Legislation
Immigration Inching Towards Reform One Year After Postville Raids
Today, May 12, 2008, marks the one-year anniversary of the immigration raid in Postville, Iowa, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted the largest workplace immigration raid in U.S. history, arresting 389 immigrants at the Iowa Agriprocessors meatpacking plant for the crime of working without proper authorization. Aside from the tragedy of separating families and decimating a local economy, the raid symbolizes the failed enforcement-only policies of the Bush administration and serves as yet another grim reminder of the desperate need for fair and comprehensive immigration reform. Last May, undocumented immigrants in Postville were rounded up, charged as serious criminals for using false Social Security numbers or residency papers, and some even sentenced to five months in prison without being informed of their rights. An interpreter, Dr. Erik Camayd-Freixas, who assisted as a translator during these below-the-belt trials described the event as a “twist in Dickensian cruelty:” Read More
Obama Budget Not a Replacement for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
The Obama Administration appears increasingly poised to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, as promised. Yesterday the White House announced budgetary initiatives that signal a change in priorities and pave the way for immigration reform. At the same time, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, testified before the Senate yesterday about her plans to protect our borders and enforce our immigration laws in smarter and more effective ways. While the changes are welcome, they're still just fiddling along the edges of a real solution. Comprehensive immigration reform is the only real way to fix the problem. Read More
Hard-Line Immigration Laws Take a Back Seat in Tennessee
When it comes to immigration in Tennessee, state legislators are starting to realize that not only do they have bigger fish to fry, immigration is a fish that's better left swimming in federal waters. The Tennessean reports that, though Republicans had hoped to pass stringent immigration legislation when they took power of the Tennessee State Congress this past fall, the Tennessee GOP is starting to find that their immigration platform is not only economically foolish, it also doesn't reflect the priorities or attitudes of their constituents. Republican Rep. Tony Shipley, the man who was once concerned about "German workers who might try to sneak over the Atlantic Ocean into Chattanooga," took his own immigration bill off the floor when he found out it would cost the state upwards of $11 million and could have jeopardized $217 million in federal funds for children's health services and food assistance. Shipley told The Tennessean: Read More
All Signs Point Toward Immigration Reform
The stars continue to align for comprehensive immigration reform. The President continues to call for movement this year, Congress is beginning the legislative process, and DHS is realigning their priorities to focus on the root causes of undocumented immigration. FIRST, at yesterday's press conference marking the end of his first 100 days, President Obama stated: "we want to move this process. We can't continue with a broken immigration system. It's not good for anybody. It's not good for American workers. It's dangerous for Mexican would-be workers who are trying to cross a dangerous border." Read More
Obama Moving “Full Steam Ahead” On Immigration Reform
At a news conference commemorating his 100th day in office, President Obama indicated that his administration is planning on moving “full steam ahead on all fronts” on immigration reform. Obama told Telemundo reporter, Lori Montenegro, that he hopes to convene working groups to start building a framework for how immigration… Read More
Immigration Reform as Stimulus to U.S. Economy
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran an editorial yesterday, “We Need an Immigration Stimulus,” in which former WSJ publisher and Dow Jones VP, L. Gordon Crovitz, makes the case that protectionism doesn’t bolster U.S. economic growth and that, in our current economic downturn, immigration reform and economic growth are closely tied together: An economic downturn is the right time to move on immigration, one of the few policy tools that could clearly boost growth. The pace of lower-skilled migration has slowed due to higher unemployment. This could make it less contentious to ease the path to legalization for the 12 million undocumented workers and their families in the U.S. It's also a good time to ask why we turn away skilled workers, including the ones earning 60% of the advanced degrees in engineering at U.S. universities. It is worth pointing out the demographic shortfall: Immigrants are a smaller proportion of the U.S. population than in periods such as the late 1890s and 1910s, when immigrants gave the economy a jolt of growth. Read More
Immigration Reform as Stimulus to U.S. Economy
Photo by ShellyS. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) ran an editorial yesterday, “We Need an Immigration Stimulus,” in which former WSJ publisher and Dow Jones VP, L. Gordon Crovitz, makes the case that protectionism doesn’t bolster U.S. economic growth and that, in our current economic downturn, immigration reform and economic growth are closely tied together: An economic downturn is the right time to move on immigration, one of the few policy tools that could clearly boost growth. The pace of lower-skilled migration has slowed due to higher unemployment. This could make it less contentious to ease the path to legalization for the 12 million undocumented workers and their families in the U.S. It's also a good time to ask why we turn away skilled workers, including the ones earning 60% of the advanced degrees in engineering at U.S. universities. It is worth pointing out the demographic shortfall: Immigrants are a smaller proportion of the U.S. population than in periods such as the late 1890s and 1910s, when immigrants gave the economy a jolt of growth. Read More
Economic Benefits of Immigration a Safe Bet
Conservative guru Richard Nadler is willing to make a couple bets. He's willing to put money on the fact that in less than one year's time, new members of Congress will be sporting an immigrant-friendly platform, beating out candidates who promote restrictionist policies. Most recently, Nadler announced that he is also willing to bet that, over time, states with the highest percentage of undocumented immigrants will recover from the economic recession more quickly than other states with smaller immigrant populations. Nadler's analysis applies to Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Utah -- as well as the District of Columbia -- all of which are currently under some sort of budget constraint. According to Nadler: Read More
College Board Unanimously Supports DREAM Act for Undocumented Students
Just as the Obama administration has signaled that they hope to tackle immigration reform in the coming months, the College Board's trustees unanimously voted to support legislation which would provide undocumented youths a path to citizenship through college or the military. More specifically, the College Board expressed its support of the DREAM Act, a piece of legislation sponsored by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) that would give some young immigrants who have stayed out of trouble, graduated from high school, and either finished two years of college or two years of military service the opportunity to become permanent residents. Ultimately, it aims at giving hard-working undocumented children who have always considered America "home" the opportunity to fix their status and contribute to our economy and their communities. Read More
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