In a powerful argument in favour of the US immigration reform legislation, now being debated in the Senate, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has predicted a major boost to the American economy and reduction of the country’s budget deficit by nearly $200 billion over the next 10 years.
A report by the CBO said it expects the White House-backed legislation to reduce federal deficits by $197 billion from 2014 to 2023, and by $700 billion from 2024 to 2033. The White House was quick to hail the report, with spokesman Jay Carney saying it was “more proof that bipartisan commonsense immigration reform will be good for economic growth and deficit reduction”
Carney said the report makes it clear that the immigration bill would not only reduce the deficit, but would also increase economic growth for years to come. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, who is leading the push on the bill in the Senate, said the report was “a huge momentum boost for immigration reform”.
But the reform legislation has a long, long way to go. Even if it is cleared by the Senate, grave doubts are being expressed over its fate in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, with Speaker John Boehner asserting that he will not bring the Bill to the chamber unless a majority of Republican lawmakers supported it.
“I have no intention of putting a bill on the floor that will violate the principles of our majority and divide our conference,” Boehner told his party colleagues at a closed-door meeting, reportedly insisting that he would not act, unless it was ensured that the bill first secures America’s borders.