Immigration and U.S. Immigration Policy: Medium-Term Fiscal Impacts and Long-term Fiscal Sustainability for the U.S. Budget

Testimony of Marc Rosenblum, MPI Senior Policy Analyst, before the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.

"My testimony concerns the effects of immigration to the United States on the U.S. budget, a question that also requires a discussion of the effects of immigration on the economy and the earnings and taxes paid by workers.

Let me begin, therefore, by summarizing two major facts about immigration and the economy. First, it is widely accepted by economists that immigration increases U.S. productivity and contributes to overall economic growth. This effect is easy to understand: labor flows into relatively productive sectors, American businesses adjust to changes in the labor supply, and the economy produces more goods and services.1 These general gains are amplified by the fact that immigrants self-select for economic productivity, resulting in high rates of immigrant entrepreneurship and workforce participation. And economic benefits are further augmented by demographics, as immigrants are younger and healthier than natives. [...]"