Immigration Reform
The last time Congress updated our legal immigration system was November 1990, one month before the World Wide Web went online. We are long overdue for comprehensive immigration reform.
Through immigration reform, we can provide noncitizens with a system of justice that provides due process of law and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Because it can be a contentious and wide-ranging issue, we aim to provide advocates with facts and work to move bipartisan solutions forward. Read more about topics like legalization for undocumented immigrants and border security below.
ICE Detention Cover-Up Has Advocates Calling for Transparency
Despite claims of increased transparency, accountability, and oversight, Nina Bernstein of the New York Times has unearthed more cover-ups at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These new findings have attorneys, advocates, and the public wondering if and when ICE will make good on its promise to reform the immigration detention system in demonstrable ways. Two issues that have recently come to light cast doubt on these promises. Read More
Immigrant Investments in American Business on the Rise
Fresh on the heels of an economic study by UCLA’s Dr. Raúl Hinojosa-Ojeda—a study which demonstrates how comprehensive immigration reform would yield $1.5 trillion to the U.S. GDP over a ten year period, generate billions in additional tax revenue and consumer spending and support hundreds of thousands of jobs—a recent report by the non-partisan Migration Policy Institute (MPI) further highlights the economic benefit of immigration through foreign investments in U.S. businesses. As noted yesterday in a Washington Post article, “the number of foreigners willing to invest $500,000 to $1 million in a U.S. business in exchange for a visa roughly tripled in the past fiscal year”—from 1,443 in fiscal year 2008 to 4,218 in fiscal year 2009. Read More
The Economic Benefits of Immigration Reform
A new report, “Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform,” by Dr. Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, finds that comprehensive immigration reform that includes a legalization program for unauthorized immigrants and enables a future flow of legal workers would result in a large economic benefit—a cumulative $1.5 trillion in added U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. In stark contrast, a deportation-only policy would result in a loss of $2.6 trillion in GDP over 10 years. Read More
Immigration Reform Now a Matter of “How”
There are plenty of genuine issues worthy of debate in immigration reform—how to really create secure borders and communities, how to predict and manage future immigration flows, how to implement a fair and workable employment verification system, and how to ensure that legal immigration incorporates key values represented by family and work. But what is no longer on the table is whether we should be doing immigration reform, particularly legalization of the undocumented. Yesterday’s release of the IPC/CAP report finally puts to rest the question of whether immigration reform is good for the country. The answer—a resounding “Yes!” Read More
New Report Quantifies Benefits of Immigration Reform to U.S. Economy
Those policymakers and commentators who argue that we simply cannot afford to enact comprehensive immigration reform in the middle of an economic recession have their facts woefully wrong. According to a new report released jointly by the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) and the Center for American Progress (CAP), the economic benefits which would flow from comprehensive immigration reform would be dramatic. The report, Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, uses a “computable general equilibrium model” to estimate that comprehensive reform which includes a pathway to legal status for currently unauthorized immigrants, as well as the creation of flexible limits on future immigration, would “yield at least $1.5 trillion in added U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over 10 years.” Moreover, comprehensive reform would “boost wages for native-born and newly legalized immigrant workers alike.” Read More
New Report Highlights Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform
For Immediate Release New Report Highlights Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform January 7, 2010 Washington D.C. – As the U.S. slowly pulls free from a deep recession, a groundbreaking new study concludes that comprehensive immigration reform would provide just the type of boost our economy needs. Read More
Raising the Floor for American Workers
Raising the Floor for American Workers: The Economic Benefits of Comprehensive Immigration Reform, legalizing undocumented workers through comprehensive immigration reform would yield $1.5 trillion to the U.S. GDP over a ten year period, generate billions in additional tax revenue and consumer spending and support hundreds of thousands of jobs. The report, which runs several different economic scenarios, finds that enacting a comprehensive immigration reform plan which creates a legalization process for undocumented workers and sets a flexible visa program dependent on U.S. labor demands not only raises the floor for all American workers, but is an economic necessity. Download the Full Report Download the Executive Summary Download the Powerpoint Watch the Video Read our Blog Post Listen to the Telebriefing: Read More
Senator Graham is Further Evidence that Immigration Reform is a Bipartisan Effort
Do not be misled by recent events. U.S. Senator and possible immigration reform bill co-sponsor Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is no liberal. Lately, Sen. Graham has drawn the ire of county Republican parties in South Carolina by voting for the White House’s bank bailout plan as well as Democrat-sponsored climate change legislation. These votes resulted in his third censure by county Republican parties in the last two years. Local Republicans are furious despite Sen. Graham’s vehement opposition to healthcare reform and his goal of stopping an “out-of-control Obama agenda.” Read More
Connecting the Dots Between Immigration and Health Care Reform
As Congress continues to broker the specifics of health care legislation, some reports cite key Democrats as allegedly holding out their support of the bill contingent on a solid White House promise that a comprehensive immigration reform bill will be addressed this year—a reform bill that would provide health care coverage options to all immigrants, including undocumented immigrants on an earned path to citizenship. Read More
And They’re Off! Immigration Reform for a New Decade
Thousands of organizations, activists, and citizens are already out of the gate and will spend 2010 racing towards the finish line of fixing our broken immigration system. Some dedicated students have even embarked on a 1,500 mile walk from Miami to Washington D.C. in hopes of bringing attention to the human needs and costs behind our outdated system. Read More
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