Billionaire Rupert Murdoch, whose media empire includes the conservative cable channel Fox News, made the case to Congress Thursday that a broad immigration overhaul – with a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants – is critical to “strengthening America’s economy.” His testimony before a House Judiciary Committee immigration panel came as Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Patrick Leahy of Vermont introduced a comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes a path to legalization, a temporary worker program, workplace and border enforcement measures and the DREAM Act, which failed in the Senate last week.
Murdoch, who immigrated to the United States from Australia, told the committee that he supports sealing the U.S. borders to future illegal immigrants but creating a path to citizenship for responsible, law-abiding immigrants already living in the United States.
“It is nonsense to talk of expelling 12 million people,” Murdoch said. “Not only is it impractical, it is cost prohibitive.”
His views on immigration, one of the hot-button issues of this partisan election season, stand in stark contrast to the anti-immigrant rhetoric often espoused by Republicans and commentators who appear on his Fox News network.
Murdoch, chairman and CEO of News Corp., cited a study that shows a path to legalization would contribute about $1.5 trillion to the gross domestic product over the next decade. And he spoke candidly, telling his personal story of immigrating to America.
“As an immigrant, I chose to live in America because it is one of the freest and most vibrant nations in the world. And as an immigrant, I feel an obligation to speak up for immigration policies that will keep America the most economically robust, creative and freedom-loving nation in the world,” he said.
Murdoch was joined at the hearing by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Earlier this year, the two launched Partnership for a New American Economy, a coalition of business and big-city mayors that advocates for sweeping immigration reform.
“Our broken system of immigration is undermining our economy, slowing our recovery and hurting millions of Americans,” Bloomberg said. “We believe that immigration reform needs to become a top national priority. We’re urging members of both parties to help us shift the debate away from emotions and towards economics, because the economics couldn’t be any clearer.”
The hearing of the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration Subcommittee came less a week after the same panel welcomed another high-profile guest to testify on the plight of migrant farm workers: comedian Stephen Colbert, who took the opportunity to mock committee members and Congress.
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