SAN FERNANDO, Calif. and WASHINGTON, D.C. /California Newswire/ — Today, U.S. Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-San Fernando Valley, Calif.) recognized the one year anniversary of bipartisan Senate passage of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Cárdenas called on the Republican House majority to stop obstructing passage of this critical piece of economic legislation.
“Today, we recognize the courage of action, shown in the Senate, to fix our clearly broken immigration system, bringing millions of families out of the shadows,” said Cárdenas. “Meanwhile, Republicans in the House are ignoring the vast majority of Americans, who want comprehensive reform. They are ignoring $900 billion in deficit relief that immigration reform would provide.”
He added, “They are ignoring 120,000 jobs that could have been created this year. Most of all, however, they are ignoring the American Dream. Millions of families are in this country, working hard and crying out for a chance to pay a fine, learn English and help rebuild our nation. To not even have debate this critical legislation, one year on, is a complete lack of leadership by the majority of our House.:
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, immigration reform would boost gross domestic product by about 4.8% and productivity by 1% percent over 20 years.
Also, Business Roundtable finds that immigrants are nearly 50 percent more likely to start a business than native-born workers, creating increased innovation and entrepreneurship.
