Economic recovery and immigration reform – both hot topics in today’s headlines and political landscape – come together as the focus of a national coalition led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The Partnership for a New American Economy is comprised of bipartisan mayors and business leaders with a shared belief that immigration reform will play an integral role in securing the economic vitality of our nation.
In a recent message delivered to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law, Mayor Bloomberg said that immigration reform needs to become a national priority. “Our broken system of immigration is undermining our economy … slowing our recovery … and hurting millions of Americans.”
In Mayor Bloomberg’s testimony, he highlighted findings from recent studies on the economic impact of immigration, including the following:
- Citing New York City as a prime example, he said that cities with the largest increase in immigrant workers have had the fastest economic growth;
- Immigrants pay more in taxes than they use in benefits;
- Immigrants create new companies that produce jobs; and
- More and more countries and competing to attract entrepreneurs and high-skilled workers.
“Creating a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants will strengthen our economy,” Mayor Bloomberg told the committee. “To keep America competitive in the global marketplace, we must recognize that our economy has changed; our immigration policy needs to change with it.”
The organization, launched in June 2010, was co-founded by Mayor Bloomberg and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Other founding members include mayors from El Paso, Texas; Portland, Oregon; and Newark, New Jersey – along with executives from companies such as Xerox, American Express, Yahoo!, Morgan Stanley and Univision Communications, to name a few.
To read the full text of Mayor Bloomberg’s Congressional testimony, and to learn more about the Partnership for New Economy, visit the organization’s website at www.renewoureconomy.org.