Immigration rivals agree; Senate bill will legalize more than 30 million migrants
The estimate is only slightly less than the initial 33.5 million estimate prepared by NumbersUSA, which opposes the bill.
The NumbersUSA group said their estimates were cautious, while the Center for American Progress (CAP) group said their April 30 study shows the Senate bill will actually reduce the current inflow of immigrants.
The CAP and NumbersUSA estimates are similar, despite a series of very different assumptions and portrayals that reflect very different political priorities.
NumbersUSA wants to reduce current inflow, and offers cautious numbers to counter push-back from progressives and the media.
CAP’s immigrant number is lower that NumbersUSA’s estimate, said Wolgin, partly because the CAP doesn’t count the amnesty of 11 million illegal immigrants as immigration.
NumbersUSA also excludes 2001 and 2001, and bases its predictions on the inflows from 2003 to 2012 to counter likely criticism from immigration-advocates in the media.
NumbersUSA predicts an inflow of 9.3 million relatives, plus the 4.5 million now in line.
NumbersUSA predicts the inflow of non-agricultural immigrant employees with green cards will climb to at least 3.1 million, and will be accompanied by 3 million spouses and children. The NumbersUSA estimate does not estimate the number of green cards for several programs that do not have limits.