Amnesty and the Economy: Myths, Lies, and Obfuscation

April 2009 | View the Full Report (PDF)

Introduction

Recognizing that today’s economic conditions and climbing unemployment are a deterrent to any consideration of immigration amnesty legislation, amnesty advocates are trying to persuade the public and Members of Congress that an amnesty for illegal aliens would help the economy. For example, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) recently issued a report that argues that, “Without comprehensive reform of the immigration system [read amnesty for illegal aliens], our nation cannot experience a full economic recovery.” If bold, baseless assertions such as these would win the immigration debate, the debate would be over. This argument spins a fantasyland out of partial and misleading data. Here is how they do it.