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No Paid Sick Days for Immigrant Caregivers Risky to Workers, U.S. Economy
By Elisa Batista, Women Immigrants Fellow, New America Media. In 91-year-old Elda Frank’s apartment is a scenario that plays out every moment of every day. An immigrant caregiver with no paid sick days scrambles for backup when she becomes ill on the job. In caregiver Paula Osorio’s case, she called Frank’s son, Bruce, and offered […]
Read MoreCitizenship Day 2012: Realizing the Potential of the Immigrant Vote
For many aspiring immigrants, achieving citizenship means full participation in civic life—and that means the right to vote. Every year, thousands of immigrants become naturalized U.S. citizens and exercise their new right. In the 2010 national elections, naturalized citizens comprised 6.4% of all voters. The voter registration rate among immigrants as a whole has risen since 2000. Just as importantly, a growing number of U.S.-born children of immigrants are now coming of age and becoming voters.
However, the full potential of the immigrant vote has not been reached. There are more than eight million legal immigrants in the United States who are eligible to naturalize but have not yet done so. The latent electoral power of these voters-in-waiting is enormous. In many parts of the country their votes could potentially swing elections. As described in a series of Immigration Impact blog posts by Rob Paral, there are numerous counties across the country where the number of Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have arrived since 1985 exceeds the margin of victory in the Obama-McCain election. Moreover, the voter rolls of many counties would grow dramatically if LPRs who are eligible to naturalize actually did so and registered to vote. Although this could not happen in time for the 2012 election cycle, it could make a difference in future elections. In many U.S. counties, the number of Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have arrived since 1985 exceeds the Obama-McCain margin of victory.
American Immigration Council Applauds Ruling Allowing Immigration Judges to Consider Evidence of Hardship
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a unanimous ruling that will allow immigration judges to exercise discretion in cases involving lawful permanent residents (LPRs) whose removal would cause extreme hardship to family members in the United States. The ruling marks the fourth opinion from a federal appellate court to reject a […]
Read MoreAIC Applauds Ruling Allowing Immigration Judges to Consider Evidence of Hardship
American Immigration Council Applauds Ruling Allowing Immigration Judges to Consider Evidence of Hardship Washington, D.C.—Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a unanimous ruling that will allow immigration judges to exercise discretion in cases involving lawful permanent residents (LPRs) whose removal would cause extreme hardship to family members in the […]
Read MoreImmigrant Integration is a Two-Way Street
The process by which immigrants integrate into the economic and social fabric of the United States is very much a two-way street. Naturally, immigrants must harbor the desire to climb the socioeconomic ladder of success. But there must be a ladder for them to climb. If the community within which immigrants live and work makes […]
Read MorePress Release: More Than 150 University Presidents and Chancellors From All 50 States Sign Letter to the President and Congress Supporting Visa Reform
University presidents and chancellors with a combined student body of over 4 million students and a total endowment of over $240 billion support visa reform Today, 165 chancellors and presidents of American universities sent a letter to President Barack Obama and to all members of Congress urging members of both parties to find a bipartisan […]
Read MoreLocal Entrepreneurs Make The Economic Case For Immigration Reform
The Seattle Times September 11, 2012 Russian businessman Denis Kiselev was the subject of an Aug. 30 story in The Times for a milestone in Seattle business: Under a new federal policy, he was sponsored for an H-1B visa by a company he started himself. For the company, SnapSwap Inc., to ask that its creator […]
Read MoreLatino Immigrants As Job Creators
Voxxi September 13, 2012 CFR’s Renewing America initiative just released a new report by Alexandra Starr, a fellow at the New America Foundation, titled “Latino Immigrant Entrepreneurs: How to Capitalize on Their Economic Potential.” Many people view low-skilled immigrants as an economic burden because they produce few income taxes. But it’s not just these immigrants—almost […]
Read MoreWhat Early DACA Application Numbers Tell Us About the Future of the Program
It hasn’t even been a month since the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) first started accepting requests for deferred action under its Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative, yet the New York Times reported this week that the first approvals are already on their way. The Times also reported that the agency […]
Read MoreLow-Skilled Immigrant Workers Are Vital Contributors To The Economy
Forbes September 12, 2012 The Republican National Committee reformed its immigration platform this month to favor a new guest worker program. Unfortunately, the party still seems unwilling to accept permanent low-skilled immigrants. These workers are critical to America’s future competitiveness, yet they have received little GOP attention compared to high-skilled workers from Asia to whom […]
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