The Immigrant Learning Center in Malden, which has taught English to at least 7,000 students over the last two decades, has teamed with George Mason University to launch a new research center that will focus on the contributions of immigrants as entrepreneurs, workers, and consumers.

“The goal is to produce research that shows the impact that immigrants have on the economy,’’ said Diane Portnoy, president of The Immigrant Learning Center. Portnoy, who also helped create the new Institute for Immigration Research with George Mason, said early research projects would include mapping immigrants’ economic activity across the United States, along with a report on the role college-educated immigrants play in the economy.

Portnoy said she chose Virginia-based George Mason as a partner because the school is near Washington D.C., where she hopes the reports will be disseminated to legislators as they discuss immigration reform. According to the Department of Homeland Security, there are at least 11.5 million unauthorized immigrants living in the United States.

“With all of the heated rhetoric about immigration these days, academically rigorous research results are needed to cool the discussion with objective information. The Institute for Immigration Research will fill that void,’’ said the institute’s research director, James Witte, who is also a professor of sociology and director of George Mason’s Center for Social Science Research.

George Mason’s Center for Social Science Research has also created the Mason Project on Immigration, which focuses on the immigrant experience in the United States. The project has researched immigrants in Northern Virginia, documenting Virginia’s Latino community.