President Donald Trump delivered a largely conventional address Tuesday night before a joint session of Congress that was a toned down version of his blustering, unpredictable self.
Missing were staples of a Trump speech: talk of crowd size, alleged voter fraud and and his own unfair treatment by the dishonest media. In their place, adjustments to some of his more controversial positions: “we strongly support NATO,” declared the president who last month called the alliance “obsolete.”
White House White Board: Why Immigration Reform Is Good For Our Economy.
Also, you can read our viewpoint on Immigration Reform and Social Security here.
Immigrants have contributed billions of dollars more to Medicare in recent years than the program has paid out on their behalf, according to a new study, a pattern that goes against the notion that immigrants are a drain on federal health care spending.
Legalizing immigrants would also support the solvency of the Social Security system during its period of greatest strain over the next three-and-a-half decades, as the Baby Boomers—America’s largest generation—retire and begin to claim their benefits. During this period newly legalized immigrants would add a total of $606 billion to the system, supporting 2.4 million American retirees.
Our View: Comprehensive immigration reform is not a threat to Social Security.
It is estimated that there are about 11 million undocumented workers in the United States today. These immigrants come to our country to work. They contribute to the economic health of our nation. They also make substantial contributions to Social Security through the payroll tax, even though neither they nor their families are eligible to receive benefits. The National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare believes that bringing undocumented workers into our national family would be beneficial for the country and good for Social Security as well.
Our guiding principle in evaluating immigration reform proposals can be summarized in a single word: Fairness. Rules of eligibility for benefit programs should be neither more favorable nor more disadvantageous for immigrants who benefit from comprehensive reform. And contributions made by immigrants to Social Security’s earned-right benefits should, in time, lead to eligibility for benefits.
Comprehensive immigration reform is not a threat to Social Security. Earlier comprehensive reform proposals strengthened Social Security’s financing, and the bills under consideration today should do the same. By bringing undocumented workers out of the shadows of our economy and into its mainstream, immigration reform has the potential to strengthen Social Security and accelerate overall economic growth.
Permitting the nation’s 11 million undocumented immigrants to earn the privilege of citizenship will significantly expand economic growth, boost incomes, create jobs, and increase tax revenues.
Also, Comprehensive immigration reform is not a threat to Social Security.
In a letter on May 8th, the Social Security Chief Actuary stated that the bipartisan Senate immigration bill will strengthen the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund in the short run and the long run by reforming the legal immigration system and increasing by millions the number of currently-undocumented workers who will be paying payroll taxes.
In the boldest move on immigration policy of his presidency, President Barack Obama announced plans Thursday evening to dramatically increase deportation relief for an estimated 4.4 million undocumented immigrants. The executive action will protect parents, as well as those who came to the U.S. as children and others with long-standing ties to the country, from being forced out of their homes.
The Senate immigration bill will help improve Social Security’s long-term solvency and reduce the number of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, according to a Social Security Administration analysis.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/05/08/social-security-immigration-overhaul-helps/?mod=WSJBlog
Read our Viewpoint concerning Social Security and Immigration Reform, here.
5 Facts about Immigrants and our Economy via Center for American Progress.
More on this topic can be found here: Comprehensive immigration reform is not a threat to Social Security.
Immigrants who are authorized to work under comprehensive immigration reform should have access to Social Security benefits under the same terms and conditions that apply to others who apply for benefits. There should be no limit placed on the consideration of an immigrant’s wages in determining benefit eligibility by excluding wages and other earnings that were received by an immigrant prior to the granting of lawful presence. This issue is especially important for older immigrants and the disabled, who might not qualify for benefits if the earnings they received prior to work authorization were to be excluded in determining eligibility for Social Security.
