Michigan United and the Center for American Progress, joined by experts from around Michigan, held a phone press conference on May 23 to highlight the positive economic impact that immigration reform would have on the state and the country.

Last month, a group of bipartisan senators, known as “the Gang of Eight,” introduced to the Senate an immigration reform bill that would give undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship. The bill has passed the Senate’s Judiciary Committee on May 22, but it still has to be passed by the Republican- controlled House of Representatives before it is signed into law by the president. 

Ryan Bates, director of Michigan United, a coalition of labor and civil rights groups, said an immigration reform bill has long been needed to address the deep suffering of immigrants. 

Policy analyst at the Center for American Progress Patrick Oakford said immigration reform would lead to an economic boost in Michigan and the entire nation. 

He said allowing undocumented workers to work legally would increase the country’s GDP by $832 billion over the next ten years, creating $69 billion in tax revenues. 

“Allowing undocumented workers to invest in their education and training, and come out of the shadows to work legally in professions that best match their skills would increase their earnings by 15 percent,” said Oakford. 

He added that the increase in illegal immigrants’ earnings does not benefit them only because when they spin that extra money in the economy, it would have a ripple effect, helping businesses and creating more jobs in the process.

Bates said a legal status would allow immigrants to acquire a driver’s  license, and expected that if reform passes, there would an increase of car sales, which would serve as a “stimulus package” for the auto industry and Michigan’s economy.

Fred Leitz, owner of Leitz Vegetable Farm on the west side of Michigan, said legalizing the status of illegal immigrants would provide agriculture in the United States with the workers it needs.

He said food production is the biggest industry in Michigan after manufacturing. But agriculture is labor intensive and requires work in severe weather conditions, and the harvest of certain produce is timely and needs special skills.  

“Field work isn’t easy. It is dependent on skilled, dedicated workers,” added the Michigan farmer. “It is a challenge to find enough skilled workers. We do not enough local people who are willing to work seasonally.”    

Leitz said the American agriculture would lose farm employees if immigration reform is not passed because hand harvesters are in demand around the world. Vegetables and fruits are needed, especially as the nation is becoming more food- conscious, he added, and if these produce are not grown in Michigan, they will be grown and harvested in Mexico or Canada by the same workers.

Professor Ethriam Brammer, associate director of the Latino Studies Department at Wayne State University, said immigration reform would create a better- educated work force. 

Illegal immigrants cannot get financial aide from the government to pay for college. 

Brammer said he knows many students, who cease going to school because of the absence of tuition- equity. Other students are too afraid to drive to campus because they do not have driver’s license because of their immigration status.

“Reform would help us grow our own highly skilled new Americans,” he said.

Professor Ruben Martinez, director of the Julian Samora Institute at Michigan State University said Michigan has about 155,000 illegal immigrants, living and working in the shadows. He said reform would help bring them to light. 

Thousands of undocumented workers work in construction, where accident rates are high.

Martinez said immigration reform would force construction employers to look at safety issues and give employees a better access to medical attention, resulting in fewer lost work days.

The 2013 immigration reform bill gives illegal immigrants, who arrived to America before Dec. 13, 2011, a chance to apply for a Registered Provisional Immigrant status, which allows them to work legally in the United States. To acquire this new status, undocumented immigrants must pay a $500 fine and have a clean criminal record. They also must pay any back taxes owed to the IRS. 

The bill would allow undocumented immigrants, who have been deported from the United States for non- criminal reasons, legal admission into the country if they have children or a spouse in America. 

Registered Provisional Immigrant status lasts for six years, and it could be renewed for an extra four years. After 10 years under that status, immigrants can apply for a permanent residence status, a Green Card. 

Martinez criticized the bill for the $500 fine. He said a family of five would have to pay $2,500, and many working class families do not have that amount of money available. 

Oakford said having undocumented immigrants wait at least 14 years before acquiring citizenship would slow the economic benefits of the reform. 

Bates said Republicans’ views on immigration reforms are changing because of the growing power of the role of ethnic communities in deciding the elections. He said supporting immigration reform is an issue of principle, but it is also a politically beneficial stand.