Complex US Immigration System Cost Economy $30 Billion A Year: Study

America’s burdensome system of immigration laws is costing the economy $30 billion a year, according to a new study by centre-right think-tank American Action Forum (AAF) on Thursday, noting a hypothetical skilled immigrant would spend roughly 18 hours and $2,500 filling out at least 16 forms on his or her path to naturalization.

America’s burdensome system of immigration laws is costing the economy $30 billion a year, according to a new study by centre-right think-tank American Action Forum (AAF) on Thursday, noting a hypothetical skilled immigrant would spend roughly 18 hours and $2,500 filling out at least 16 forms on his or her path to naturalization.

The study found, as cited by the Wall Street Journal, that there was 234 government forms, emanating from seven different agencies, related to immigration – leading to at least 98.8 million hours of paperwork per year.

Using Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the organization concluded that immigration paperwork was sucking $5.9 billion annually from U.S. productivity, while the total cost – from filling out forms and application payments – for both businesses and individuals was $26.9 billion.

Among the most costlier paperwork was the I-9 form, which is used to verify the identify and legal status of virtually all workers in this country, said the study. U.S. residents and their employers spend approximately 40.6 million hours annually tackling the I-9 process, the study added.

“Few doubt that our current immigration system is in need of reform, writes the study’s author, Sam Batkins, AAF’s director of regulatory policy. “Thankfully, many agree that our regulatory state needs an overhaul as well.”

[quote]”With seven different agencies administering 234 forms, and imposing $30 billion in economic burdens on immigrants, the costs of neglecting regulatory immigration reform are already too high.”[/quote]

Separately, a study by the Center for American Progress (CAP) last month also found that granting undocumented immigrants immediate citizenship would add $1.4 trillion to economic growth through increased tax revenue and job growth.

The American Progress paper analysed the 10-year economic impact of immigration reform under three scenarios. The first scenario assumes that legal status and citizenship are both accorded to the undocumented in 2013. The second scenario assumes that the unauthorized are provided legal status in 2013 and are able to earn citizenship five years thereafter. The third scenario assumes that the unauthorized are granted legal status starting in 2013 but that they are not provided a means to earn citizenship—at least within the 10-year timeframe of our analysis.

Related: US Immigration Laws Drive Away Job-Creating “Foreigners”

Related: Infographic: Immigrant Entrepreneurs Boosting US Growth

Related: Human Mobility and Economic Development: Why Migration Makes Sense

[quote]“If we made the assumption that the income effect of legalization and citizenship combined for the unauthorized is the same as the income effect of citizenship that we estimated for the entire noncitizen immigrant population, then we would conclude that the unauthorized would experience an average increase in income of 16 percent from legalization and citizenship,” said the American Progess study.[/quote]

There were at least 39.9 million foreign-born people in the United States in 2010, according to American Progress. 44 percent were naturalized citizens and 24 percent were legal permanent residents.