Guest column: Immigrant integration is a moral imperative and an economic necessity
According to the Migration Policy Institute, in 2019, there were more than 2.7 million undocumented immigrants in California. Around 865,000 had lived in the U.S. for over 20 years, and 1,972,000 had lived here for over 10 years. This brings the question: How long will it take to call a place a home?
Unfortunately, when it comes to undocumented immigration, many Americans hold unsound and unproven perceptions about national security, employment competitiveness and cultural assimilation fueled by notions similar to the early 20th-century anti-immigrant sentiment. Discussions over immigration have become divisive and heated in the past few decades. The Comprehensive Immigration Reform proposals from 2006 and 2013 are only two examples of attempts to change the immigration system that have had difficulty winning support from lawmakers. Most lawmakers prefer to stay quiet about it for fear of losing support among their electorates.
Many may not know that 17.4% of all children in California live with undocumented immigrants, according to the data presented by the USC Dornsife Equity Research Center. This ratio is as high as 29.2% among Latinos and 13.3% for Asian children. This should bring attention to the vital importance of moving toward the integration of undocumented immigrants and, in doing so, bringing peace to the lives of the children of California. Just imagine how you would feel if your child lived in a family with fear of their parents or other family members being deported by ICE.
Undocumented immigrants make up a significant proportion of farmworkers in California. However, this only accounts for 15.5% of all undocumented immigrants working in various industries. They have substantial shares in retail trade, construction, manufacturing and other services. Some 172,870, or 10.9%, work in professional, education and health services.
According to the ongoing research on the economic impact of undocumented immigrants in California at the Center for Economics of Social Issues of California Lutheran University, undocumented immigrants in California generate around $152 billion within the state economy or 4.9% of the state’s GDP. The same study shows that the work of undocumented immigrants creates some 1.25 million additional jobs within the state of California. This is a clear indication of the interdependence between the economic existence of undocumented immigrants and the rest of the workers and people in the state.
The same study estimates that in 2019, undocumented immigrants and their employers paid more than $9 billion in social security payments, which they can never see a dime of because of their immigration status. In brief, undocumented immigrants collectively subsidize citizens through the tax system because they pay many of the same taxes but are not eligible for many benefits — including social security entitlement, refundable tax credits, Pell grants, student loans and nutrition programs. The finding of this study is not unprecedented. According to IRS data, from 2015, the agency received $23.6 billion in income taxes from undocumented immigrants. That doesn’t even include workers who paid taxes with fake Social Security numbers on their W-2 forms, which is also common.
To make a long story short, there is not one shred of credible evidence that undocumented immigrants take our tax money and are a burden on U.S. taxpayers.
A recent study by the Center for American Progress, the University of California and Davis’s Global Migration Center shows that providing a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants in the United States would boost U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) by a cumulative total of $1.7 trillion over 10 years and create 438,800 new jobs.
People who stand for social justice and improving our economy for the overwhelming majority of Americans should work together to make it clear to everyone that undocumented immigrants are not the reason for our economic or social problems. Blaming our economic shortcomings on undocumented immigrants is done intentionally to use them as scapegoats and direct attention away from our real economic problem.
Jamshid Damooei, Ph.D., is a professor of economics and executive director of the Center for Economics of Social Economics at the School of Management of California Lutheran University.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Immigrant integration is a moral imperative and an economic necessity
