Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Panel: Undocumented immigrants boost Nevada, U.S. economy

Immigrant Panel Discussion

Chris Kudialis

National Council of La Raza Policy Analysis Center Senior Director Albert Jacquez speaks on a panel at Las Vegas’ Laborers Union Local 872 on Friday, March 3, 2017.

Deporting large numbers of unauthorized immigrants would hurt families and the U.S. economy, leaders of a national advocacy group for Hispanics living in the United States and Latino community members said in Las Vegas today.

“Unauthorized immigrants pay more than $12 billion in Social Security taxes each year alone,” Nevada Tax Commission member and UNLV law professor Francine Lipman said. “But their value to our tax system goes even beyond that.”

The panel, led by Washington-based leaders from the National Council of La Raza, said if all undocumented immigrants were deported in Nevada, the Silver State’s gross domestic product would drop by $5.7 billion annually.

Panelists also emphasized the benefits of the Affordable Care Act through personal stories of patients helped by the health care program. They questioned whether the “repeal and replace” slogan pitched by Republicans would actually be carried out.

“We hear all about repealing, but where are the plans for replacing it?” said Albert Jacquez, senior policy director for NCLR’s Policy Analysis Center. “People’s lives are at stake.”

The panel also touted a 13 percent growth in Latino home ownership from 2011 to 2015, a 14 percent drop in the number of Latinos without healthcare insurance and authorization of more than 25,000 new Latinos to work legally in Nevada over that same time period as examples of economic and social growth made by Silver State Hispanics.

Rafael Collazo, NCLR director of political campaigns, credited Obamacare, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as “instrumental in improving the economic outlook for Latino Nevadans.”

With more than 300 affiliate organizations in 41 U.S. states, NCLR is the largest national Hispanic advocacy group in America.

The panel also featured representatives from the offices of U.S. Sens Dean Heller and Catherine Cortez Masto and U.S. Reps. Ruben Kihuen and Jacky Rosen. Members of the panel, moderated by UNLV law professor Sylvia Lazos, met privately to discuss solutions to outlined issues after the panel, which met for nearly two hours, adjourned.

“We just need to lobby Congress and continue fighting for what’s right,” Lipman said. “Getting together today will only help us unify and do that better.”