Could legalizing immigrants improve U.S. economy?
PHOENIX (Reuters) – If the United States under President Barack Obama grants legal status to its 12 million illegal immigrants, most of them Hispanics, would it prove a net gain or a drain for the beleaguered U.S. economy? Immigration, particularly what to do about illegal immigrants, is a hot-button issue in the United States. Immigration advocates say illegal immigrants do jobs Americans won’t. Critics say they depress wages and drain resources. There is disagreement over whether giving legal immigration status to people now in the United States illegally would sap hard-pressed federal, state and local coffers, as people who oppose legalization say, or boost tax revenues and unleash a pent-up spending spree by the immigrants, as advocates argue. Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing minority in the United States, accounting for around 15 percent of a U.S. population of some 300 million people. An estimated fifth of them are in the country illegally. Compared to multibillion-d
