Legislation
House Limits Administrative Action Instead of Acting on Immigration Reform
Work on existing bills that lay out legislative options to fix the nation’s immigration system is languishing in the House while its members focus on legislation that rolls back the president’s power to help immigrants caught in the broken system. Following up on Wednesday’s vote to approve the… Read More
House Passes ENFORCE Act
The House of Representatives today passed HR 4138, the ENFORCE Act, by a vote of 233 to 181. This bill would give either chamber of Congress standing to bring a civil action in U.S. district court alleging that “President, the head of any department or agency of… Read More
In First 2014 Immigration Vote, House Judiciary Committee Tries to Defund ICE Public Advocate
House members in the House Judiciary Committee voted on their first immigration bill of 2014 on Wednesday. But instead of considering existing bills that lay out legislative options to fix the nation’s immigration system, the committee approved a bill to prohibit funding for a public advocate… Read More
More Than 600 Businesses Urge Congress to Act on Immigration Reform
Immigrants are helping to grow the economy all across the nation. Take Charlotte, North Carolina for example, where immigrant restaurant owners have opened businesses across the city catering to increasingly eclectic tastes. Tacos El Nevado is one example. Heriberto Mali and Vianey Juarez, immigrants from the state… Read More
An Unnecessary Pre-Emptive Strike Against Young Undocumented Immigrants
This week, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) issued a criticism of the Kids Act, a bill not yet released by House leadership. The thrust of their argument is that any legalization program the bill could propose would be an “amnesty,” no matter what the requirements, and that… Read More
Representantes Republicanos Presentan Principios para la Reforma Migratoria
En el día de ayer, miembros republicanos de la Cámara de Representantes dieron a conocer los principios generales sobre los que basarán su propuesta de reforma migratoria en dicha Cámara. El documento de una página, divulgado durante el retiro anual de los representantes republicanos en Cambridge (Maryland), aborda temas que van desde la seguridad fronteriza y la verificación de empleo, hasta los cambios en el sistema de inmigración legal y la regularización de inmigrantes indocumentados. Read More
Are GOP Immigration Standards Enough to Shake Up the Conversation?
Reactions to the release of the House GOP leadership’s principles for immigration reform ranged from ecstatic to furious yesterday—and that was just within the Republican Party. Outside the tortured world of House politics, reactions tended more toward cautious praise for releasing something as a starting point, but with serious doubts about the shortcomings of the actual policy proposals. Because these principles are guidelines—without specific detail—“cautious optimism” is probably the healthiest approach to take in understanding what the document means for reform. Summarizing what the document says doesn’t take long; understanding its nuances, particularly its omissions and departures from the past, requires a bit more digging. Read More
Draft of GOP Principles on Immigration Reform Released
A draft of the House Republican principles on immigration reform has been released as House GOP members gather for their retreat to discuss their position on a range of issues, including immigration. Standards for Immigration Reform PREAMBLE Our nation’s immigration system is broken and our laws are… Read More
SOTU Shows Parties Moving Closer on Immigration Reform
During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address, President Obama made it clear that improved immigration policies go hand-in-hand with the economic recovery, and nudged the House of Representatives to make the next move on immigration reform. Read More
Without Citizenship, Immigration Reformers Could be Leaving Dollars on the Table
While President Obama’s State of the Union Address will reportedly focus on income inequality in the United States, it is also a likely bet that he will address the economic benefit of immigration reform even as Republicans are finalizing their immigration principles. As conversations around immigration reform proposals forge ahead, the economic benefits of citizenship versus simply providing legal status should not be overlooked. According to a new Center for American Progress (CAP) report, The Economic Case for a Clear, Quick Pathway to Citizenship, there is an important citizenship premium that should be factored in to economic calculations of reform. According to the report, the premium is “the bump to a country’s economy that arises after immigrants become citizens. This bump comes in the form of higher wages and more tax revenue collected from naturalized citizens, all of which spurs more overall economic activity.” Read More
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