2013 Immigration Reform Bill Would Reduce Deficit By $175B In A Decade, Says CBO

The Senate’s 2013 immigration reform bill would reduce the federal budget deficit and lead to a net savings of $175 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the nonpartisan agency that provides economic data to Congress.

In a report released Tuesday, the CBO stated that implementing the “Gang of Eight’s” comprehensive immigration reform bill would cost $22 billion in net discretionary spending between 2014 and 2023. But the impact of the legislation on the deficit is dependent on further actions taken by lawmakers.

The bill would increase spending on border security and provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country. This piece of news from the CBO comes as lawmakers in the Senate continue debating the bill, which they hope to pass before year’s end.

“This report is a huge momentum boost for immigration reform,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., a leader of the Gang of Eight, said on the Senate floor moments after the CBO report was released, The Hill reported. “This debunks the idea that immigration reform is anything other than a boon to our economy, and robs the bill’s opponents of one of their last remaining arguments.”

Here are the other findings from the CBO:

-- Direct federal spending will rise by $262 billion over the next decade, owing largely to the increase in refundable tax credit from a larger population and health care spending on programs such as Medicaid;

-- Federal revenues will grow by $459 billion over the same time because of more income and payroll tax collection; and

-- The federal deficit will continue to decrease by a further $700 billion between 2024 and 2033. The CBO says this is a result of additional federal revenue and changes in direct spending.

Read the complete report here.