being created that these young workers are not interested in taking. For the most part, the jobs immigrants are taking are not being taken away from other Americans.
 Have low-waged workers, blacks or Hispanics been harmed by the immigrant influx? There is scant evidence to support that thesis. As the nearby chart shows, the increase in the immigration flow has corresponded with steady and substantial reductions in unemployment from 7.3% to 5.1% over the past two decades. And the unemployment rates have fallen by 6 percentage points for blacks and 3.5 percentage points for Latinos. Since 1980 the U.S. has taken in more than twice the number of immigrants of any other industrialized nation, yet we have the second lowest unemployment rate. Renowned labor economist Richard Vedder of Ohio University has shown, moreover, that the states with the highest levels of immigration have generally had the lowest, not the highest unemployment rates.Public opinion polls show that most Americans believe that immigrants are mostly doing jobs others don't want. For example a poll of California residents on Feb 2006 showed:  Click on table to see the full survey. Back to TopMost of these immigrants come from Latin America. Do they share my values?The answer of course depends on what your values are. There is a lot of diversity within the Hispanic immigrant populations but they are characterized by a strong belief in family, faith and self-determination. Hispanics in our country are more conservative that the non-Hispanic white population.
Immigrant Hispanics are even more conservative.
Back to TopMost of these immigrants come from Latin America. What is their work-ethic?Labor force participation rate is defined as the percentage of the adult population that is working or actively looking for a job. Hispanics have one of the highest labor force participation rates. In fact, it is estimated that if non-Hispanics White men had the same labor force participation rate as Hispanic men there would be close to 5 million more workers in our nation.
Back to TopAren't most Republicans against a guest worker program?A recent survey shows that 72% of registered likely Republican voters would favor legislation which would do the following to create an earned legalization program:
In the same survey, when given a choice between enforcement only vs. a comprehensive immigration reform plan, a large majority of likely Republican voters favored comprehensive immigration reform.
Click on the graphics to see the complete survey. A Time Magazine/SRBI Poll in January 2006 showed that Republicans are more in favor than Democrats to provide a path to US Citizen to illegal immigrants if they satisfy certain conditions and to deport them otherwise.
Source: http://www.srbi.com/time_poll_arc20.html A different survey released by the Pew Hispanic Center at the end of March shows that Republicans are more in favor of a guest worker program than Democrats.
Click on the table to see the complete survey. Back to TopAren't most legal immigrants critical of undocumented immigrants?Recent surveys of legal immigrant show that undocumented immigrants have a positive image among legal immigrants from throughout the world. For example, on the question: "Some people say that illegal immigrants help the economy by providing low-cost labor. Others say they hurt the economy by driving wages down. Which is closer to your view?"
Click on the graphics to see the complete survey. Back to Top
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