Legislation
An Anti-Immigrant Hate-Fest on Capitol Hill
A motley collection of anti-immigrant zealots and talk-radio shock jocks of the far right descended upon Washington, DC, this week for an annual event dubbed “Hold Their Feet to the Fire.” The two-day marathon of angry rants on the air waves coincided with three days of lobbying visits to congressional offices organized by the nation’s largest anti-immigration group, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Predictably, the assorted speakers and activists in attendance at this year’s hate-fest blame immigrants—particularly unauthorized immigrants—for virtually every economic and social ill to befall the United States, and demand that Congress continue to pursue the “deportation-only” approach to unauthorized immigration that has proven to be an utter failure for more than two decades. Read More
Birthright Citizenship: Myths, Facts and Why It Matters
The issue of birthright citizenship, although not traditionally a sexy topic, is not without controversy. In the 2008 election, for example, the legitimacy of both parties’ candidates was called into question—Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain, was born on a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone and Democratic candidate, President Barack Obama, was born to a U.S. citizen mother and an immigrant father in Hawaii in 1961. Normally, the issue of birthright citizenship doesn’t get much attention. However, immigration restrictionists and select politicians often use the issue to rally extremists and distract from the important issues surrounding reforming our broken immigration system. Today, in light the upcoming federal holiday, Citizenship Day, the Immigration Policy Center (IPC) released a new report, Made in America: Myths and Facts about Birthright Citizenship, which challenges the myths so often heard about birthright citizenship. Read More
Public Discourse, Pragmatism and Policy: The Souring of the Immigration Debate
The behavior of anti-immigrant groups and talk radio hosts gathering in Washington this week is a reminder that immigration, like so many divisive issues before it, brings out the worst in the body politic. Many of those classic hot-button culture issues—such as euthanasia or abortion—shift into intensely personal religious, moral and philosophical disagreements that often erupt in ugly ways. Read More
Immigration, Southern Manners, and South Carolina Demographics
Courtesy and demographics are not two issues commonly lumped together into one discussion. However, after Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst during President Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress to discuss heath care reform last night, this seems an apropos time to remind the Congressman about the importance of courtesy, the reality of his state’s changing demographics, and the political pitfalls of being an anti-immigrant legislator. Read More
Taking the Temperature of Comprehensive Immigration Reform
The energy in Washington changes as soon as Congress returns from recess, and this year the air is particularly charged with anticipation of the health care reform debate to come. In the immigration world, we are watching the debate as a barometer of what to expect later in the session when the long-promised Schumer bill is introduced. The timing of the next round of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) legislation has always been contingent on the Obama administration’s ability to successfully manage, at a minimum, the health care and probably, the climate change debates. As health care, in particular, has grown increasingly complex, partisan, and ideological, the chances of completing CIR legislation before 2009 ends further diminish. That’s not to say, however, that nothing is happening. Behind the scenes work on immigration reform is taking place daily, as this summer’s developments demonstrate. Read More
CIS Adds to Falsehoods about Health Care Reform
It would seem that the Center for Immigration Studies has decided to jump on the talk-radio bandwagon of far-right commentators who are loudly attempting to derail substantive health care reform through fear-mongering and falsehoods. Although CIS has so far steered clear of the baseless rants about “death panels” and “socialized medicine,” it has issued a new report that seeks to buttress an equally farcical claim: that health care reform will leave American taxpayers footing the bill for millions of unauthorized immigrants who will receive federally subsidized health insurance. Specifically, the report argues that H.R. 3200 (America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009) could give health insurance to 6.6 million unauthorized, low-income immigrants at an annual cost to the federal government of $30.5 billion. Read More
New Report Measures Widening Gap Between Republicans and Latino Voters
A New York Times article from 1882 stated, “It is a trite saying that in a free country public opinion rules. […] It often happens that a question of policy becomes of pressing importance before public opinion develops in regard to it.” More than one-hundred years later, this idea remains true—especially in regard to Latino voters and the Republican Party. Read More
Myth: Illegal Immigrants Will Receive Free Health Care
In a Newsweek article this week, “The Five Biggest Lies in the Health Care Debate,” the myth that illegal immigrants will receive free health care ranked ranked number three on the list of health care lies gone viral. The article names Rep. Steve King of Iowa, who claimed in… Read More
The Christian Science Monitor Exchanges One Myth for Another
Yesterday, the Christian Science Monitor’s Editorial Board scapegoated immigrants and traded reason for rhetoric in their editorial, “Jobs That Americans Won’t Do.” The board attempts to make the case that jobs previously deemed “too menial” for American workers—“mowing lawns, cleaning motel sheets, butchering hogs, picking strawberries, janitorial work”—are now being filled by Americans, who are “desperate for income” due to climbing unemployment rates and a deep economic recession. The article goes on to use the presence of undocumented immigrants and high U.S. unemployment rates to make a case against comprehensive immigration reform, which they call “amnesty”—a term anti-immigrants groups commonly use to avoid reasoned debate on what to do about our broken and outdated American immigration system. Read More
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