This memo is adapted from an article by the Center for American Progress.
On June 27, the Senate passed a comprehensive immigration bill, S. 744, and created an opportunity to dramatically improve the fiscal and economic health of our country. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, or CBO, has estimated that S. 744 would reduce our deficit by $135 billion over the first 10 years, generate millions of new jobs, and boost our economy. But while our economy stands to gain significantly from fixing our broken immigration system, each day the House fails to pass immigration reform is another day of missed economic opportunities.
In the four months since the Senate passed S. 744, we have already missed out on a net $4.9 billion in additional tax revenues.* With each additional day that passes, another $37 million in revenue is lost. There is no denying the powerful impact that immigration reform could have on our economy. But the clock is ticking. Each minute that the House waits to pass immigration reform is another minute we are losing out on the economic benefits of reform. The cost of inaction is too high for the House to postpone immigration reform any longer.
* Note: These are CAP’s estimates based on CBO’s score of S. 744 as passed by the Senate.