Facts can be uncomfortable things --
when you're trying to justify legislation that would vastly
increase legal immigration.
On May 15, I released a study predicting the Senate's immigration
bill (S.2611) would bring 103 million legal immigrants into the
U.S. over the next 20 years. On the same day, I participated in a
news conference held by Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, who
predicted similar numbers. The Senate promptly amended the bill,
scaling back the legal immigration rate. (Even with amendments, the
bill still would produce 55 million to 60 million legal immigrants
over the next 20 years.)
Since the publication of my original study, Alan Reynolds of the
Cato Institute has issued two columns charging that my study was
"inane nonsense" and a "cheap parlor trick." Although Mr. Reynolds
is an economist of merit, I must regrettably note he has seriously
distorted my findings.
My original paper showed S.2611 would increase legal immigration
through many channels, including family chain migration. One
important channel was a new "guest worker" (H-2C) program. (These
workers would have the right to permanent residence and
citizenship.) The bill would allow 325,000 "guest workers" to enter
in the first year and would increase the number by up to 20 percent
per year after that, based on employer interest.
My paper predicted the H-2C "guest worker" would grow 10 percent
yearly, well below the legal limit. When combined with other
provisions in the bill, I estimated this would result in granting
103 million immigrants legal status over the next 20 years. Most of
the paper described this 103 million immigrant estimate in detail,
breaking future immigration into eight separate categories.
The paper also provided a second estimate showing what would happen
if the "guest worker" program grew at the maximum legal rate of 20
percent yearly. This would have resulted in 193 million immigrants
over 20 years. This higher "legal maximum" estimate was mentioned
in only one paragraph and was clearly intended to illustrate my
preferred estimate of 103 million was not a theoretical "worst
case" scenario, but, in fact, well below the bill's legal
ceiling.
Alan Reynolds has attacked my study by pretending I predicted the
worst-case scenario of 20 percent growth in the "guest worker"
program. It takes considerable chutzpah to allege that my paper,
titled "Senate Immigration Bill Would Allow 100 Million New Legal
Immigrants Over the Next 20 Years," predicted more than 200 million
immigrants, but that's exactly what Mr. Reynolds does.
Nearly every number Mr. Reynolds cites involves an "estimate" I
never made. For example, he charges I predicted an annual inflow of
25 million immigrants by 2026. I predicted nothing of the sort. Mr.
Reynolds charges I predicted 10.4 million guest workers entering
the country in 2026; the actual number in the paper is 2.1
million.
Mr. Reynolds further asserts my estimate of future immigration
under S.2611 comes from a "cheap trick" based on the "magic of
compound interest." But "compounding" had little effect on the
actual estimate. In doing research for the original paper, I
produced some 20 models of immigration growth under S.2611, varying
growth in the "guest worker" program and other factors. One model
assumed zero growth in the "guest worker" program but still yielded
72 million immigrants over 20 years, more than threefold the
current law.
Other models assumed linear growth rather than "compounding" but
yielded very similar results to those in the published paper. In
one model, I assumed the H-2C program started at 325,000 entrants
and grew at a fixed linear rate with incoming workers increasing by
roughly 75,000 each year. Though there was no "magic of compound
interest" in this model, the result was 104 million immigrants over
20 years.
I did not publish all these estimates, since releasing numerous
similar predictions would merely have confused the message;
however, I think the examples just given clearly illustrate my
conclusions were in no way based on a compounding "trick."
Mr. Reynolds further charges my estimate of 103 million legal
immigrants exceeds the population of Mexico, and "most guest
workers are expected to come from Mexico." But my estimate of 103
million immigrants gaining legal status included many categories of
immigrants besides guest workers; moreover, the bill is very clear
the H-2C "guest worker" program is designed to bring in workers
from all over the world, not just from Mexico.
By glaringly misrepresenting and
distorting my research, Mr. Reynolds' criticisms detract from a
meaningful discussion of immigration issues.
Robert Rector is
a Senior Research Fellow in Domestic Policy Studies at the Heritage
Foundation.