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.
Steele Rewords, not Redefines GOP’s Immigration Stance
New RNC Chairman, Michael Steele declared in his acceptance speech that it's "time for something completely different." Yet when it comes to immigration, Steele is side-stepping pragmatic politics and choosing to stick with the same hard-line position that soured Latino and immigrant voters and contributed to the GOP's devastating losses this past election year. When pressed by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, who asked Steele if the GOP needs to change its position on immigration reform and reach out to Hispanics and let them know that they have a home in the Republican Party, Steele replied: Read More
How Expanding E-Verify in the Stimulus Bill Would Hurt American Workers and Business
Expanding mandatory E-Verify as part of the stimulus package would threaten the jobs of thousands of U.S. citizens, decrease productivity, saddle U.S. businesses with additional costs, and hinder the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) ability to provide benefits to needy and deserving Americans – all at a time when we need to stimulate our economy. The fact is: expanding E-Verify now would decelerate the Stimulus Package and slow America’s economic recovery. Read More
NY’s Gillibrand Softens on Immigration
"In a lot of these [immigration] issues, it's a case of learning more and expanding my view," said Kirsten Gillibrand-the new Senator of New York who has recently indicated that she's rethinking her hard-line approach to immigration and opting for more pragmatic solutions. Gillibrand's change of heart in part has to do with the 8,142,871 votes of New Americans who will be flocking to NY polls with immigration as one of the issues at the forefront of their minds in 2010. However, Gillibrand has also shown that having access to bonafide facts and information is critical to understanding the issue. And with an overwhelming number of myths and misinformation pervading the immigration debate, it's not always easy to differentiate fact from fiction. Read More
FAIR Blames Florida’s Budget Woes on Immigrants and Children
On January 29, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)—an anti-immigrant hate group headquartered in Washington, DC—issued a press release claiming that Florida's current budget crisis "would be lessened by ending illegal immigration costs." In support of this assertion, FAIR argues that "the current fiscal cost outlays for the illegal alien population in Florida now amount to more than $2.8 billion annually." However, FAIR's estimate is rendered meaningless by the statistical chicanery used to produce it. Read More
Candidate for RNC Chair Chip Saltsman Stirs Controversy with “Star Spanglish Banner”
At a time when the GOP should be warming up to key Latino and immigrant voting blocs, Chip Saltsman-candidate for the next chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC)-chose to ring in the New Year with a song called "The Star Spanglish Banner." Saltsman, who is also known as the former head of the Tennessee Republican Party who managed the Mike Huckabee campaign, included the song on his controversial holiday CD that he sent to RNC members as a Christmas gift. The story-which NDN's Melissa Merz officially broke-exposes yet another example of the xenophobic and bigoted rhetoric put forth by reckless public figures that has fueled rising hate crimes and violence against Latinos. Today's Huffington Post's head-lining article, "Star Spanglish Banner: RNC Candidate Chip Saltsman Causes Immigration Stir," described the song as: Read More
CIS Ignores the Facts: Immigration Important Concern for Latino Voters
The Center for Immigration Studies tries to snatch anti-immigrant victory from the jaws of electoral defeat in a new report about Latino voters in the 2008 election. According to the report, the widespread perception among Latinos that the Republican Party is hostile to immigrants played no appreciable role in their decision about whether to vote Democratic or Republican last November. Read More
Latino Experts Look Beyond Legalization and Citizenship
Former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros and several other leading Latino experts met at the Center for American Progress Monday to discuss Latinos’ role in shaping America’s future. Panelists such as Sarita Brown of Excelencia in Education and Janet Murguia of NCLR joined Cisneros in affirming that without vast improvements to the Latino community’s economic and educational status, the United States will not advance as a global competitor in the future. Read More
Senators Lay Out 2009 Priorities at Progressive Media Summit
Last week at the 2009 Senate Democratic Progressive Media Summit Democratic Senators laid out priorities for 2009. Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke with great force about the need to enact immigration reform and his intention to do so in the coming year. While he prefaced his comments by stating that immigration is the issue that garners the most "threats" against him, he said comprehensive immigration reform is important to our country. While he said it must include protecting our borders, a guest worker program, and employer sanctions; he also said we must bring the "10 million out of the shadows" and described a program that would put them in a line for citizenship where they would pay penalties and fines and get right with the law. Read More
Gov. Paterson Stuns Immigrant Community With Gillibrand Senate Pick
The State of New York has, throughout its history, been both a haven and a hotbed for immigrants and diversity. That's why New York State Governor David Paterson's decision to pick Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton as U.S. Senator raises deep concern among immigrants and advocates in the state and across the country. Read More
Hundreds March Around Country March for Immigration Reform
Yesterday groups of immigrants, community members, faith leaders and advocates gathered around the country to march and call upon the new Obama Administration to move forward with immigration reform including a path to citizenship for the approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. Diverse groups of immigrants and their supporters in Washington, DC, San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York, Houston, Santa Maria, and Milwaukee called for an end to heavy-handed enforcement tactics that cost millions of dollars and are harmful to American communities. Read More
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