America Is a Nation of Immigrants
Fair and Enforceable Immigration Reform
What does it mean?
Arguments over immigration primarily focus on the Southern border, where families fleeing dangerous conditions in their own countries continue trying to enter the U.S. The situation is complicated by the evident inability of Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and the lack of sufficient personnel to handle the influx of immigrants or the court's ability to hear refugee appeals in a timely manner. The Republican refusal to reform a broken system is consistent with the party's current White Nationalism, which rejects people based on the color of their skin rather than focusing on rules to weed out criminals and other undesirable individuals. The GOP's emphasis on restricting the flow of all immigrants has left many business establishments unable to find employees.
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Why Does It Matter?
America remains a land of Immigrants. Immigrants today make up about 14% of the U.S. population; together with their children, they are about 27% of us. In 2022, the foreign born accounted for 18.1 percent of the U.S. civilian labor force, up from 17.4 percent in 2021. Collectively, they were 45% of domestic workers, 36% of manufacturing workers, and 33% of agricultural workers. Most Americans consider immigration a good thing: a 2016 Gallup poll found 84% supported a path to citizenship for undocumented persons who met certain requirements. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy estimates that approximately half of undocumented workers pay income taxes, but all of them pay sales and property taxes. In 2010, those state and local taxes amounted to approximately 10.6 billion dollars. According to the Partnership for a New American Economy, more than 40% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children. They include Intel, EBay, Google, Tesla, Apple, You Tube, Pay Pal, Yahoo, Nordstrom, Comcast, and Proctor and Gamble. As of 2011, one in ten Americans was employed by an immigrant-run business, so on economic grounds alone, we should welcome immigrants. But, not only do we threaten undocumented persons, we make it incredibly difficult to come here legally. If there is one fact that everyone admits, it is the need to reform a totally dysfunctional and inhumane system.
Marc Carmichael will support reforms that will make the immigration system both fair and enforceable.
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