Anyone who believes that a path to legalization for undocumented persons would simply be an act of compassion—or that denying that option would not result in any repercussions—should take a look at Long Island’s immigrants.
A report by Adelphi University’s Center for Social Innovation suggests that both documented and undocumented immigrants are net contributors to Long Island’s prosperity. After subtracting what local governments in Suffolk and Nassau spend to provide services for immigrants, Long Island still receives a net benefit of $1.07 billion. The study also found that immigrant spending power added $10.6 billion to total Long Island output and generated 82,000 jobs in 2006.
Hispanic immigrants contribute $842 more per resident to local revenues than they receive in local expenditures, according to the study. Latino immigrants have long settled in Long Island, but since 2000, Hispanics, especially from Central America, have made up more than one-half of the immigrants arriving there.
The report resonates with the Fiscal Policy Institute’s conclusion that immigrants are an integral and significant part of New York’s economy.
New York is far from alone in benefiting from immigrant productivity. The Office of Latino/Latin American Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha also found that immigrants give more than they receive and help create jobs. In 2006, immigrant spending in Nebraska generated more than 11,800 jobs there, according to a recent study.
These studies confirm a long historical trend of immigrants being an economic engine.
The numbers can’t be ignored in discussions about immigration reform and the nation’s economic recovery because some of the footholds we need are in the immigrant communities that sustain counties and states across America. The next president needs to tap that great potential.
