[PEN-L:1855] ** STUDY: Immigrants Contribute MORE than they Take (fwd)

[D Shniad <shniad@xxxxxx>]

Forwarded message:
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 08:08:08 -0800
From: Nathan Newman <newman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: ** STUDY: Immigrants Contribute MORE than they Take
Sender: Forum on Labor in the Global Economy <LABOR-L@xxxxxxxx>
Reply-to: Nathan Newman <newman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

           NEW STUDY SAYS IMMIGRANTS CONTRIBUTE MORE THAN THEY TAKE

   Los Angeles Times

   WASHINGTON -- A new study on the effects of immigration finds that
   total per capita government expenditures are much lower for immigrants
   -- legal and illegal -- than for native-born citizens.

   The report also paints an upbeat picture of immigrants' educational
   achievements and asserts that the nation's natural resources and
   environment are unaffected by the influx of immigrants.

   ``As of the 1970s, immigrants contributed more to the public coffers
   in taxes than they drew out in welfare services,'' the report says.
   ``The most recent data . . . show that each year an average immigrant
   family put about $2,500 into the pockets of natives from this excess
   of taxes over public costs.''

   The study, to be issued today in Washington by the National
   Immigration Forum, an immigration-advocacy group, and the Cato
   Institute, a conservative libertarian think tank, comes at a time when
   Congress is wrestling with major immigration bills and public opinion
   is increasingly negative on immigration issues.

   Clamping down

   Legislation is progressing in both houses of Congress to clamp down on
   illegal immigration and -- to the dismay of many immigration advocates
   -- restrict entry of legal immigrants as well.

   The issue has split Republicans, some of whom see the free flow of
   legal immigrants as an economic boon to the country. Immigrant-rights
   groups say the political activism to stem illegal immigration has led
   unfairly to the limitations on legal immigrants.

   But groups pushing for stronger restrictions on immigration branded
   the report, written by University of Maryland Professor Julian Simon,
   as biased.

   ``Julian Simon is not a liar,'' said Dan Stein, executive director of
   the Federation for American Immigration Reform, ``but he gets as close
   as anyone can be to one. He is intentionally deceptive, manipulative
   and grossly in error.''

   Signifying the sensitivity of the issue, more than 20 interest groups
   and think tanks have signed on to the report, and they span the
   political spectrum -- from the immigrant-rights group, the National
   Council of La Raza, to the Progress and Freedom Foundation.

   Among the report's most controversial findings is Simon's conclusion
   that government expenditures are less for immigrants than for
   native-born Americans.

   Less welfare

   According to the report, the average immigrant family received $1,404
   in welfare services in the first five years in this country.
   Native-born families on welfare averaged $2,279, Simon says. The
   report makes these other points:

   -- The number of illegal immigrants in the United States -- estimated
   at 3.2 million -- is not very different from a decade before.

   -- More than half of illegal immigrants enter legally and overstay
   their visas; fewer than half enter clandestinely.

   -- New immigrants are more concentrated than native-born citizens in
   the youthful labor-force ages when people contribute more to the
   public coffers than they draw out.

   -- Immigrants have a year less education on average than native-born
   Americans -- about the same relationship as has been observed back to
   the 19th century.

   -- Natural resources and the environment are not at risk from
   immigration.

   --Finding work is most common way for women to get off welfare in
   Washington state. N520

   Published 12/11/95 in the San Jose Mercury News.


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