Two new studies say that immigraion is good for the economy and for wages, reports the Los Angeles Times. And immigrants land in the big house much less than native-born Americans.

"The big message is that there is no big loss from immigration," UC Davis economist Giovanni Peri tells the paper. "There are gains, and these are enjoyed by a much bigger share of the population than is commonly believed."

The flaw in the study, say opponents of more liberal immigration, is that it focused only on California. There, immigrants did do complementary work and push English-speakers into higher paying jobs. But they also deprived native-born workers elsewhere of a job or flattened their wages, say these critics. Hmmm. Shouldn't the answer be that we all aspire to be like California?

At least here in Las Vegas, we are probably enjoying the same benefits as California. Immigrants are most likely to be doing work like construction and landscaping and hotel service that requires little education and no language skills, and they are, in turn, pushing natives into better work.

And the studies certainly put the lie to the idea that immigrants are disproportionately criminal. In fact, the opposite is true. 

That should boost the Administration's efforts to get immigration reform legislation through Congress. Sensibly, the White House has used Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to lead the charge, reports the Times. Even opponents of the president's bill think he's making progress.

The old mantra of security first certainly won't fly in this new Congress where Democrats will want to have their cake and eat it too. So Republicans will have to get with the program and figure out a path for those whose only crime was wanting to get a job.