The White House: Fixing Our Broken Immigration System

Trends in the agriculture sector – due in part to growing domestic demand for fresh fruit and vegetables year-round – indicate that farmworkers are increasingly settling permanently in places where they previously worked temporarily.37 This means not only a more stable and available workforce for farmers, but also higher, year-round consumer demand in the local community’s economy and higher government revenues. Indeed, providing opportunities for immigrants to work legally in the U.S. could add as much as $2 billion to annual local and state tax revenues, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.38 State and local income tax revenues would increase by $1.6 billion, with sales and property tax collections increasing by $420 million and $76 million respectively. By expanding the tax base, common-sense immigration reform will provide greater resources to these governments, including those in rural communities, to ensure every individual in their community has an opportunity to succeed and to prosper.

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