Mike Kelly and his staff understand that immigrants
are essential in keeping the American economy
strong, from fast food businesses to high-tech
industry. The U.S. government has forecast a
shortage of 20 million workers by 2026,
this calls for a relaxation of the US immigration
laws in order to meet the labor demand.

General Facts about Recent US Immigration

The total number of immigrants per year (including illegal and refugees) is somewhat less than it was in the peak years at the start of the 20th century, when the US population was less half as large its current population. The rate of US immigration relative to the population is low rather than high. US immigration as a proportion of population is about a third of what is was in the peak years.

With the U.S. economy in the midst of its longest expansion in history, immigrant workers are increasingly essential to filling jobs ranging from computer programmers to hotel and restaurant workers. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has repeatedly commented that US immigration is an important source of workers in a tight labor market.

The shrinking U.S. labor supply may have serious implications for inflation pressures, Greenspan says, as "there is an effective limit to new hiring, unless US immigration is uncapped." Without an increase in US immigration, inflation--and the resulting slowdown of the economy--could threaten the prosperity of all Americans.

Most immigrants arrive in the United States in the prime of their working years. More than 70 percent of immigrants are over the age of 18 when they arrive in the United States. That means there are roughly 17.5 million immigrants in the United States today whose education and upbringing were paid for by the citizens of the sending country, not American taxpayers. The windfall to the United States of obtaining this human capital at no expense to American taxpayers is roughly $1.43 trillion. This makes immigrants a fiscal bargain for our country.

In summary, it is obvious that immigrants are major contributors to the economic health of the United States. They compose an increasingly essential proportion of our workforce and will continue to do so into the twenty-first century.

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