Greenspan backing US immigration reform

May 01 2009 by Gareth McConnell

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has appeared before a Senate subcommittee calling for an urgent overhaul of the current US immigration system.

In defence of the millions of illegal immigrants currently living and working in the US, Mr Greenspan says they make a ‘significant’ contribution to the U.S. economy by providing a ‘safety valve’ as demand for workers rises and falls.

“There is little doubt that unauthorized, that is, illegal, immigration has made a significant contribution to the growth of our economy,” Greenspan said.

“Our immigration laws must be reformed and brought up to date,” Greenspan told the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security.

With US immigration reform a high priority in President Obama’s political agenda and the backbone of his support from Hispanic voters, the President reiterated his intention to begin working with groups and lawmakers to “start looking at a framework of how this legislation might be shaped.”

In 2007, the Senate blocked plans to allow the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants earn legal US citizenship via a new guest-worker program.
Surprisingly, former President, George W. Bush was a supporter of the proposal but opponents argued awarding illegal immigrants with a path to legal status broke the law.

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