Fact Checking FWD.us’ Misleading Claim that Amnesty Would Add Billions to the Economy
With Democrats continuing their efforts to attach an amnesty for millions of illegal aliens to a proposed budget reconciliation package, their mass-immigration advocate allies are trying to boost their odds by promoting thoroughly debunked myths.
In a new report, FWD.us – a mass immigration promoting organization funded by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg – is once again touting the lie that offering lawful status to illegal aliens would add billions of dollars to our economy. The group also falsely claims that most illegal aliens are “essential workers” and that we couldn’t beat COVID-19 without them.
The claim that illegal aliens will add billions of dollars to the economy is rooted in an old, deceptive trick. FWD.us proposes that “comprehensive immigration relief” (AKA amnesty) would expand the economy by $17 billion (only 0.007 percent of the total GDP) and add $10 billion in additional tax revenue. That may sound great, but they are leaving out an important piece of information – the costs associated with such an amnesty. This one-sided presentation is intended to trick Americans into believing that amnesty would be a net positive to our economy. Other open borders organizations, such as the New American Economy, have used this dishonest tactic for years.
The truth is that the costs associated with illegal immigration are far higher than any offsetting economic benefit. The same is true with amnesty. The approximately $10 billion in revenue touted by FWD.us pales in comparison to the hundreds of billions that such a plan would cost taxpayers over the next couple of decades. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the now-defunct “Plan A” amnesty proposed by Democrat lawmakers would add half a trillion dollars to the deficit over the next 20 years, or approximately $25 billion annually. American citizens, still reeling from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, should not be asked to shoulder that price tag.
The facts are clear: an amnesty would be devastating to our economy. Furthermore, even talk about amnesty has triggered the worst immigration crisis that this country has ever seen. However, that is not stopping dishonest organizations like FWD.us from peddling false promises about the economic nirvana that would stem from enacting amnesty. But then again, their actions repeatedly demonstrate that they are primarily only interested in building a massive cheap labor force comprised of foreign-born workers, and care very little about providing accurate information to American citizens.