Expanded immigration would reduce the federal deficit, some conservatives say
Source: Washington Post
Conservative champions of opening the flow of legal immigration into the United States are invoking economics in hopes of winning Republican lawmakers’ support — specifically, the idea that more immigration will increase growth and cut the federal budget deficit.
The American Action Forum, a conservative think tank, will release an analysis on Tuesday that projects that an overhaul of immigration laws could boost gross domestic product growth by a percentage point each year over the next decade. That growth would produce tax revenue that would reduce federal deficits by a combined $2.5 trillion, according to the group’s president, the economist Douglas Holtz-Eakin.
“It’s very important to recognize that this is a core economic policy decision,” Holtz-Eakin said in an interview. “Let’s acknowledge the value” of immigrants, he added.
Other conservative or libertarian groups are echoing that message, including the Cato Institute and Americans for Tax Reform, the anti-tax group led by Grover Norquist.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/expanded-immigration-would-reduce-the-federal-deficit-some-conservatives-say/2013/04/08/a388e8cc-a07b-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html
Robert Reich made a similar argument in this video he did for the TYT Network channel Townsquare (youtube.com/townsquare)
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