Although the United States is currently experiencing its highest unemployment levels in a generation, it is untrue that subtracting 8.3 million unauthorized immigrant workers from the labor force would automatically improve job prospects for the 15.7 million Americans who are now unemployed. Employment is not a "zero sum" game. Swapping unemployed natives for employed unauthorized immigrants is not valid economically. In reality, native workers and immigrants workers are not easily interchangeable says the Immigration Policy Center. Even if unemployed native workers were willing to travel across the country or take jobs for which they are overqualified, that is hardly a long-term strategy for economic recovery. Legalizing millions of unauthorized workers, taxpayers, and consumers would benefit the economy by increasing tax revenues and consumer spending.
