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These are the immigration facts: Immigrants and immigration are good for our country, our communities, and our economy. Efforts to cut\u00a0legal immigration<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 particularly in the recovery from the unprecedented coronavirus pandemic \u2013 will keep American families separated, hurt public health, and damage our economy as the country continues to recover from the pandemic. New arrivals to the U.S. help drive business creation, fuel innovation, fill essential workforce needs, and strengthen the middle class. Family-based immigration promotes family unity and integration, all core principles of American values. And many immigrants will go on to become citizens, taking the solemn oath of allegiance to America and the Constitution.<\/p>\n The success of our nation comes, in large part, from our longstanding tradition of encouraging people seeking a better life to leave everything they know to contribute to the United States. Severely limiting legal immigration puts this at risk. Instead, we should protect and expand current immigration levels and work to\u00a0pass immigration reform\u00a0that makes it safer, faster, and more efficient for prospective immigrants to enter the U.S. and begin contributing.<\/p>\n We cannot afford to shut out the life-saving contributions that immigrants and immigration bring to our country.<\/p>\n Myth:\u00a0<\/strong>The U.S. doesn\u2019t need immigration to increase its population.<\/p>\n Fact:\u00a0<\/strong>Between 2010 and 2020, the U.S. saw its\u00a0slowest\u00a0population growth of any decade since the 1930s. In recent years, fewer children have been born. Immigration levels have also decreased.\u00a0Future immigration\u00a0is needed to increase the U.S. population size overall, but also to maintain a senior to working-age ratio for\u00a0growing the U.S. economy. According to FWD.us projections, the U.S. should double immigration levels to remain\u00a0globally competitive\u00a0with other economies and keep fiscal programs like Social Security strong. Most projected population growth in the U.S. is\u00a0due to immigration. If immigration to the U.S. were to cease, the U.S. population would be about\u00a0the same size\u00a0in 2050 as it would be today.<\/p>\n Myth:<\/strong>\u00a0Immigration hurts American workers. Immigrants take jobs from Americans and drive wages down.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: Immigrants are\u00a0highly entrepreneurial, launching new companies at twice the rate of native-born Americans and creating large numbers of jobs. All of this increases employment opportunities for native-born American workers, boosts wages and strengthens the middle class. As the U.S. economy begins to reopen, job creators will be absolutely critical to boosting recovery in communities across the country.\u00a0Research shows\u00a0that immigrants generally complement, rather than compete with American workers, because they have different skill sets and educational backgrounds. The U.S. economy is dynamic and not zero-sum: when one individual obtains a job, it does not mean another individual loses a job. In fact, immigrants help grow the economy by filling labor needs, purchasing goods and paying taxes. When more people work, productivity increases. And as an\u00a0increasing number of Americans retire\u00a0in coming years, immigrants will help\u00a0fill labor demand\u00a0and maintain the social safety net.<\/p>\n \u201cImmigrants added $2 trillion to the U.S. GDP in 2016\u00a0<\/strong>and $458.7 billion to state, local, and federal taxes in 2018<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n ECONOMIC IMPACT<\/strong><\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: Immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy and reducing immigration would make our economy stronger.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: The United States needs immigrants to\u00a0stay competitive and drive economic growth, Particularly as our economy starts to reopen, individuals who create jobs are absolutely critical to our recovery. Immigrants are innovators, job creators, and consumers with an enormous spending power that drives our economy, and creates employment opportunities for all Americans. Immigrants added\u00a0$2 trillion<\/a>\u00a0to the U.S. GDP in 2016 and\u00a0$458.7 billion\u00a0to state, local, and federal taxes in 2018. In 2018, after immigrants spent billions of dollars on state and local, and federal taxes, they were left with\u00a0$1.2 trillion\u00a0in spending power, which they used to purchase goods and services, stimulating local business activity. Proposed cuts to our legal immigration system would have devastating effects on our economy, decreasing GDP by\u00a02%\u00a0over twenty years, shrinking growth by\u00a012.5%, and cutting\u00a04.6 million jobs. Rust Belt states would be hit particularly hard, as they\u00a0r<\/a>ely on immigration\u00a0to stabilize their populations and revive their economies.<\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: Immigrants are poorly educated and have no skills to offer Americans.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: Immigrants tend to be well-educated and skilled in their fields. 43% of recently-arrived family and diversity-based immigrants are college graduates \u2013 compared to 29% of native-born Americans. More than half of STEM degrees awarded by U.S. universities go to\u00a0international students, and about half of applicants for H-1B temporary work visas\u00a0have a Masters degree or above\u00a0from a U.S. university. Immigrants\u00a0represent 30% of new entrepreneurs, despite making up only 13% of the population keeping the workforce flexible, allowing companies to grow faster, and increasing the productivity of American workers by bringing in individuals with diverse skill sets and new ideas. In fact,\u00a045% of Fortune 500 companies\u00a0were founded by immigrants and their children, employing over 10 million people worldwide.<\/p>\n \u201cIf current legal immigration levels were cut by 50%, the Social Security fund would\u00a0<\/em>lose $1.5 trillion in revenue over the next 75 years<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n Urban Institute<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n TAXES AND ESSENTIAL SERVICES<\/strong><\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: Immigrants are a burden to essential services like schools, hospitals and highways.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: Immigrants make significant contributions to our economy on virtually every front \u2013 including on tax revenue, where they contribute\u00a0$458.7 billion\u00a0to state, local, and federal taxes in 2018. This includes undocumented immigrants, who\u00a0contribute\u00a0roughly $11.74 billion a year in state and local taxes, including more than $7 billion in sales and excise taxes, $3.6 billion in property taxes, and $1.1 billion in personal income taxes. These billions of tax dollars fund our schools, hospitals, emergency response services, highways, and other essential services. These revenues would increase by\u00a0$2.18 billion\u00a0annually if undocumented immigrants were given legal status as part of an immigration reform package. Additionally, immigrants make enormous contributions to Social Security. If current legal immigration levels were cut by 50%, the Social Security fund would lose\u00a0$1.5 trillion\u00a0in revenue over the next 75 years.<\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: The U.S. doesn\u2019t need more immigrants and the American people want to see a reduction in immigration.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: Americans want\u00a0more\u00a0immigration, not less. Over\u00a075%\u00a0of Americans oppose making cuts to our legal immigration system, and\u00a0three-quarters\u00a0of Americans say that immigration is good for the U.S. As the U.S. population ages, immigrants and their families are\u00a0crucial for our economy.\u00a0According to the Census Bureau, the 65-and-older population will nearly\u00a0double\u00a0by 2050, reducing the number of people in our workforce. On the other hand,\u00a079%\u00a0of immigrants in the U.S. are working-age compared to 61% of their native-born counterparts.<\/p>\n \u201cEmployment-based immigrants are critical to the U.S. economy<\/strong>\u00a0as they meet the temporary and permanent needs of U.S. employers in diverse industries<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n National Immigration Forum<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRATION<\/strong><\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: American businesses use work visas to underpay immigrant workers and replace American workers.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: Many U.S. companies hire foreign-born professionals to supplement their workforce, using a mix of permanent, employment-based immigration visas (called \u201cgreen cards\u201d) and\u00a0temporary visas, like the H-2A visa for agricultural workers or the H-1B visa for highly-skilled specialty workers. For temporary roles, employers must demonstrate that they will pay their new hires at least the average wage paid to similarly situated workers, and for permanent immigration programs, employers must go through a rigorous labor certification process to demonstrate there are no qualified Americans available to fill the role. Research demonstrates that immigrant workers\u00a0do not hurt\u00a0the wages of native-born workers, and, on the contrary,\u00a0complement\u00a0them. Employment-based\u00a0immigrants are critical to the U.S. economy\u00a0as they meet the temporary and permanent needs of U.S. employers in diverse industries.<\/p>\n These contributions are even more critical as the U.S. economy continues to recover from the pandemic. And the kinds of jobs that immigrants have filled during the pandemic have\u00a0supported the health and safety of communities across the country, and undoubtedly saved millions of American lives: this includes essential frontline workers in healthcare roles, individuals researching treatments or vaccines for coronavirus, or as farmworkers keeping the supply chain safe and putting food on tables across the country, to name just a few.<\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: International students take jobs away from Americans.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: International students make countless contributions to campuses across the country, and their entrepreneurial spirit, innovative skills, and spending power contribute to the American economy. They spend billions of dollars as consumers, frequently pay higher tuition rates, which\u00a0subsidize\u00a0domestic students keeping tuition costs down, support local businesses, and have gone on to found companies like Google, Yahoo!, and Trulia, employing hundreds of thousands of Americans. In fact, during the 2018-2019 academic year, international students studying in the U.S.\u00a0contributed $41 billion and supported 458,290 jobs to the economy. International students are pursuing degrees in many sectors including in the science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM fields.<\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: Deporting as many undocumented immigrants as possible is good for the American economy.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: Beyond the staggering moral costs and far-reaching trauma of separating millions of American families, the deportation of 11 million people would\u00a0impoverish many American families and create enormous social costs. Mass deportation would force a nearly\u00a0$8 trillion hit to the economy over the next 14 years\u00a0and jeopardize our housing market. Further, it would take 20 years, and cost U.S. taxpayers between\u00a0$400 to $600 billion.<\/p>\n \u201cProviding a pathway to citizenship for the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. would\u2026, over 10 years,\u00a0<\/em>boost U.S. GDP by $1.2 trillion<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n Center for American Progress<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP<\/strong><\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: Providing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants would hurt American workers.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: Providing a\u00a0pathway to citizenship\u00a0for the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. would increase their wages and spending power and, over 10 years, boost U.S. GDP by\u00a0$1.2 trillion. If the U.S. provided a pathway to permanent residency and citizenship, it would increase Americans\u2019 income by\u00a0$791 billion\u00a0and generate\u00a0$184 billion\u00a0in additional state and local and federal tax revenue from currently undocumented immigrants, and add more than\u00a0200,000 jobs\u00a0to the U.S. economy per year. Millions of undocumented immigrants are serving in essential frontline roles right now, including the\u00a0estimated 48% of agricultural workers who are immigrants, and who are keeping the food supply chain safe and keeping food on tables across America.<\/p>\n \u201cNearly 200,000 DACA recipients are serving in essential frontline roles\u2026 of the pandemic,<\/em>\u00a0including nearly 40,000 healthcare workers<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Center for Migration Studies<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n DREAMERS AND THE ECONOMY<\/strong><\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: Dreamers are a drain on the economy. Giving them legal status would only make things worse for struggling Americans.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>:\u00a0Dreamers\u00a0have built their lives here, and they are Americans in every way except on paper; they also make\u00a0enormous economic contributions\u00a0to the U.S. More than\u00a089%\u00a0of DACA recipients are either employed, and helping to boost the U.S. economy through their spending, and tax dollars. And nearly\u00a0200,000 DACA recipients\u00a0are serving in essential frontline roles in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, including nearly\u00a040,000 as healthcare workers; deporting Dreamers would tear apart families and cost even more lives. If Congress fails to provide protections for these young people, the U.S. GDP could lose out on\u00a0$460 billion\u00a0over the next decade. However, if Dreamers were instead provided with legal status and a pathway to citizenship, as much as\u00a0$1 trillion\u00a0could be added to the GDP over a decade.<\/p>\n Myth<\/strong>: Resettling refugees in the United States is too expensive, and not worth the financial burden of taxpayers.<\/p>\n FACT<\/strong>: The United States has long been a welcoming safe haven for those forcibly displaced and fleeing violence, extreme poverty, and persecution, and our country has been immeasurably better for it. Refugees are important contributors to the U.S. economy, and investing one dollar in helping refugees get settled, can yield almost\u00a0twice as much in economic benefits\u00a0in just 5 years. More than\u00a070% of refugees are of working-age, a higher percentage than the U.S.-born population, and in 2015, refugees contributed\u00a0$20.9 billion\u00a0in taxes and had a spending power of\u00a0$56.3 billion. Refugees have higher rates of entrepreneurship than native-born Americans, and in 2015,\u00a013%\u00a0of refugees were entrepreneurs, driving long term job creation.<\/p>\n Originally printed on fwd.us on July 21,2020<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nPOPULATION IMPACT<\/h4>\n
AMERICAN WORKFORCE<\/h4>\n
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EDUCATION<\/h4>\n
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ANNUAL LEVELS OF IMMIGRATION<\/h4>\n
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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS<\/h4>\n
MASS DEPORTATION<\/h4>\n
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HUMANITARIAN PROTECTIONS<\/h4>\n