Middle-Class Watchdog Testifies Before NYC Council That U.S. House Immigration Bill 'Would Be A Disaster For America's Middle Class'

31 March 2006

Today, The Drum Major Institute For Public Policy (DMI), a New York-based non-partisan public policy think tank that has taken a leading role in shaping the ongoing national debate on immigration reform, will testify on that issue before the New York City Council Committees on Immigration and Civil Rights. Applying its expertise in evaluating policy based on its impact on America's current and aspiring middle class, DMI will testify that the Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 (H.R. 4437) would undermine the economic well-being of the American middle class.

"From the point of view of Americans' ability to achieve and hold on to a middle-class standard of living, (H.R. 4437) would be a disaster," DMI Director of Research Amy Traub will testify. Traub will emphasize that, when considering legislation like H.R. 4437 that goes as far as criminalizing the presence of undocumented workers, it is critical to recognize the important contributions immigrants make to our economy as workers, entrepreneurs, taxpayers and consumers -- a consideration that H.R. 4437 misses entirely. Traub will further warn the City Council that "deporting 12 million (immigrants)," as H.R. 4437 appears intent on doing, "is clearly going to undermine their economic contribution to the country. And that's going to hurt the middle class."

H.R. 4437 fails to consider how the American economy would operate if it was deprived of its immigrant workforce. In addition to providing the labor and services that fuel our economy, immigrant contributions help to fund our Social Security system and provide significant tax revenues that commonly exceed the value of what they receive back in services. This net gain for the economy would be lost under H.R. 4437.

H.R. 4437 would further harm Americans' ability to work their way into the middle class by driving undocumented workers further underground with enhanced penalties, worsening the current situation in which undocumented immigrants are so fearful of deportation that they are willing to accept substandard workplace conditions. These substandard conditions for immigrants undermine the ability of all Americans to get a fair deal in the labor market, according to DMI. "As long as there is a pool of immigrant labor available that's cheaper and more compliant than native workers, many employers are all too willing to take advantage of the situation to keep their labor costs down ... " Traub will testify, "The result is that when immigrants lack rights in the workplace, labor standards are driven down, and all working people have less opportunity to enter or remain part of the middle class." Traub will conclude by urging the City Council to pass a resolution condemning the federal bill.

A full version of DMI's testimony can be found online at http://www.drummajorinstitute.org. In addition, DMI's recently released immigration policy report titled "Principles For An Immigration Policy To Strengthen And Expand The American Middle Class: A Primer for Policymakers and Advocates" is also available online at http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/ImmigrationReport.php. DMI's immigration report provides far greater details and empirical evidence on how immigration policy can benefit America's middle class.

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Source: usnewswire

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