State and Local
Local Officials Improve Immigration Enforcement Policies as Congress Fails to Act
The county council in King County, Washington, decided this week that local law enforcement officials will stop honoring federal immigration agents’ requests to detain immigrants who are arrested for low-level crimes. They voted 5-4 for the new policy on Monday, and supporters hope the change “will build trust between local police and immigrants who don’t report crimes for fear they or a family member will be deported,” according to the Seattle Times. Read More
D.C. Follows 11 Other States Allowing Undocumented Immigrants to Drive Legally
As House leaders delay on passing immigration reform that would help millions of immigrants already in the U.S., Washington, D.C., officials are taking steps to improve the lives of undocumented immigrants who call the city home. Last week the D.C. Council passed a bill, written by Council member Mary Cheh, which allows undocumented residents to apply for Driver’s Licenses. D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray signed the bill yesterday. The new policy, which goes into effect May 1, sets up a system where undocumented immigrants will receive licenses that are the same but for their being marked "not valid for official federal purposes." Driver’s licenses for legal residents and citizens will not change. Read More
How Immigrants on a Pathway to Citizenship can Revitalize Rust Belt Cities
Like Rust Belt cities such as Baltimore and Detroit, rural towns across America have experienced population declines in recent decades. Some places, however, are an exception to that trend thanks in part to the arrival of immigrants. For example, while other Iowa towns experienced population decline over the past several decades, West Liberty’s population grew because of immigration. As Steve Hanson, superintendent of West Liberty Community School District, notes, “in the last 20-30 years we would have had a population decline if we hadn’t had immigrants come in [for] jobs in the food manufacturing business. They provide a source of labor that wouldn’t have been there.” And West Liberty’s Mayor, Chad Thomas, said immigration has “kept a lot of storefronts and businesses open that probably otherwise would have closed.” Read More
Alabama’s HB 56 Anti-Immigrant Law Takes Final Gasps
Immigration advocates who have been fighting against Alabama’s HB 56, the punitive immigration measure often called the “show me your papers” law, declared victory after the state agreed not to pursue key provisions of the 2011 legislation. The agreement is part of a settlement of long-running lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and a coalition of civil rights groups against HB 56. Alabama. The Supreme Court earlier this year refused to hear the state’s appeal of a previous federal court’s ruling that gutted the law. Read More
It’s Immigrant Entrepreneurship Month in Massachusetts!
Massachusetts is no stranger to the many benefits immigrant entrepreneurs bring to communities. From family owned restaurants and shops along small town main streets, to large Fortune 500 companies, immigrant-owned businesses make sizeable contributions to Massachusetts. And as a growing number of places around the country make efforts to attract and welcome immigrants, Massachusetts continues to expand the state’s efforts. October 15 marked the start of the third annual Massachusetts Immigrant Entrepreneurship Month, which will officially run through November 15. State groups—including the Immigrant Learning Center (ILC), the New Americans Integration Institute at the Massachusetts Immigrant and Advocacy Coalition (MIRA), and the state’s Office for Refugees and Immigrants—are leading the initiative, which recognizes the contributions of immigrant business owners and innovators to Massachusetts’ economic development. Read More
From Coast to Coast, Immigrants Drive Local Economies
Immigrant entrepreneurship has transformed Atlanta’s northeastern suburbs along and near Buford Highway into “International Village” – an area filled with immigrant restaurants, markets, specialty stores, and other businesses. Through ventures such as Chinatown Square, Asian Square Mall, and Plaza Fiesta immigrants have “economically and socially revived an area that faced economic stagnation and population decline.” As one researcher noted, “the five-mile stretch of highway running through Chamblee, Doraville, and Norcross constitutes the greatest concentration of ethnic-owned businesses in the southeastern U.S.” Read More
California Governor Signs Sweeping Immigration Reforms into Law
On the same day thousands of immigrant activists rallied across the country for immigration reform, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed several bills into law that put the state at the forefront of the efforts to fix immigration policies at the state and local level. Among the measures Brown approved was the TRUST Act, which limits who state and local police can hold for possible deportation. "While Washington waffles on immigration, California's forging ahead," Brown said in a statement. "I'm not waiting." Read More
Colorado Emergency Relief Efforts Impeded by Immigrants’ Mistrust of Law Enforcement
The recent flooding in Colorado, in which eight people died and property losses are likely to reach $2 billion, offers another reminder that local law enforcement efforts are often hindered by our broken immigration system. The Denver Post reported that some unauthorized immigrants risk injury or miss out on assistance because they are afraid to interact with police. For example, Augustina Tema’s husband, who is an unauthorized immigrant, was afraid to come outside when police officers went door-to-door to warn residents of the pending flood. Augustina, a legal resident, expressed fear of applying for assistance because of her husband’s status, a fear other undocumented families echoed. For the undocumented families, the tragedy of losing their homes to flooding is compounded by the loss of their “paper trail”—materials that would be needed to prove residency for any future legalization programs. Disaster-related documentation problems extend to those legally residing in the United States if the papers that prove an immigrant may legally live and work in the United States are lost as well, further hindering emergency assistance. Read More
Immigration is a Positive Force for Economic Growth in Cities
Posters on metro buses and trains in St. Louis will now welcome you to the city in 17 different languages, one of the many initiatives begun by the St. Louis Mosaic Project to create an atmosphere that welcomes and encourages immigrants to the area. Signs in the public transit system aren’t just designed to look pretty, however, but acknowledge that for many immigrants, particularly those new to the St. Louis region, this is their primary means of going to work or school, shopping, and taking part in all the community has to offer. “The Mosaic Project says a lot about where our region is going,” St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley said. “We want to be more diverse and see things from different points of view.” Read More
Local Immigration Enforcement Harms Community Policing and Public Safety
Many local municipalities and law enforcement agencies are concerned that local immigration enforcement programs such as the 287(g) program, which deputize local police to perform duties of federal immigration agents, destroy the relationship between the police and the immigrant communities on whom they rely for cooperation and crime reporting. A report released this month by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) states that these fears are unfounded and that local immigration enforcement has no effect on cooperation with police. However, the data cited by CIS, which include crime reporting statistics and a study of the effects of the Prince William County 287(g) program, do not support these claims, and in fact suggest the opposite, that immigration enforcement by local police severely damages relationships with immigration communities and harms public safety. Read More
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