White House touts economic benefits of immigration reform as GOP lawmakers huddle
Washington (CNN) - The sweeping immigration reform bill approved late last month by the U.S. Senate would boost the U.S. economy and help create jobs, the White House asserted in a report released Wednesday.
Long supportive of the Senate measure, President Barack Obama and his aides have pushed the Republican-controlled House to take up the comprehensive immigration reform bill, which includes a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and strict border security provisions.
Some House Republicans have been resistant of the Senate-approved legislation, however, saying any pathway to citizenship amounts to amnesty. GOP lawmakers will meet Wednesday to decide a way forward on immigration, House Speaker John Boehner announced Tuesday.
“We all believe that if we are going to go forward with immigration reform, the first big step is we have serious border security,” he said.
At the White House, Obama will meet with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on Wednesday to discuss immigration reform. And on Capitol Hill, supporters of immigration will rally in support of House action on the Senate’s bill.
In the economic report compiled by various administration offices, the benefits of an overhaul of the nation’s immigration system are touted, using analysis from the Congressional Budget Office showing the bill would increase GDP and lower deficits.
“Today, too many employers game the system by hiring undocumented workers, and there are 11 million people living and working in the shadow economy. Neither is good for the economy or the country. It is time to fix our broken immigration system,” an introduction to the report states.
The CBO report released in June indicated the immigration bill could reduce deficits by $175 billion over the first 10 years and by at least $700 billion in the second decade. The CBO, working with the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, estimated that 8 million unauthorized residents would become legal in the first decade.
In addition, the CBO report estimated the bill would boost the U.S. population by a net of 10.4 million people by 2023 and by 16 million by 2033.
A bipartisan group has been working on an immigration package in the House, though it differs sharply from the Senate measure by making it harder for undocumented immigrants to get on a path to citizenship.
Members of the House group negotiating the bill would also require that border security measures be in place before any process toward gaining legal status could begin. Lawmakers agreed to include security "triggers" in their proposal in hopes of attracting support from more House Republicans who have been highly critical of the Senate bill. The Senate rejected a similar GOP proposal.
CNN’s Lesa Jansen, Ashley Killough and CNNMoney’s Jeanne Sahadi contributed to this report.
From CNN Politics
- America's kids are failed again
- 10 Cards Charging 0% Interest Until 2024
- New US drone routes over Black Sea 'definitely limit' intelligence gathering, says US official
- In 2024, Republicans may complete a historic foreign policy reversal
- Blinken subpoenaed by top Republican investigating Biden administration withdrawal from Afghanistan
- Inside the backchannel communications keeping Donald Trump in the loop on Republican investigations
"The beauty of the USA is that we don't need govt in our lives."
Bwahahahahaha!!!!!!! Wow. That's some impressive ideological reality-denial bubble you live in there, tom.
"The beauty of the USA is that we don't need govt in our lives. The better question is...why do you like the government so much?"
Oh, dear.
The Republicans are a do nothing party> here are the facts for immigration reform>
For all the tough talk about immigration reform, the House has done nothing on border security and the Senate has. Likewise, they’ve done nothing to solve the visa overstay issue, workplace verification or the H-1B visa problem. It is well and good to vaguely declare the Gang of Eight bill insufficient, but certainly it does more for border security and these other issues than House Republicans have managed to do (which is nothing).
The argument that the House can do nothing runs headlong into anti-immigration forces hype about the out-of-control border and the supposed economic burdens of illegal immigration. If it’s such a horrible problem — immigrants pouring over the border and all — why is the Republican House just sitting there???
The Republicans are a DO NOTHING PARTY> Here are the plain facts:)
For all the tough talk about immigration reform, the House has done nothing on border security and the Senate has. Likewise, they’ve done nothing to solve the visa overstay issue, workplace verification or the H-1B visa problem. It is well and good to vaguely declare the Gang of Eight bill insufficient, but certainly it does more for border security and these other issues than House Republicans have managed to do (which is nothing).
The argument that the House can do nothing runs headlong into anti-immigration forces hype about the out-of-control border and the supposed economic burdens of illegal immigration. If it’s such a horrible problem — immigrants pouring over the border and all — why is the Republican House just sitting there?
no government in our lives, start taking all the stop signs and traffic signals down, NOW!
tom l. wrote:
Why do I hate the government so much? Because they are imposing their will anywhere and everywhere possible to exert more influence on our daily lives. The beauty of the USA is that we don't need govt in our lives.
The better question is...why do you like the government so much?
--------------------
Wrong question. It is fair to say that almost no one "likes" government. The better question is why do you hate it? The government, which you so despise, is responsible for the freedoms that you claim to cherish. Without it, we would have no freedoms. The government protects our freedoms from those that would seek to suppress or deny them.