Industries
Deep in Conservative South Carolina, Republican Lawmaker Touts DACA’s Economic Necessity
South Carolina is one of America’s reddest states, and Pickens is its reddest county; 75 percent of voters in the county cast their ballot for President Donald Trump in 2016. But when Neal Collins, a Republican representing Pickens, introduced a bill to help South Carolina Dreamers get an education, his… Read More
Tennessee Adopts Seal of Biliteracy as State Industries Seek Bilingual Talent
NEW YORK, NY – Today, Tennessee’s Board of Education established a Seal of Biliteracy program to recognize high school graduates who have attained proficiency in at least one language in addition to English. As new research from New American Economy shows, and this program acknowledges, industries across Tennessee need… Read More
An Unresolved DACA Would ‘Tear Our World Apart’
Carolina Hernandez-Arango is a business-administration major in her final year at Wichita State University. She is also a mother of two, a community organizer — and a Dreamer, brought to the United States from Mexico by her parents when she was 3 years old to receive urgent medical treatment. Now,… Read More
Brief Profile: Eager To Serve His Country, Dreamer Worries He May Be Thrown Out Instead
Luis Montesdeoca was still in high school when he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army. “I was drawn to the brotherhood and pride,” he says. “But then I found out that I didn’t qualify, because of my immigration status.” Montesdeoca was undocumented. When he was 15 years old, his… Read More
STEM Worker Worries He May No Longer Be Able To Contribute
Brad Figueroa’s parents brought him to the United States from Mexico when he was 2 years old. Six years later, his father died, leaving Figueroa’s mother to raise him alone, working service jobs to make ends meet. When Figueroa, now in his mid 30s, came of age, he immediately began… Read More
In the U.S. Since Age 13, Young Mother Calls DACA Her ‘Last Chance’
For Hyun Jung Kim, an undocumented immigrant from South Korea, last Thanksgiving in Anchorage, Alaska, was typical. “We had a big turkey and Jell-O salad,” she says. “As a family, we gathered, and had a meal together, and celebrated, and were thankful that we are all together.” Kim spent her… Read More
Statement on White House Immigration Proposal
In response to White House’s immigration proposal, New American Economy issued the following statement: “The cost of doing the right thing for Dreamers shouldn’t be a drastic and arbitrary cutback on legal immigration, or the undermining of healthy, bipartisan efforts in Congress,“ said John Feinblatt, President of New American Economy. “We hope… Read More
Statement on Senator Orrin Hatch’s Immigration Innovation Bill
Following the reintroduction of Senator Hatch’s Immigration Innovation Bill, New American Economy issued the following statement: “We need high-skilled immigration reform, especially as we face labor shortages in areas like engineering, medicine, and science,” said John Feinblatt, President of New American Economy. “But we also need a system that protects… Read More
Dreamer Could Help Ease South Carolina’s Shortage of Healthcare Providers
Jacqueline Mayorga was born in Hidalgo, Mexico, to poor but hardworking parents. Her mother was a maid in Mexico City, and her father was a migrant farmworker in the United States who sent money home to the family. When Mayorga was 3 years old, her parents decided to reunite the… Read More
DACA Allows Utah Grad To Provide After-School Care for Kids
Karina Palestina, 30, spends her days coordinating after-school care with the Park City, Utah, school district, but she dreams of a studying for a master’s degree in higher education. Holding her back is the uncertainty around Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a 2012 policy that allows qualifying undocumented immigrants… Read More
