According to the 2013 American Community Survey (ACS) from the Census Bureau, the nation’s immigrant population (legal and illegal) hit a record 41.3 million in July 2013, an increase of 1.4 million since July 2010. Since 2000 the immigrant population is up 10.2 million. As a share of the population, immigrants (legal and illegal) comprised 13.1 percent of U.S. residents (about one out of every eight), the highest percentage in 93 years. As recently as 1980, 6.2 percent of the country was comprised of immigrants (Zeigler, &Camarota, 2014, Para. 2).
Facing the fact that more and more immigrants settled in the communities, some people falsely suggest that immigrants are “takers”-- people who use more public benefits than other groups – and that…show more content… immigration system. As in Presidential memorandum “Creating Welcoming Communities and Fully Integrating Immigrants and Refugees” released in Nov. 21, 2014, President Obama stated these new Americans significantly improve our economy. He said our success as a Nation of immigrants is rooted in our ongoing commitment to welcoming and integrating newcomers into the fabric of our country. It is important that we develop a Federal immigrant integration strategy that is innovative and competitive with those of other industrialized nations and supports mechanisms to ensure that our Nation’s diverse people are contributing to society to their fullest potential (Obama, 2014, Para. 3). This memo seeks to build a federal strategy on immigrant integration by creating a White House Task Force on new Americans, which can build upon ongoing initiatives at the state and local level across the country. However, there is still a need for Congress to make more lasting reforms, because there are many aspects of the U.S. immigration system that only Congress can change through legislative action (McDaniel,…show more content… They usually support the immigration reform, because immigration provides large amount of inexpensive labors. Both legal and illegal immigrants provide an increased patronage of American businesses. Immigration has been a constant source of economic vitality and demographic dynamism. Thomas J. Donohue is president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He stated in The Washington Times that welcoming immigrants is good for our economy and our society. Immigrants do not typically compete with Americans for jobs. The reality is that they create more jobs through entrepreneurship, economic activity and tax revenues. Immigrants complement US-born workers and can help fill labor shortages across the skill spectrum and in key sectors (Donohue, 2014, Para.
