May 8, 2013

Amnesty and the Economy

By Jonathon Moseley
On May 6, Heritage released its study calculating a $6.3 trillion price tag for the "Gang of Eight" immigration proposal. Amnesty promoters recall that a similar study by Heritage blocked amnesty in 2007. To implement the Gang of Eight's "Mariel Boat Lift, The Sequel," amnesty advocates are seeking to discredit the study. They accuse Heritage of ignoring the expansion of the U.S. economy that amnesty will cause. Therefore, they say, Heritage overstates the true cost of amnesty at $6.3 trillion. They offer no data or analysis to support those claims. But that calculation is very simple: $0.00. That's how much amnesty will expand the economy. Why? The U.S.A. has a surplus of unskilled labor already, and a surplus of nearly all types of labor. So expanding the country's labor surplus will not expand the economy. It is a purely faith-based assertion that adding 10 to 30 million more low-skilled workers to the existing surplus will grow the U.S. economy. We are told: "By adding more...(Read Full Article)