Comprehensive immigration reform would be a giant step forward in raising the nation’s economic secular growth rate.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says immigration reform could raise the growth rate of the country and would be an important step in addressing the looming bankruptcy of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Immigration reform would increase the number of people working. More workers translates directly into higher long-term growth. Moreover, more workers means higher revenues for entitlement programs, including Social Security and Medicare. Immigration reform would improve the dependency ratio in the United States, with too few workers supporting an ever-larger retired population. Demographics are destiny.