PHILADELPHIA – Today, Mayor Jim Kenney and Miriam Enriquez, Office of Immigrant Affairs Director, release the following statement in response to the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act, a bill recently reintroduced by the U.S. Senate that aims to cut legal immigration by 50 percent:

‘The RAISE Act is a shortsighted, xenophobic attempt at immigration reform and I strongly oppose it.  In moving to a so-called ‘merit-based’ system, the bill would have the unintended consequences of chilling business growth and slowing our economy.  Per data from the New American Economy, in the Philadelphia region alone immigrants paid $6.0 billion in in total taxes in 2014, which include $1.7 billion in state and local taxes and $4.3 billion in federal taxes, and held $15.8 billion in spending power.   Currently, there are 40,171 immigrant entrepreneurs in Philadelphia.

Also, the RAISE Act will keep families apart – it could doom relatives of Americans to die or otherwise suffer in dangerous or oppressive countries, and may actually increase illegal immigration. There are already too few opportunities to legally immigrate to this country. If you take away another, desperate people will still find a way in – they’ll just do it illegally.’