A Congressional Budget Office report finds that the Gang of Eight immigration bill now being debated in the U.S. Senate could provide economic benefits for the U.S. by decreasing the deficit and growing the economy.
“The CBO has further confirmed what most conservative economists have found: reforming our immigration system is a net benefit for our economy, American workers and taxpayers,” said Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.
According to the analysis, the bill would cut the federal deficit by billions -$197 billion over ten years and $700 billion in the following ten years –as increased taxes paid to the government offset the cost of benefits for newly legal residents. In addition, the bill would increase gross domestic product by 3.3 percent over the next 10 years compared with current law and by 5.4 percent over the following decade.
The report also suggests that the Senate legislation would raise economic activity in each of the next two decades, in part because of the legal immigration fostered by the measure and also because millions of workers currently in the country illegally would join the legal workforce and pay taxes.
“[The CBO] debunks the idea that immigration reform is anything other than a boon to our economy and robs the bill’s opponents of one of their last remaining arguments,” said New York Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer. in response to the critics who undermine progress toward a bipartisan agreement.
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