$15 minimum wage a step closer to the American Dream

In 1982, Mario Cuomo – the son of immigrants from Naples, Italy – won his first New York gubernatorial election, calling it the “chance to prove that the sons and daughters of immigrants, of simple people who came here with nothing … can make this state greater still.” Thirty-five years later, these words still resonate as the underlying philosophy of Andrew Cuomo’s push to make a $15 minimum wage a reality in New York state.

During this legislative session, our Albany elected leaders can indeed help our newest New Yorkers contribute even more by instituting a strong $15 minimum wage for all workers in New York state. California just made a historic deal to incrementally move its minimum wage to $15 over a period of five years; we hope New York is poised to do the same.

Immigrants already make up more than one out of every four workers in New York state, and are responsible for nearly a quarter of the state’s economic output, more than $300 billion. While immigrants work across the economic spectrum – from day laborers on Main Street to day traders on Wall Street – they often provide the blue-collar work that is the backbone of our economy and the service work that keeps daily life running smoothly. Many immigrant workers – from Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe – are “underemployed,” with the skills and potential to be greater contributors to our economy and to state and local tax coffers. However, without a significant increase in the minimum wage, workers often struggle to find upward mobility, particularly as other costs have skyrocketed.

A gradually phased-in minimum wage increase to $15 per hour would be a very substantial improvement in the lives of over 3 million workers across New York state, and an even bigger boon to New York’s immigrant workers. According to a report released last week by the Fiscal Policy Institute, such an increase would benefit 36 percent of the labor force overall, and an even more impressive 43 percent of immigrant workers – 1.1 million immigrant workers in New York. More than a third of all workers in New York state would have their wages increased.

The benefits would be obvious. New York’s immigrants, who have already played a key role in revitalizing neighborhoods and economies from Brentwood to Buffalo, would drive greater economic activity, strengthen families (30 percent of all immigrant workers who would benefit are the sole family breadwinners), and boost consumer spending for small businesses. This increase would also be good for immigrant small business owners, by putting all businesses on an equal playing field and exposing the “bad actors” that violate the law by paying sub-minimum wages and undercutting all workers and businesses as a whole. Children growing up in families with stronger economic footing can be expected to do better in school and to see more opportunities for future careers.

This year, Gov. Cuomo has called for a $15 minimum wage, and the Assembly has supported this as well. As our Albany elected leaders consider the impact of this minimum wage, the arguments have flown hot and heavy. But the facts are clear: A $15 minimum wage for all workers would be good for New York’s immigrant communities, and for all of New York state as well.

Steven Choi is executive director of the New York Immigration Coalition. David Dyssegaard Kallick is director of the Immigration Research Initiative of the Fiscal Policy Institute.