Three Ways the BRIDGE Act Supports the U.S. Economy
Terry Howerton
CEO, TechNexus Venture Collaborative | founder. entrepreneur, venture development
Tuesday, we were happy to host Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and the Illinois Business Immigration Coalition to share information on the BRIDGE (Bar Removal of Individuals who Dream and Grow our Economy) Act which was created by Senator Durbin, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). The act provides a legislative solution for more than 750,000 Dreamers who earned work permits under DACA – Defer Action for Childhood Arrivals, a policy that defers deportation to people under age 31 who came to the U.S. under the age 16 and meet other criteria.
DACA-protected immigrants account for children raised in the United States, who grew up saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the only national anthem they know – ours. These people are now working, paying income tax, contributing to their communities and the American dream. While the BRIDGE Act is not a long-term solution to comprehensive immigration reform, it does continue to protect those currently protected under DACA, and also maintains eligibility for those who met the previous stringent qualifications and are looking to apply. Staying in the U.S. is not only critical to these individual’s future but also for our nation’s. The legislation:
Supports Educated, Ambitious People
The individuals who are legally in the U.S. under DACA are teachers, nurses, engineers and entrepreneurs who excel in their fields and contribute to our economy. Like the immigrants who founded our country, these people are ambitious. They take every opportunity they can to educate themselves. They’re hardworking and the epitome of the American spirit.
One of Tuesday’s attendees, Carlos, is a perfect example. He was not eligible for federal education support, but earned merit-based scholarships to fund his degree. He started his higher education at a community college, and then transferred to Loyola. He taught in Chicago for a year, pursued his master’s degree, and ultimately works at Deloitte, one of the most respected and challenging consulting agencies in the world. It’s dedicated and ambitious people like Carlos who prove that supporting these individuals is not only good for them, but great for America.
Creates New Businesses and Jobs
Six percent of DACA recipients have launched businesses that employ native-born American citizens. Two years ago, 28 percent of all new entrepreneurs were immigrants. They’ve taken the American dream to heart and worked tirelessly to found successful companies. Beyond founders, tech companies in particular are propped up by engineering, software development, and other entrepreneurial skills that often stems from immigrant talent.
If passed, the BRIDGE Act enables these individuals to continue to work, create jobs, pay taxes, buy homes, and contribute to our economy and country. These are the type of people we want to drive the U.S. forward.
Increased Consumer Purchasing Power
Keeping these nearly 800,000 working people employed and purchasing big-ticket assets strengthens America’s consumer purchasing power. More than 50 percent of DACA recipients have purchased a vehicle, and more than one in ten have purchased their first home. When compared with other home purchasing trends such as more than half of Millennials opt for “untraditional” living options like renting with friends, this is a striking statistic with real fiscal impact. These DACA-supported American residents are paying taxes or paying off loans for mortgages, cars, and higher education, supporting the nation’s economy.
From educational ambition to entrepreneurship and more buying power, we can’t afford to push these valuable immigrants out of our country. Share your support of the BRIDGE Act and its recipients with your local, professional and digital communities and we can work together to continue America’s heritage of homegrown, immigrant innovation.
SEO, Growth, Data & Analytics, and CRO Expert
7y"From educational ambition to entrepreneurship and more buying power, we can’t afford to push these valuable immigrants out of our country." "Buying power"? Are you suggesting there is not enough domestic demand for goods and services such that we need to redistribute public monies to subsidize immigrants buying goods and services in America? You've got your understanding of economics completely backwards. Prosperity comes from an abundant supply of goods and services, not from "aggregate demand". Everyone demands goods and services. Want another car? A house? A bigger 401k? Fancy dinners out? To go to the movies? To get off food stamps? How about to have the medical care you need to stop feeling pain every day? Most people would answer "yes." It's built in. Everyone desires pleasure and works to avoid pain. This is the nature of demand. The reason we don't have unlimited prosperity is a result of scarcity in goods and services. Some 40-50% of Americans receive food stamps in order to afford to eat food. Can these people afford "big ticket assets"? If the simple act of subsidizing their purchasing creates such prosperity as you suggest, why not just subsidize everything? Helicopter money style? Perhaps we should put a $100,000 balance in a bank account, 1 account for each citizen, and let them spend to their hearts content? They would buy all kinds of "big ticket assets" and similar. Could you imagine the utopia? The Federal Reserve can print this with ease, and lend it to the Treasury. It's entirely feasible. Why not do it (more than they already are)? The answer is because demand isn't the problem. Supply is. Everyone wants the goods and services but there aren't enough of them so their price is too high for most people to afford. By increasing the supply of goods and services and expanding production, prices can come down and more people can afford to increase their quality of life. When the government picks winners and losers instead of the market, you get a big heap of losers that end up staying in business for far too long (Solyndra, all banks, Social Security, etc.), causing socialized losses to all of society, reduced production, crowding out legitimate and profitable businesses, and a lower quality of living for Americans. This is the failure of the centralized economic planning (socialism) you advocate (and implement). If, however, these people are as competitive and brilliant as you mention, they can certainly compete freely in the market un-subsidized. And they will win. And if they win, it's because they are producing goods and services more efficiently than their competitors. The immigrants that built America came to this country because they were free to take personal risk to build capital, and compete freely in the market. The federal government was 5-10 times smaller than it is today in 1900. It was understood that success OR FAILURE were yours to have, in America. The market is free, all are welcome, playing on an even field. Now, immigrants come to American because they can get special favors from our governments (local, state, federal), so rather than attracting risk-ready entrepreneurs who know they can only get ahead in America by producing goods and services efficiently (and that their risk may be met with great loss), we are attracting graft looking for a handout. (data to substantiate this claim: http://cis.org/Welfare-Use-Legal-Illegal-Immigrant-Households & http://cis.org/Welfare-Use-Immigrant-Native-Households) I don't blame them, though, it's rational to go where the money is. Just don't delude yourself into thinking you're creating prosperity here. You're just taking money from productive Americans (taxpayers) and giving it to a political constituency to curry favor and pave the way for future votes at a net loss to society. It's as unethical as it gets. It might help the political class to avoid having to compete in the market and stay on the public dole, but it certainly isn't going increase living standards for anyone (except the recipients and the ones "administering" the program). "These DACA-supported American residents are paying taxes or paying off loans for mortgages, cars, and higher education, supporting the nation’s economy." If I had to re-phrase the above, I might say: "These DACA-supported American residents are paying taxes or paying off loans for mortgages, cars, and higher education, supporting the banks that lent them the money, the government who needs income to finance their bloat (self evident in this post), and the corporate political constituencies in each area (car manufacturers, realtors, mortgage lenders, public or private universities)." Paying off consumption loans now "supports the economy"? Debt always reduces the future living standards of the debtor UNLESS the proceeds of the loan are used to produce supply of goods or services greatly in excess of the value of the loan, allowing repayment in full with interest (and the new productive capacity remains). This is called a business loan. Financing cars, houses, and over-priced college make all of us poorer because the debt is backed (guaranteed) by the US in one form or another (mortgages are purchased by Fannie/Freddie and then sold to the Fed -- $2.5T of mortgage loans on Fed balance sheet). Consumption is nothing special. Production is. Can you tell me the sum of goods and services the recipients produce? What are the sum profits of these ventures net of all expenses and subsidy? I suspect the answer to that last question is a negative number. And if not, they certainly don't need a subsidy from the government because they are winning in the competitive marketplace (indicated by profit). If so, you're passing their losses on to us, the taxpayers. Thanks for that. To clear up your thinking and understand more of where I'm coming from, try reading: https://mises.org/files/henry-hazlitt-economics-one-lessonpdf/download?token=xBmgeDG7 (free PDF) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002OSXD6E/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (only $8.99) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003HOXLVQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1 (only $10.99) Plus, you'll be growing the economy when you demand them from Amazon!