Texas, which is leading the 26-state federal lawsuit against the Obama administration to block the implementation of its illegal immigrant amnesty program, would see the second-largest economic growth if the programs were implemented, according to a report published Monday by the Center for American Progress.
In December, the Lone Star State filed suit at the the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to block the implementation of President Obama's executive immigration program, which would provide deportation relief and other federal benefits to an estimated 4.4 million illegal immigrants, Reuters reported.
The 26 states claimed that implementation of such an amnesty program would cause "dramatic and irreparable" economic damage to their states, and U.S. Judge Andrew Hanen issued an injunction halting the program until the courts can determine whether the president had the constitutional authority to create the program without Congress, reported NPR.
But the progressive group's newly issued report found that Texas, which has an estimated 746,000 immigrants eligible for the deferred action program, would see its GDP grow by as much as $38.3 billion over a decade if those illegal immigrants were to receive temporary work permits. Further, the analysis found that state residents would see a $17.6 billion increase in income and an increase of 4,800 jobs annually over the following decade.
"It's very straightforward," Silva Mathema, a policy analyst at the Center for American Progress, told The Huffington Post. "Temporary work permits mean that wages for undocumented immigrants will go up - our estimate is by about 8.5 percent on average. ... Having more wages means they'll have more income to spend on basically everything, from cars to clothes to everything else, because they are consumers as well. It will create jobs for everyone in the state."
Only California, where the nation's largest undocumented population resides, and which did not join the lawsuit, would see a larger economic boost than Texas. The Center for American Progress estimated California would see a $75.8 billion increase in its GDP, and 9,500 jobs created, over the next decade if Obama's immigration plan is allowed to move forward.
All 37 states measured by the group would experience gains in their GDP, the report said, and an unimpeded deferred action would increase the GDP of the country as a whole by $230 billion over the next decade.
