The Economic Benefits of Passing the DREAM Act

Author: 
Juan Carlos Guzmán and Raúl C. Jara
Date of Publication: 
October, 2012
Source Organization: 
Other

This joint report by the Partnership for a New American Economy and the Center for American Progress shows how passing the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM) Act will boost the US economy and create jobs for American workers. 

Using American Community Survey data from 2006 to 2010 to calculate the number of eligible unauthorized youth that would qualify for the DREAM Act—creating the largest dataset of unauthorized immigrants to date—the researchers then put the data into a robust model of the likely educational and job attainment potential of eligible DREAMers to estimate their likely future earnings.

Findings include:

  1. Passing the DREAM Act would add $329 billion to the U.S. economy.
  2. The DREAM Act would create 1.4 million new jobs by 2030.
  3. DREAM Act-eligible youth will earn 19% more if the DREAM Act is passed than they would without the DREAM Act, i.e. the 2.1 million DREAMers will have more earnings to put back into the U.S. economy.
  4. The DREAM Act would result in an additional $5.6 billion in state and federal household income tax revenue and $4.6 billion in federal business tax revenue.

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Citation: 

Guzmán, J. C., Jara, R. C. (2012). The Economic Benefits of Passing the DREAM Act. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress & Partnership for a New American Economy. Retrieved from https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/sites/all/themes/pnae/economic-benefits-dream.pdf

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