Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Myths and facts about illegal aliens

WASHINGTON, DC APRIL 30, 2009 – The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) is encouraged by events of the past 24 hours as President Barak Obama renewed his Administration’s pledge to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) announced its intention to recalibrate its worksite enforcement actions to focus more on criminal prosecutions of employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers, and the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship led by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), commenced hearings to examine common sense solutions to fixing America’s broken immigration system.

AILA commends Chairman Schumer for sounding the starting gun with an outstanding first hearing. Two expert-laden panels of witnesses made a highly compelling case – covering the moral, economic, business, labor, security and law enforcement angles - for the need to advance immigration reform legislation this year. “The stars seem to be aligning for a major push toward comprehensive immigration reform this year,” said Charles H. Kuck, president of AILA. “Momentum continues to build as more and more of our elected leaders understand that tackling and solving our current immigration crisis will only help strengthen America’s economy and security. The events over the past two days signal that this Administration and Congress get it and will not let this opportunity to finally bring the nation’s legal immigration system into the 21st century pass them by.”

AILA is pleased that DHS is taking steps to restore balance and rationality in its enforcement priorities. Mr. Kuck expressed hopes that the new DHS statement of policy addresses pivotal due process concerns, saying “a retooling of enforcement activities must, first and foremost, ensure the right to counsel of any employees caught up in these actions, and limit or eliminate the abusive practice of transferring detainees away from their communities, families and attorneys. These are indispensable elements of a fair and just system.”

After the historic election of President Barack Obama, a lot of discussion about a comprehensive immigration reform that could give a path to citizenship to millions of undocumented immigrants, who live in the shadows right now, is about to start.

But the immediate challenges for this Administration right now are: the economy recovery and job creation. But historically during a recession, immigration reforms are unlikely to pass. That is heartbreaking for many people who are expecting ammendments to the current, restrictive immigration laws and give them a way to become legal immigrants.

Members of the AILA visited Washington, D.C. for the National Day of Action. Immigration Attorneys visited the Congressional Representatives. The purpose of the visit was to educate Members of Congress and their staff about the problems plaguing our immigration system so that they can be more effective in crafting, promoting, and supporting legislative solutions.

Immigration is a very sensitive topic and many Americans have different opinions and feelings towards it. It is important to mention that, there are a lot of myths and misconceptions. Here is a list of few common popular beliefs and the facts about them.

The reality is:

Contrary to what people think, undocumented workers are not (and have never been) eligible to claim social security benefits. Moreover, most undocumented workers will use a false social security number to prove work authorization, therefore paying money into a benefit system that they will never be eligible to use.

According to the Social Security Administration (SSA), undocumented immigrants "account for a major portion" of the billions of dollars paid into the Social Security system under names or social security numbers that don't match SSA records. As of October 2005, the reported earnings on which these payments are based-which are tracked through the SSA's Earnings Suspense File (ESF)-totaled $520 billion.

Contrary to popular belief, immigrants pay a substantial amount of taxes, from federal income and Social Security taxes to state income, sales, and property taxes.

The IRS estimates that undocumented immigrants alone paid $50 billion in taxes from 1996 to 2003.

A 2007 White House Council of Economic Advisers study reports that immigrants and their families contribute an average of $80,000 more than they use in benefits.

The reality is:

"Chain migration" is not possible under our immigration system. Current backlogs impose significant waiting periods on citizens and green card holders attempting to petition for a family member.

* According to the April 2009 Visa Bulletin, Mexican spouses and minor children of lawful permanent residents have a current estimated wait of more than 7 years, while the siblings of U.S. citizens from the Philippines must wait 22 ½ years.
* Congress has established an annual ceiling of 226,000 visas for family-based immigrant petitions. Once that annual quota is reached, no more family-based immigrant petitions are granted regardless of the number filed.
* Despite alarmist predictions to the contrary, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has found that "massive chain migration is generally not occurring" and studies have determined that "a new immigrant will, ultimately, sponsor 1.2 dependents."

U.S. citizens and green card holders can only sponsor direct immediate relatives (spouses, children, and siblings). It is impossible for anyone to sponsor their aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents or any other distant relatives for a visa to enter the United States.

The reality is:

While it is true that immigrants remit billions of dollars a year to their home countries, this is one of the most targeted and effective forms of direct foreign investment. In addition to the consumer spending of immigrant households, immigrants and their businesses contribute $162 billion in tax revenue to U.S. federal, state, and local governments.

The Reality is:

The 2006 and 2007 immigration reform bills, which included a legalization program, would have more than paid for themselves through increased tax revenue.

Legalizing undocumented workers would improve wages and working conditions for all workers, and increase tax revenues for cash-strapped federal, state, and local governments.

Between one-half and three-quarters of undocumented immigrants now work "on the books" and pay federal and state income taxes, Social Security taxes, and Medicare taxes.

A 2007 report from the White House Council of Economic Advisers concluded that immigration as a whole increases the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by roughly $37 billion each year.

Newly legalized workers would be able to move into higher-paying jobs, pay more in taxes, and spend more on goods and services-all of which would increase the already-substantial economic benefits of immigration for the United States.