Economic Impact
Immigrants are essential to the U.S. economy, filling roles from high-skilled tech sectors to agricultural labor and driving economic growth. They also contribute to the tax base and consumer spending. We champion reform that will maximize this effect and create a more diverse and competitive workforce.
Nativist Group Publishes a Distorted Portrait of the Foreign-Born Population
The latest report from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), Immigrants in the United States, suffers from a bad case of selective statistics. While purporting to be a neutral and scholarly demographic profile of the foreign-born population in the United States, the report is actually an anti-immigrant treatise adorned with charts and bar graphs. On the one hand, the report lumps the native-born children of immigrants in with the immigrant population when tabulating rates of poverty, public-benefits usage, and lack of health insurance among the foreign-born. On the other hand, the report overlooks or minimizes the enormous economic contributions which immigrants make as consumers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. Reading the CIS report, you’d never know that immigrants pay taxes, create new jobs by opening businesses, or make scientific discoveries that transform entire industries. Read More
What the Show Me State Shows Us About Immigration
According to data released by the Immigration Policy Center, there are approximately 6,500 young people in Missouri who may benefit from President Obama’s plan to grant deferred action to DREAM eligible youth. This isn’t a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, as Missouri ranks 31st in the country with respect to the number of youth eligible for this new program. And because these numbers roughly parallel distribution of undocumented people around the country, if you are going solely by the numbers, Missouri shouldn’t be a big player in the debate over immigration, especially unauthorized immigration. But the numbers don’t tell the full story when it comes to the importance of the issue to the people of a state, and the importance of a state to the way the immigration debate plays out nationally. Looking at it from other perspectives, Missouri matters a lot. Read More
New Americans Represent Team USA at the London Olympics
Today, the 2012 Olympics formally kick off in London where the best athletes from around the world are meeting to compete. The United States is well-represented, not only by our native born-athletes but by many “New Americans.” In fact, approximately 38 of those competing on Team USA are naturalized U.S. citizens. These athletes remind us that Americans come from all over the world. Read More
California DREAMers Exhibit High Levels of Civic Participation, Yet Face Significant Hardships
By Caitlin Patler, Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology, UCLA There are roughly 5 million undocumented children and young adults currently living in the U.S. today, 24% (or 1.1 million) of whom live in California. As in other states, California’s undocumented youth face a unique and challenging paradox. On one hand, they work hard, excel academically, participate in their communities and have high educational and career aspirations in the only country they’ve ever known. On the other hand, their immigration status severely limits their opportunities, aspirations and ability to contribute fully to U.S. society. A new research brief, co-authored by Veronica Terriquez and this author, highlights the experiences of undocumented youth in California—many of whom disproportionally experience economic and personal hardships. Read More
Today We Celebrate Immigrant Men and Women Keeping the American Dream Alive
Countless Americans will celebrate America’s 236th birthday today by joining friends and family for food and fireworks. Many will just enjoy the day, others will recall our Founding Fathers’ declaration of independence, and others will raise their right hand, swear an oath of allegiance, and become citizens of the United States of America. Across the country today, men and women from every corner of the globe will stand side by side and swear to “support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America,” and reminding each and everyone one of us of the power and promise of the American Dream. Read More
According to Scott Beason, Alabamans Will Return to “Menial Jobs” Over Time
Alabama State Senator Scott Beason continues to link the state’s recent dip in unemployment to its extreme immigration law (HB 56), even though there is no evidence to support that this theory. In fact, many Alabama business have reported difficulties in replacing immigrant workers, many of whom have left the state or gone further underground. But in a recent effort to address this reported labor shortage, Sen. Beason—a sponsor of HB 56—managed to insult both immigrants and native Alabamans alike. Read More
Why the Next Einstein Can’t Get a Visa
By Shelby Pasell. Though Einstein may be a household name in the United States, he was not born here, and he would have a hard time obtaining a visa if he were alive today. In fact, inventors behind most patents in the U.S. were born outside of the country, according to a new report by the Partnership for a New American Economy, and most face huge difficulty in obtaining visas to stay. Read More
How the President’s Deferred Action Initiative Will Help the U.S. Economy
President Obama’s June 15 “deferred action” announcement is good not only for the 1.4 million unauthorized children and young adults who have been granted a temporary reprieve from deportation, but also good for the U.S. economy. Each year, tens of thousands of unauthorized students graduate from primary or secondary school, often at the top of their classes. They have the drive and intelligence to become doctors, nurses, teachers, and entrepreneurs, but their lack of legal status has prevented them from attending college or working legally. The President’s deferred action initiative has finally provided them with an opportunity to live up to their full potential and, in the process, earn more, spend more, and pay more in taxes. Read More
Economic Benefits of Granting Deferred Action to Unauthorized Immigrants Brought to U.S. as Youth
There are an estimated 1.4 million children and young adults in the United States who might benefit from President Obama’s announcement that the Department of Homeland Security would begin granting deferred action (and Employment Authorization Documents) to unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the United States as minors. For many of these young people, the United States is the only home they know and English is their first language. Each year, tens of thousands of them graduate from primary or secondary school, often at the top of their classes. They have the potential to be future doctors, nurses, teachers, and entrepreneurs, but their lack of legal status has prevented them from attending college or working legally. The President’s deferred action initiative will provide an opportunity for them to live up to their full potential and, in the process, make greater contributions to the U.S. economy. Read More
New Data Reveals Immigrants’ Voting Potential at the Local Level
Newly obtained data from the DHS Office of Immigration Statistics provide another indication that immigrants in the United States hold untapped electoral power. There are 8.1 million legal immigrants who arrived in this country between 1985 and 2005 and who are likely eligible to become naturalized U.S. citizens with the power to vote. If these immigrants were already U.S. citizens, and if they registered to vote at the same rate as other naturalized citizens (61%), counties across the nation would see their voter registration rolls jump dramatically. Read More
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