The Bush administration would have more reasons to dilute the immigration laws as a study shows that over the next 75 years, new legal immigrants entering the US will provide a net benefit of $611 billion in present value to America's social security system.
"A moratorium on legal immigrants entering the country could devastate the social security system by ballooning the size of the actuarial deficit by almost one-third - 31 per cent - over a 50-year period," the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP), a Virginia-based non-partisan public policy group, has warned.
The anti-immigration activists should note the finding of the study which says, "A 33 per cent increase in legal immigration would mean that an American earning $60,000 in 2004 could have his or her social security taxes reduced by $600 over 10 years (or $360 in the case of a 160,000 legal immigration rise) and Social Security would maintain the actuarial balance that is currently projected over that period."
Also an increase in legal immigration would provide a significant boost to social security. The size of the actuarial deficit would be reduced over 50 years by 10 per cent if legal immigration increased 33 per cent (an additional 264,000 immigrants a year) and by 6 per cent for a 20 percent rise in legal immigration annually (160,000 more immigrants a year.)
"A 33 per cent increase in legal immigration would increase revenues to social security by a present value of $169 billion over 50 years and $216 billion over 75 years. A 20 per cent legal immigration increase would add $101 billion in present value to the trust fund over 50 years and $128 billion over a 75-year period," the study points out.
As a warning to the antagonists of immigration, the study suggests that 41 per cent reduction in legal immigration, which Congress considered in 1996, would increase the actuarial deficit by 13 per cent over 50 years and require $212 billion in tax increases (in present value) over 50 years (and $246 billion over 75 years) to make up for the lost revenue caused by the severe legal immigration reductions.
The figure, and others in the NFAP study, comes from official government data supplied by the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Chief Actuary.
The SSA provided an analysis of how changes in levels of legal immigration would affect the actuarial balance of social security and the National Foundation for American Policy made additional calculations to produce figures on revenue.
"These findings show that maintaining or increasing current levels of legal immigration will significantly benefit the Social Security system," Stuart Anderson, Executive Director of NFAP and author of the report, says in a statement.
NFAP's Advisory Board members include Indian-American economist Jagdish Bhagwati of the Columbia University.
The report titled 'The Contribution of Legal Immigration to the Social Security System', says, "Imposing an immigration moratorium or reducing legal immigration would worsen the solvency of Social Security, harm taxpayers, and increase the size of the long-range actuarial deficit of the Social Security trust fund."
Social Security benefits to current retirees are funded primarily out of the taxes paid by today's workers. For that reason additional workers are extremely beneficial to America's "pay as you go" system.
Immigrants typically arrive near the start of their working years and may contribute to the system for up to four decades before receiving any benefits--a fact that is gaining recognition on Capitol Hill.
"Policymakers considering changes to either Social Security or America's legal immigration system should be aware of the significant positive impact that legal immigrants have on Social Security. I appreciate the efforts of Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who requested the data for me, and encourage Members of Congress to take these findings into account as decisions are made on these policy matters," says Anderson.
NFAP, dedicated to public policy research on trade, immigration and other issues of national importance, also lauded US Senator Sam Brownback and Representative Chris Cannon for their interest in promoting the key findings of the study to Congressional lawmakers.
Because of the significance of its findings, the NFAP also is providing copies of the report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the Senate Finance Committee, and the House Ways and Means Committee.
"This report illustrates that reducing legal immigration would harm Social Security's ability to pay future retirees. As the Congress considers changes to both Social Security and immigration, this timely study should be weighed carefully by Members of both parties," said Cannon.
In a statement, Brownback, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Joint Economic Committee, said, "This study reminds us that, while we must keep our borders safe and secure against those who would do us harm, we must also keep our nation open to the legal immigrants that play a crucial role in our country's growth and prosperity."
The figure, and others in the NFAP study, comes from official government data supplied by the Social Security Administration (SSA) Office of the Chief Actuary.
The SSA provided an analysis of how changes in levels of legal immigration would affect the actuarial balance of social security and the National Foundation for American Policy made additional calculations to produce figures on revenue.
"These findings show that maintaining or increasing current levels of legal immigration will significantly benefit the Social Security system," Stuart Anderson, Executive Director of NFAP and author of the report, says in a statement.
NFAP's Advisory Board members include Indian-American economist Jagdish Bhagwati of the Columbia University.
The report titled 'The Contribution of Legal Immigration to the Social Security System', says, "Imposing an immigration moratorium or reducing legal immigration would worsen the solvency of Social Security, harm taxpayers, and increase the size of the long-range actuarial deficit of the Social Security trust fund."
Social Security benefits to current retirees are funded primarily out of the taxes paid by today's workers. For that reason additional workers are extremely beneficial to America's "pay as you go" system.
Immigrants typically arrive near the start of their working years and may contribute to the system for up to four decades before receiving any benefits--a fact that is gaining recognition on Capitol Hill.
"Policymakers considering changes to either Social Security or America's legal immigration system should be aware of the significant positive impact that legal immigrants have on Social Security. I appreciate the efforts of Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who requested the data for me, and encourage Members of Congress to take these findings into account as decisions are made on these policy matters," says Anderson.
NFAP, dedicated to public policy research on trade, immigration and other issues of national importance, also lauded US Senator Sam Brownback and Representative Chris Cannon for their interest in promoting the key findings of the study to Congressional lawmakers.
Because of the significance of its findings, the NFAP also is providing copies of the report to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, the Senate Finance Committee, and the House Ways and Means Committee.
"This report illustrates that reducing legal immigration would harm Social Security's ability to pay future retirees. As the Congress considers changes to both Social Security and immigration, this timely study should be weighed carefully by Members of both parties," said Cannon.
In a statement, Brownback, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Joint Economic Committee, said, "This study reminds us that, while we must keep our borders safe and secure against those who would do us harm, we must also keep our nation open to the legal immigrants that play a crucial role in our country's growth and prosperity."
