Believe it or not, there really is hope for immigration reform in the future. In an event last week, hosted by American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy, Congressman Tim Griffin (R-Ark) said those exact words “green card is the green light to jobs” and urged the audience at the event that immigration reform is a jobs solution that would not require raising taxes and could help reduce government deficit.
The event was supplemented with research from Madeline Zavodny, a professor of economics at Agnes Scott College. Her research provided encouraging data that immigration reform could actually create jobs in the U.S. The research showed projections that immigrants with advanced degrees have a positive effect on natives' employment.
Every 100 immigrants with advanced degrees who worked in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields created an additional 262 jobs for U.S. natives according to Zavodny’s research. The numbers increased even more when those immigrants had degrees from U.S. schools.
Karla T. Vasquez is a mobilizing assistant for Sojourners.
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