Responding To False Attacks On The President’s Immigration Priorities
MYTH #1: President Obama's executive action is a lawless attempt to change our immigration system without Congress.
FACT: The President has long-established authority to make choices about how best to enforce the law. This discretion has been used by many times by presidents from both parties.
The President's ability to use discretion about how best to enforce the law is grounded in centuries-old legal tradition that has been recognized by legal scholars and affirmed by the Supreme Court. Presidents from both parties have used their executive discretion to effectively execute and enforce the law. [Letter from Legal Scholars, 9/3/14; CRS, 7/13/12; IPC, 10/2/14]
Key Facts:
· The President's ability to exercise discretion in how best to enforce our immigration laws has been recognized by court decisions, legislation, regulations, and centuries of common law. [Letter from Legal Scholars, 9/3/14; INS General Counsel, 7/15/76]
· In the 2010 Arizona v. U.S. decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the authority of the executive branch not to seek the removal of certain aliens, noting that '[a] principal feature of the removal system is the broad discretion entrusted to immigration officials.'" [CRS, 7/13/12]
· As part of his responsibility to effectively enforce the law, the President has the ability to make choices about how to best use the limited resources provided by Congress taking a wide array of circumstances into account. [Letter from Legal Scholars, 9/3/14; CAP, 7/1/14]
o Given the limited resources at the disposal of those tasked with the enforcement of the law, state and federal courts have viewed "the exercise of prosecutorial discretion [as] an executive function necessary to the proper administration of justice." [CRS, 7/13/12]
o The authority of the Executive to exercise prosecutorial discretion has been advocated during Republican and Democratic Administrations alike. According to a legal opinion written by the INS General Counsel during the Ford Administration, for example, "[t]he ultimate source for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion in the Federal government is the power of the President ... Article II, Section 3, states that the President 'shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.'" [INS General Counsel, 7/15/76]
o The Supreme Court has also recognized the Executive Branch's absolute authority to exercise prosecutorial discretion. In Heckler v. Cheney the Supreme Court held that an agency's decision to prosecute is a generally committed to the agency's absolute discretion. [CRS, 12/27/13]
· In this case, the President is using his discretion within the law by taking a first step toward fixing our broken immigration that will secure the border, hold undocumented immigrants accountable by requiring them to register with the government, pay taxes and pass a tough criminal background check, and prioritize cracking down on illegal immigration and dangerous criminals.
· President Obama is following the precedent set by past Presidents of both parties who used their discretion to change the emphasis of immigration enforcement to meet the challenges of their times.
o Since 1952, when Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, an Executive Action providing discretionary relief from deportation has been used by every president. Eleven U.S. presidents from both parties have taken executive actions on immigration 39 times over the past 60 years. [CAP, 10/6/14; IPC, 10/2/14]
o In 1990, President George H.W. Bush used his discretion to make 1.5 million spouses and children of immigrants with legal status eligible for deferred action under his "Family Fairness" policy. [CAP, 10/6/14]
MYTH #2: President Obama's executive action will create an incentive for a new wave of illegal immigration.
FACT: The President has a proven track record on securing the border and taking action to deport criminals. He is using his discretion to strengthen these efforts and stop wasting taxpayer dollars by focusing on deporting felons, not families.
Any undocumented individuals will have to demonstrate that they have been in the United States for five years to qualify for deferred action. The President's use of discretion will allow him to build on his strong record to bolster border security, take more aggressive action to stop unauthorized immigration, and focus on deporting dangerous criminals.
Key Facts:
· The President's enforcement priorities will reallocate resources to the Southern Border and law enforcement personnel to stop new, unauthorized arrivals from entering the country.
· Deferred action under the new enforcement priorities will not be available to anyone who has not been in the United States for at least five years. In addition to that requirement, in order to request temporary relief from deportation, individuals will have to: [DHS, accessed 11/20/14]
o Come forward and register with the government;
o Pass a tough criminal background check;
o Pay taxes;
o Submit biometric data; and,
o Show that their citizen or lawful permanent resident child was born before the date of the Administration's announcement.
· Republican critics of the new enforcement priorities were wrong to argue that the President's program to provide relief to some children brought to the United States prior to the age of 16 sparked a new wave of immigration, and they are wrong now. The summer surge in children at the border was the result of extreme violence in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. [DHS, 6/15/12; National Journal, 6/16/14; TNR, 7/10/14]
· The Administration has fiercely battled any misinformation campaigns that smugglers may be using to manipulate parents in Central America. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson sent a letter to Spanish media outlets stating, "Sending your child to travel illegally into the United States is not the solution...There is no path to deferred action or citizenship, or one being contemplated by Congress, for a child who crosses our border illegally today." [DHS, 6/23/14]
· And, because of the Administration's aggressive response the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border has dramatically declined.
· These actions will build on the President's strong record of securing the border and protecting public safety.
o Federal funding on border expenditures has tripled since 2002, with the U.S. spending $18 billion on immigration enforcement in FY12, more than every other federal law enforcement agency combined. [Think Progress, 9/4/14]
o The U.S. has put more boots on the ground along the Southern Border than ever. In FY 2013, CBP employed 21,391 Border Patrol agents in total, with 18,611 Border Patrol agents assigned to the Southwest border. [CBP, accessed 9/29/14]
o Today, CBP has completed approximately 700 total miles of primary, secondary, tertiary, and vehicle fencing across the southwest border, installed 300 radar and camera towers and 11,863 underground sensors, and acquired 107 aircrafts and eight unmanned aerial vehicles. [White House, 5/11; DHS, 10/9/14]
o By setting priorities and focusing its enforcement resources, the Obama Administration has already increased the removal of criminals by more than 80% and the size of the undocumented population has stopped growing for the first time in decades. [White House, 10/20/14]
o Illegal border crossings along the Southwest border are down 75% from their peak in 2000 and are at the lowest level since the 1970s. In 2013, there were nearly 420,000 apprehensions by CBP. That's in contrast to more than 1 million apprehensions in 2006. [CRS, 5/2/14; DHS, 10/9/14]
o The Obama administration has deported unauthorized immigrants at double the rate of the Bush administration. The Obama administration carried out 438,421 deportations in 2013, a record number, bringing the total to over 2 million during his time in office. Deportations in the 2013 fiscal year increased by more than 20,000 over 2012 and by more than 51,000 over 2011. [NY Times, 10/1/14; DHS, 9/14]
MYTH #3: President Obama's executive action is a blanket amnesty that will allow criminals to stay in the United States.
FACT: The real amnesty is doing nothing. The President's enforcement priorities will require individuals seeking deferred action to register with the government, pass a tough criminal background check, and pay taxes.
The President is using his discretion within the law to put more emphasis on securing the border and prioritizing the deportation of terrorists, violent criminals, and gang members. The administration is going after felons, not families.
Key Facts:
· By requiring qualifying undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for more than 5 years, have children who are citizens or lawful permanent residents, to register with the government, undergo a thorough background check, and pay taxes, the President's priorities will hold undocumented immigrants accountable and force them to meet tough requirements to stay in the country for three years at a time. [DHS, accessed 11/20/14]
· Even with the existence of the current child relief program, the Obama Administration has continued to focus on the deportation serious criminals that meet ICE's enforcement priorities. Of the 368, 644 removals that ICE conducted in Fiscal Year 2013, 59% (216, 810) had been previously convicted of a crime and 98% (360, 313) met one or more of ICE's enforcement priorities. [ICE]
· By setting priorities and focusing its enforcement resources, the Obama Administration has already increased the removal of criminals by more than 80% and the size of the undocumented population has stopped growing for the first time in decades. [White House, 10/20/14]
· By bringing these individuals out of the shadows and making them get right with the law, these priorities will provide law enforcement with critical data and the ability to focus on threats to public safety. That information allows the government to focus on serious criminals and national security threats instead of families with deep roots in their communities.
· As a coalition of former State Attorneys General explained in an April 2013 letter to Senate Judiciary Committee leadership, "law enforcement is seriously impaired by an inability to accurately identify residents in an unauthorized status they encounter." Because such immigrants are encouraged to obtain false identification so that they can secure employment and meet other basic needs, "law enforcement cannot determine who a person is or reliably investigate that person's background." This, they went on to say, "undermines the ability of law enforcement officers to carry out their duties and adds to the risks they face." [Former AG Letter, 4/21/13]
· The United States currently spends approximately $18 billion a year on immigration and border enforcement. This is an amount that is greater than its entire budget for all other federal law enforcement agencies and greater than the annual gross domestic product of 80 countries. [CAP, 10/23/14]
· It would cost the $285 billion to deport the entire undocumented population within the United States, resources which would be better spent focusing on the apprehension and deportation of immigrants that pose serious public safety, national security, or other concerns. [CAP, 10/23/14]
MYTH #4: President Obama's executive action will allow undocumented immigrants to take American jobs.
FACT: The President's immigration focus will help to create jobs and economic mobility.
The President's executive action is projected to help create jobs, drive economic growth, and cut the deficit.
Key Facts:
· Today, millions of undocumented workers are already here and working "under the table" in the shadow economy, where unscrupulous employers take advantage of them, which drives down wages for all workers and allows undocumented workers to avoid taxes.
· Any individuals who would qualify for deferred action under the President's priorities must have been in the United States for at least 5 years. By bringing these individuals, who are already working here, out of the shadows the President's priorities will crack down on businesses to stop downward pressure on wages and ensure that undocumented workers become taxpayers.
· This will allow undocumented workers to join the real economy, play by the rules, drive economic growth, and raise wages for U.S. born workers. That's a contrast with the Republican approach of doing nothing, which is the real amnesty. [AFL-CIO]
· The President's priorities would significantly strengthen our economy by creating jobs, driving growth, and cutting the deficit. It is estimated that over 10 years these enforcement priority changes will: [CEA; 11/21/14]
o Increased GDP by between 0.4% and 0.9%;
o Generate between $90 billion and $210 billion in economic growth; and,
o Cut the deficit by between $25 billion and $60 billion.
· Existing research also shows that American-born workers and immigrants already co-exist in the labor market, and the President's priorities will have no long-run employment effects on U.S.-born workers in the long run. [CAP, 10/23/14; CEA; 11/21/14]
· According to BLS, there will be about 1.68 million new American workers ages 25 to 54 in the coming decade - well short of the number of new jobs gained in the American economy. Of the jobs that can't be outsourced or mechanized, 3.6 million would be low-skilled. The need for care workers alone will outstrip the growth of the entire labor American workforce. [BLS,1/12; Center for Global Development, 4/13]
· It is estimated that providing work authorization to undocumented workers would improve the earnings of those workers by approximately 8.5 percent, and that allowing immigrants who have been continuously present in the United States for the last 5-10 years to obtain temporary work authorization would increase U.S. Payroll tax revenues by between $21.24 and $44.96 billion dollars over a five year period. [CAP, 9/5/14]
· In fact, it is Republican inaction on immigration reform that is the real economic threat. It has been estimated that Republican failure to pass the bipartisan Senate bill to fix our immigration system costs us an average of $37 million in lost revenue each day, and $80 billion per year in economic output. [CBO, 7/3/13; CAP, 11/7/13; CBO, 6/18/13; White House, 4/16/14]
MYTH #5: Past presidents have issued executive actions granting immigration relief, but those actions were in harmony with legislation being considered at the time and with Congress' legislative efforts.
FACT: Many presidents issued such executive actions on immigration in spite of Congress' consideration of related legislation and sometimes because of Congress' failure to act.
Presidents of both parties have used their enforcement discretion in a variety of ways, to protect a variety of groups from deportation, for a variety of reasons. In most instances, only later did Congress act to ratify those presidents' decisions.
Key Facts:
· It has been over 500 days since the Senate passed a bipartisan bill to fix our broken immigration system. However, House Republicans have refused to bring that legislation up for a vote.
· Legislation is the only permanent solution for the problems with our immigration system, and Democrats remain ready to work with Republicans to finish the job. However, until that time it is right and appropriate for President Obama to follow the example of previous presidents by using his authority within the law to take a first step toward fixing the problem.
· The President's decision is consistent with actions taken by Presidents of both parties to shape the enforcement of immigration law while waiting for Congress to complete legislative action. Some notable examples include:
o Temporary Relief for Mexican Workers and Displaced Europeans (1945-1947): When World War II ended, President Truman continued to use his executive authority to permit 250,000 European immigrants to stay in the U.S. Only three years later did Congress pass the Displaced Persons Act. Similarly, when authorization for the Bracero program, a temporary worker arrangement with the Mexican government, expired in 1947, the Truman administration continued that program until its formal reauthorization by Congress in 1951. [National Journal, 10/1/14]
o Parole for Cuban Asylum Seekers (1959-1972): Starting in 1959, President Eisenhower used his discretion to provide relief for unauthorized immigrants from Cuba. Under his decision, which was carried forward by Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon, Cuban refugees were granted "indefinite voluntary departure" meaning that they would not be the target of deportation proceedings. Throughout the duration of this change, during which the Cuban Adjustment Act was being considered and ultimately passed in Congress, the vast majority of over 620,000 applicants were granted parole. [IPC, 10/2/14; Vox, 8/13/14]
o Relief for South Vietnamese Refugees (1975): Following the Vietnam War, President Ford used his parole authority to authorize the evacuation of 200,000 South Vietnamese immigrants to the U.S. A month later Congress provided temporary resettlement funding via legislation, but full legislative authorization, in the form of the Indochina Migration and Refugee Act of 1975, was not passed by Congress until 1980, five years after President Ford initially provided relief from deportation. [National Journal, 10/1/14]
o Relief from Deportation for Haitian and Cuban Immigrants (1980): In 1980, after approximately 170,000 Caribbean immigrants arrived in the U.S. President Carter and subsequently President Reagan provided such immigrants with temporary relief from deportation. It was only six years later that that Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), legislation that, among other things, provided permanent resident status to those immigrants. [National Journal, 10/1/14]
o Relief from Deportation for Chinese Students (1989 - 1990): In 1989, although Congress was considering legislation that would have provided similar relief, President Bush provided reprieve from deportation to 80,000 Chinese students that would face prosecution if they returned to China following the massacre at Tiananmen Square. President Bush directed then-Attorney General Richard Thornburgh "to take the steps necessary" to provide such Chinese immigrants with relief from deportation and to allow them to apply for work authorization. Congress did not pass related legislation, the Chinese Student Protection Act, until 1992, three years after Bush's initial executive action. [Bush Library, accessed 11/18/14; IPC, 10/2/14; CRS, June 13, 2012; National Journal, 10/1/14]
o Protection from Deportation for Spouses and Children of Immigrants Legalizing Under IRCA (1990): In 1989, the Senate passed a bill prohibiting the deportation of the spouses and children of individuals given legal status under IRCA, but the bill was not subsequently passed by the House. In response, in 1990 President Bush opted to administratively implement the bill himself and directed his INS commissioner, Gene McNary, to implement the "Family Fairness" policy. "Family Fairness" made 1.5 million spouses and children of immigrants who gained legal status under IRCA eligible for deferred action. At the time McNary stated that "[i]t is vital that we enforce the law against illegal entry. However, we can enforce the law humanely. To split families encourages further violations of the law as they reunite." Later in 1990, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1990, which contained a permanent "Family Unity" provision. Although Bush signed the bill into law, he also issued a signing statement reserving his authority to exercise prosecutorial discretion in certain immigration cases. [IPC, 10/2/14; CRS, 6/3/12; CAP, 10/6/14; The Hill, 10/1/14; CRS, 7/13/12]
o Relief from Deportation for Certain Haitian Immigrants (1997): In 1996, the U.S. exempted immigrants from Nicaragua and El Salvador from harsh deportation rules, but did not provide such relief to Haitian immigrants. In response to concerns that repatriating Haitian immigrants would destabilize the Haitian government and that Haitians would be unable to work if the U.S. only suspended their prosecutions, in 1997 President Clinton issued a directive providing relief from deportation to approximately 20,000 Haitian immigrants while relief legislation was pending. It was not until a year later in 1998 that legislation passed providing a long-term relief for Haitian immigrants. In 1997, President Clinton also provided relief from deportation to an unknown number of Haitian immigrants that stood to gain relief from a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which was also pending at the time. It was not until 2000, that a VAWA Reauthorization bill was passed by Congress. [IPC, 10/2/14; CRS, 6/3/12; Los Angeles Times, 12/17/97; The Hill, 10/1/14]
MYTH #6: The President issued his executive action on immigration because he wanted to increase the number of Democratic voters.
FACT: The President has taken a first step toward fixing our broken immigration system by using his authority within the law to prioritize the deportation of felons, not families. No one who is made a lower priority for deportation under his priorities will be able to vote.
Key Facts:
To be eligible to vote in the United States, an individual must be a U.S. citizen, and in most states must also be 18 years or older. The executive action announced by the President provides only temporary relief to qualifying undocumented immigrants. [USA.gov, accessed 11/21/14]
- The announced action does not convey citizenship or create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., only legislation passed by both Houses of Congress and signed by the President can do that. [USA.gov, accessed 11/21/14]
MYTH #7: Undocumented immigrants and those granted status by the President's executive action will be covered by the Affordable Care Act.
FACT: Undocumented immigrants do not have access to the subsidies on the exchanges or Medicaid. The President's executive action will not allow those covered by the order to access subsidies on the exchanges or federal Medicaid benefits, either.
· Federal law prohibits undocumented immigrants from accessing federal benefits, including nonemergency Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Unemployment Insurance (UI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and participation in or eligibility for health insurance exchanges, premium tax credits, cost-sharing subsidies, and temporary high-risk pools under the Affordable Care Act. [National Immigration Law Center, 10/11; CRS, 9/17/12]
· The President's executive order on deportations will not allow those covered by the policy to receive subsidies to purchase coverage on the health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act nor be eligible for coverage through the Medicaid expansion. [The New York Times, 11/19/14; Associated Press, 11/19/14]
· Immigrants with legal permanent resident status are barred from Medicaid eligibility for five years, and after that may be granted eligibility at the state's option. States have the right to waive the five-year waiting period and cover lawfully residing children and/or pregnant women, which 25 states and the District of Columbia choose to do. Additionally, refugees and asylum seekers are barred from Medicaid for seven years, after which time states can choose to allow eligibility. Nonimmigrants, "quasi-legal" immigrants and undocumented immigrants are barred from receiving Medicaid federal funding. [CRS, 5/21/14; Healthcare.gov, 11/19/14]
· Although expressly barred from receiving benefits, roughly 3.1 million unauthorized immigrants pay into Social Security each year. This amounted to roughly $15 billion in contributions from the workers and their employers in 2010 alone. Over time it has been estimated that unauthorized immigrants have paid $300 billion into Social Security, roughly 10% of the total Social Security Trust Fund. [New York Times, 2/12/13]
· Immigrants are net contributors to Medicare. From 2002 to 2009, immigrants contributed $115.2 billion more to the Medicare Trust Fund than they took out, generating surpluses of $11.1-$17.2 billion per year over that time. In 2009, immigrants accounted for a net surplus of $13.8 billion to the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, while native-born Americans generated a deficit of $30.9 billion to that fund. [Health Affairs, 5/29/13]
· Immigrants consistently pay more in taxes than they consume in services. In 2009, on average foreign-born in the United States paid over $7,800 in taxes, over $3,400 more than the average foreign-born family received in benefits from major government programs. The gap is even more pronounced among highly-skilled immigrants, with those households paying over $22,500 in taxes while their families received benefits one-tenth that size through government programs. [AEI/Partnership for a New American Economy, 12/14/11; AEI, 12/15/11]
MYTH #8: The President has said 22 times that he could not take executive action on immigration. He is acting based on politics using authority he said he doesn't have.
FACT: The President's previous statements referred to the fact that he could not implement the entire bipartisan Senate bill through executive action. He has taken an important first step within the authority he has, but the real solution is for Congress to pass a bill.
- The Obama Administration has explicitly recognized the existing limitations on the sorts of executive action on immigration that the President is able to take.
- For example the President chose only to provide temporary relief from deportation to parents of U.S. citizens and green card holders, rather than widening the existing deferred action program for children to include all parents with children or to all adults. [DHS, accessed 11/20/14]
- In the case of the an expansion of the existing deferred action program to protect parents of children who had already received executive relief, the White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) stated that such an expansion would not be permissible because the proposed policy was "meaningfully different" from other proposals to expand deferred action. As a result, such a move was deemed to be beyond the President's authority and he did not take that action. [OLC Memo, 11/19/14]
- The Administration has also acknowledged that the President could not attempt to increase the number of visas for high-skilled immigrant workers (which is set by Congress) or grant work visas to undocumented agricultural workers (because there is no basis for treating agricultural workers differently from other workers). [New York Times, 11/20/14; Washington Examiner, 11/20/14]
- The President has been clear about what he can and cannot do within the law. It has been over 500 days since the Senate passed bipartisan legislation to fix our immigration system, and Democrats remain willing to work with House Republicans to finish the job.
MYTH #9: President George H.W. Bush's program didn't really shield 1.5 million illegal immigrants.
FACT: 1.5 million was the number of undocumented immigrants that the H.W. Bush administration estimated would be eligible for relief under the Family Fairness policy.
1.5 million undocumented immigrants (40% of the population) was the number of immigrants that the H.W. Bush administration estimated would be eligible for relief under the Family Fairness policy. Regardless of how many individuals were granted relief under the program, the H.W. Bush administration asserted its authority to grant relief to that many individuals.
· Regardless of the number of undocumented immigrants that were eligible for the Family Fairness program versus the number of immigrants that actually elected to apply for the benefits that the program offered, the H.W. Bush administration believed that it had the authority to grant a reprieve from deportation to over 1 million people.
· According to the testimony under oath of the INS Commissioner at the time, about 1.5 million people were affected by President Bush's order. Then-INS Commissioner Gene McNary in his testimony before congress responded, when asked whether his recent administrative order would grant 1.5 million people the ability to stay, work and travel in the and out of the U.S., that "you are right as to the 1.5 million being here." [McNary Testimony, 2/21/90]
· The contention that the President had the authority to grant a reprieve for more than 1 million people was shared by several news sources at the time and has been repeatedly relied upon in the present day. [New York Times, 3/5/90; Los Angeles Times, 2/15/90; CRS, 6/3/12]
MYTH #10: Republicans claim that President Obama has issued an unprecedented number of executive orders.
FACT: President Obama has issued fewer executive orders that President Bush or President Reagan.
· Modern presidents from both parties have made repeated use of executive orders.
- President George W. Bush (291 executive orders, 36 per year): President George W. Bush issued orders restricting access to records under the Presidential Records Act and limiting federal funding for stem cell research, among others. [The Washington Post, 7/10/14]
- President Bill Clinton (364 executive orders, 45 per year): President Clinton used executive orders to ban the import of 50+ types of semi-automatic assault weapons and assault pistols, created the President's Council on Sustainable Development in order for the U.S. to comply with the U.N.'s Agenda 21, and focused federal attention on environmental justice for minority and low income populations. [The Washington Post, 7/10/14].
- President Ronald Reagan (381 executive orders, 47 per year): The Administration claimed that "With a hostile Congress that doesn't show much sign of coming toward us on some of these issues, it behooves us to take the initiative when we can take it." [McClatchy, 11/21/13; Real Clear Politics, 2/3/14; Los Angeles Times, 8/21/87]
· Compared to these presidents, President Obama has only issued 193 orders at a rate of 33 per year.
· According to Gerhard Peters, co-founder of the American Presidency Project, "In the modern era that most presidential scholars believe began with Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, Obama has issued the least number of executive orders per year." [American Presidency Project, 10/20/14]
MYTH #11: The President is not just deferring prosecution, he is affirmatively granting benefits and rights to undocumented immigrants by issuing them work permits.
FACT: The announced executive action does not affirmatively grant new benefits to undocumented immigrants. The authority to grant work authorization has been recognized in law and in the courts.
- The executive branch's authority to authorize employment for undocumented immigrants who have been granted deferred action is well-established. It has been recognized in regulatory guidance and in court cases, and it has survived challenges through the administrative process. [Professor's Letter, 11/25/14; OLC Memo, 11/19/14; CRS, 7/13/12]
- The announced executive action will not affirmatively confer work authorization upon undocumented individuals who have been granted deferred action. Regulations promulgated by the INS and DHS provide that undocumented immigrants who can demonstrate an economic need for employment may apply for work authorization. [CRS, 7/13/12]
- Work authorization has regularly been part of temporary grants of relief from deportation in the past.
- As part of a deferred action program for foreign students affected by Katrina, for example, President W. Bush required that written requests from immigrants seeking relief from deportation include applications for work authorization. [OLC Memo, 11/19/14]
- In 1991, President H.W. Bush gave a four-year reprieve to 2, 227 immigrants evacuated from Kuwait after the 1990 Kuwait invasion and allowed those evacuees to work. [IPC, 10/14; CRS, 6/13/12]
· The ability to apply for work authorization will not only improve the wages of undocumented individuals, it will also improve wages for all workers.
· Allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for work authorization will increase Americans' wages. Temporary work permits will increase earnings of undocumented immigrants by roughly 8.5%. The wages of U.S.-born workers will also increase modestly because the "wage floor" rises for all workers. [CAP, 9/5/14; CAP, 1/7/10]
· When individuals are unable to work legally, they are forced to remain in a shadow economy and to endure abusive and exploitative employment practices that push down wages and benefits for all workers. Allowing undocumented immigrants to come out of the shadows, to work legally, and to pay their fair share of taxes, will improve their wages and benefits, will improve the economy, and, as a result, will improve the wages and benefits of all workers. [AFL-CIO, 11/20/14]
· Allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for work authorization will not take jobs away from hardworking Americans. Immigrant workers typically have different skills and do different jobs than American workers. As a result immigrants and U.S.-born Americans are more likely to complement each other in the workforce and less likely to compete with one another. [IPC, 6/12/13]
MYTH #12: Individuals granted relief under the President's immigration enforcement priorities will be a drain on Social Security and Medicare benefits.
FACT: The President's enforcement priorities will bring millions of workers out of the underground economy and "on the books." Making these worker pay taxes will boost Medicare and Social Security revenues.
· Individuals who qualify for relief by coming forward to register with the government, passing a criminal background check, and paying taxes will be prohibited from accessing federal benefits, including nonemergency Medicaid, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Unemployment Insurance (UI), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and participation in or eligibility for health insurance exchanges, premium tax credits and cost-sharing subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. [National Immigration Law Center, 10/11; CRS, 9/17/12]
· Under current law, these individuals can obtain a work permit and a Social Security number. As a result, they would pay into the Social Security and Medicare trust funds through payroll taxes and be eligible for benefits they earn after approximately 10 years of working. For Social Security disability insurance, the taxpayer must generally have a work history of 5 to 10 years and sufficient recent work. [The Washington Post, 11/25/14; Associated Press, 11/26/14]
· Bringing these workers into the system will strengthen Social Security. Right now, only 37 percent of undocumented workers pay Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes as many continue to work in the underground economy. Allowing undocumented workers to come out of the shadows and into the legal American economy will further boost trust fund revenues by making undocumented workers taxpayers, and raising the wages of U.S.-born and immigrant workers alike. [Center for American Progress, 6/14/13]
· The President's actions do not change the current law under which undocumented immigrants are ineligible for Social Security benefits. Although the new policy will reduce the number of such undocumented immigrants, it will not allow a penny of Social Security benefits to be paid to those who are not working in the country lawfully.
· Currently, although expressly barred from receiving benefits, roughly 3.1 million unauthorized immigrants pay into Social Security each year. This amounted to roughly $15 billion in contributions from the workers and their employers in 2010 alone. Over time it has been estimated that unauthorized immigrants have paid $300 billion into Social Security, roughly 10% of the total Social Security Trust Fund. [New York Times, 2/12/13; Center for American Progress, 6/14/13]
· Immigrants are net contributors to Medicare. From 2002 to 2009, immigrants contributed $115.2 billion more to the Medicare Trust Fund than they took out, generating surpluses of $11.1-$17.2 billion per year over that time. In 2009, immigrants accounted for a net surplus of $13.8 billion to the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, while native-born Americans generated a deficit of $30.9 billion to that fund. [Health Affairs, 5/29/13]
· The President has taken a first step within his authority to fix our broken immigration system. The real solution would be for House Republicans to finish the job the Senate started over 500 days ago by passing a bipartisan bill. According to the Social Security Administration, passing the bill and bringing undocumented workers into the system would create a net surplus of $243 billion for Social Security over the next 10 years. [SSA, 5/8/13]