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.
The Sins of the Fathers: The Children of Undocumented Immigrants Pay the Price
For the undocumented in America there is little doubt that the iniquities of the father are visited upon the child. On November 7th, for instance, an astounding 71 percent of voters in Arizona passed a referendum (Proposition 300) which states that only U.S. citizens and legal residents are eligible for in-state college tuition rates, tuition and fee waivers, and financial assistance. These are kids brought by their parents to this country as young children, in many instances infants in their mothers’ arms, and in every instance as children for whom the decision to come here was made without their participation. And yet, they shall pay the price, perhaps with their futures. The same referendum would deny childcare to the U.S.-citizen children of undocumented parents. Yes, the child is a citizen of the United States, but voters in Arizona have concluded that to provide the child with care is to reward the parents for the sin of seeking a better life in America. Read More
Making a Difference in America: Immigrants Continue to Benefit our Nation
Immigration is inextricably part of the American national identity and always has been. Immigrants are an integral part of the structural fiber that has kept the great melting pot flowing with creative ingenuity. The immigrants of times long past laid the framework for this great nation with their blood, sweat and tears. Read More
Out of Sync: New Temporary Worker Proposals Unlikely to Meet U.S. Labor Needs
The temporary worker program now taking shape in Congress is unlikely to provide the U.S. economy with the numbers or kinds of workers that U.S. industries need. Read More
Bad for Business: How Anti-Immigrant Laws Can Hurt the Kansas Economy
While proponents of harsh immigration laws in Kansas claim that passing these laws would save the state money, experience from other states shows harsh immigration-control laws will actually cost the state millions of dollars. Implementing the laws and defending them in the courts would cost Kansas’s taxpayers millions they can ill afford. The laws would make it more difficult for businesses to operate in the state and would deter investment, and the loss of taxpayers and consumers could devastate Kansas’s economy. Read More
DACA at Year Three: Challenges and Opportunities in Accessing Higher Education and Employment
DACA has helped its beneficiaries find employment and increase their earnings. But, even with better jobs, not all DACA beneficiaries in our study were able to afford tuition at four-year institutions. Read More
Senate Rejects Two Anti-Immigrant Bills Before It Goes out on Recess
This week, the Senate defeated cloture on motions to proceed—a motion to begin debate—on two “Sanctuary City” bills sponsored by Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). Both bills take an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform and fail to address the nation’s outdated immigration laws or the need… Read More
50 Welcoming Communities Honored at the White House
More than 50 U.S. cities and counties were honored at the White House on Thursday, for their work in creating inclusive and welcoming communities that engage in local immigrant integration efforts. The localities honored are part of the Building Welcoming Communities Campaign—a partnership among The White House… Read More
Immigrant Workers Enhance and Expand the U.S. Economy
Over the years, more and more economists have come to the conclusion that immigrant workers “complement” the native-born majority of the labor force by bringing different sets of skills and different demographic profiles with them, both of which enhance and expand the economy as a whole. Immigration restrictionists, in… Read More
Supreme Court Issues Disappointing Split Decision in United States v. Texas
The Supreme Court issued a 4-4 decision in United States v. Texas, the case challenging expanded Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). This means that the Fifth Circuit’s decision upholding the preliminary injunction against these initiatives will stand. The… Read More
Comparing the House and Senate Plans to Fund Immigration Agencies
The House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committees unveiled and passed out of committee their budgets for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which begins on October 1, 2016. Although the House and Senate have proposed funding some of the requests made by the President in… Read More
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