reading assignment

Peter Crabb: “Faith and Economics: Why Christians Should

Support Immigration Reform”

0

In Luke Chapter 10 Jesus confirms the Law—we must love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and

strength and love our neighbors as ourselves. He goes on to show that even strangers are our

neighbors. We learn here and in other parts of the Bible that we must show love to immigrants

whether or not they serve our economic interests. Fortunately, immigration reform is not a

situation where our Christian faith must trump our economic incentives. Immigration, both

authorized and unauthorized, has economic benefits for all. Economists often disagree, but on the

subject of immigration reform there is a strong consensus over both the theory and

evidence. Reform of the United States’ current immigration policy can be done in a way that

respects the God-given dignity of every person, protects families, and ensures no loss to

taxpayers.

In Deuteronomy chapter 10 God gives specific instructions for how we are to treat foreigners

living among us. We are to not only love them, but provide food and clothing. Why did he make

such a demand of the Israelites? Because they too were once strangers in a land. In Matthew

chapter 25 Jesus commands us to invite strangers in, feeding them and ministering to their

physical needs. Immigration is a policy debate where both our faith and economic knowledge

line up. The U.S. has a strong heritage of welcoming immigrants, and much of our economic

success can be attributed the skills, creative ideas, and work ethic immigrants brought with them.

There is a strong case that immigration helps the U.S. economy grow faster than it would

otherwise. Even undocumented workers improve our economy. A 2006 survey of economists by

The Wall Street Journal found that 59 percent of economists believe undocumented workers

have only a slight impact on wages in low-skill jobs, but 96 percent said undocumented workers

are beneficial to the economy because these workers fill jobs many American workers won’t

accept and hold down the rate of inflation.[i] Writing earlier this year in The New York Times,

Harvard economist N. Gregory Mankiw said “… economists are receptive to the concept of

immigration, partly because they tend to have a libertarian streak.”[ii] Economic analysis shows

that free markets lead to the best outcomes for society, and the question of immigration’s impact

on labor market is no different. When markets are open to trade prices are lower and the quantity

produced rises. This increases the rate at which an economy can grow and provides more choices

for consumers.

Economy theory also supports greater immigration because of its association with

entrepreneurism. New business formation is a key to economic growth and immigrants start

small businesses at higher rates than native-born US citizens. Economist Robert Fairlie from UC-

Santa Cruz showed that immigrants play an important role in economy by starting new

businesses, creating jobs, and increasing exports.[iii] In 2011 immigrant owned businesses added

more than $775 billion dollars of revenue to the U.S. gross domestic product. Further, Professor

Fairlie showed that this was true even when the overall economy was weak.

Other economic research shows that immigration is good for U.S. worker productivity. Anyone

willing to move to a new country is generally ambitious, that is, a good worker. Whenever output

per worker rises the economy grows at a faster rate. In a 2010 study, Professor Giovanni Peri of

the UC- Davis and researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco found evidence that

immigrants expand the economy’s productive capacity, stimulate new investment, and boost

productivity.[iv] Their local-level data shows that states with higher immigrant worker

populations have higher rates of output per worker. Immigrants raise the overall output. Higher

economic output brings in more tax revenue, helping reduce the federal budget deficit and

stretched state budgets.

By increasing the avenues for legal immigration and reducing the number of undocumented

workers in the U.S. we can also address one of the key factors of poverty – the breakdown of the

family unit. Census data shows that poverty in the U.S. is strongly correlated with family

composition. Families headed by a female adult without a spouse present are more likely to live

in poverty than a family headed by a married couple.[v] This can be thought of as another

productivity issue. A tight family unit is more likely to be productive and have a higher standard

of living. With immigration reform fewer workers will leave behind their spouses and children,

the entire family will have more support, and poverty around the world is likely to be lower.

Some analysts have argued that undocumented workers place a strain on the many government-

provided benefits in the United States. These researchers have tried to show that US taxpayer is

providing unwarranted income and services to millions of workers. But assumptions in this body

of research give rise to inflated costs and ignore benefits. The Heritage Foundation has produced

many reports suggesting that any revisions to current law providing undocumented workers some

permanent status are bad for this country.[vi] However, the Heritage studies falsely assume

immigrants use many services they don’t pay for and fail to make any assumption about the

potential economic gains that arise when undocumented workers gain legal status.

The most recent Heritage report uses what economists call static analysis. The reports states that

undocumented immigrants increase GDP by approximately 2 percent, but goes on to say that

these same workers will capture most of the gain from expanded production in their own wages.

The authors write, “…while unlawful immigrants make the American economic pie larger, they

themselves consume most of the slice that their labor adds.” This statement contradicts the

economic theory outlined above and the findings of other studies. For example, Professor

Leighton Ku and lecturer Brian Bruen of George Washington University studied data from

welfare programs like Medicaid, food stamps and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

[vii] They found that the families of low wage immigrant workers consistently use such

programs less than their native-born counterparts. They also showed that when these poor

immigrants did accept assistance it was at a lower cost than that of native families. Immigrants

come here to work; the US taxpayer is not at risk. In the unlikely event an immigrant family does

seek government benefits the cost is low and the long-term benefits outweigh them.

Our faith and our economics are aligned. Immigration reform is not just the right thing for

Christians to do, it is good economic policy. There is widespread consensus among economists

that all forms of immigration improve the country’s standard of living. Immigrant workers keep

prices lower by accepting many unwanted jobs, starting new businesses, and increasing overall

worker productivity. With reduced barriers to legal immigration families are more likely to

remain together and poverty rates will decline. Finally, the data don’t support any suggestion

immigrants are a burden to U.S. taxpayers. The United States’ immigration policies should be

reformed so that we better respect the God-given dignity of every person, reduce the risk of

poverty by keeping families together, and grow the economy faster for the benefit of all.

Peter R. Crabb is Professor of Finance and Economics at Northwest Nazarene University in

Nampa, Idaho. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Oregon and an MBA in

Finance from the University of Colorado. His research in economics and finance is published in

the Journal of Business, the Journal of Microfinance, and the International Review of Economics

and Finance, among others.

Pass immigration reform bill to improve national security: Carlos Gutierrez

The tragic events that transpired in Boston strengthened our resolve as Americans and served as

a poignant reminder that in today's world, borders alone will never be enough to separate us from

those who seek to do us harm.

The fact remains that both law enforcement and our federal government are forced to confront

21st-century challenges with the rusted tools of an outdated and broken immigration system.

Today 11 million undocumented people are in the United States illegally, living under de facto

amnesty. The recent terrorist attack in Boston reinforces the notion that this is an unacceptable

status quo.

As long as Washington fails to act, these numbers will continue to climb.

The Senate immigration reform bill unveiled by the Group of Eight is grounded in common

sense and strives to protect our homeland by securing the border with the toughest security and

immigration enforcement laws in U.S. history.

Rightly, the bill avoids amnesty, reduces instances of human error and builds upon recent

investments in our nation's defense by requiring verification systems to be implemented for

every international sea- and airport in the United States.

The bill also deports illegal immigrants guilty of serious crimes and requires those who remain in

America to become invested in American culture by learning English, paying taxes and fines,

proving they have a job, then going to the back of the line for at least 13 years.

No one will have the opportunity to apply for citizenship, or receive federal assistance, until

these rigorous new border security measures are in place.

While some in Washington believe the events in Boston should delay our efforts to rectify this

broken system, conservative leaders strongly disagree with any wrongheaded desire for

complacency.

Congressman Paul Ryan said, "We have a broken immigration system and, if anything, what we

see in Boston is that we have to fix and modernize our immigration system for lots of reasons."

And Sen. Marco Rubio concurred when he cited his disagreement with those who say that the

terrorist attack in Boston has no bearing on the immigration debate: "If there are flaws in our

immigration system that were exposed by the attack in Boston, any immigration reform passed

by Congress this year should address those flaws."

A single day deferred on our journey toward more effective border enforcement is a day wasted

in strengthening our national economy and bolstering domestic security. Decades of wasted days

have led to porous borders and limited means by which we can account for who is entering our

country.

The world we live in today has bred a need for action in America when it comes to defending our

homeland. In recent years, we have become all too familiar with the fact that eternal vigilance is

the best means by which we can defend ourselves against domestic threats.

In order to accomplish this, law enforcement must be provided with the resources and funding to

get the job done. The comprehensive immigration reform legislation unveiled last month offers

critical means toward achieving these ends. Further delay of a transparent and constructive

hearing process on this legislation is misguided and will only lead to further hampering of our

efforts to protect America.