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Some GOP Donors Step Up Immigration Push
WASHINGTON—Some big-money Republican donors, frustrated by their party’s handling of the standoff over the debt ceiling and government shutdown, are stepping up their warnings to GOP leaders that they risk long-term damage to the party if they fail to pass immigration legislation. Some donors say they are withholding political contributions from members of Congress who […]
Read MoreOngoing Government Shutdown Disrupts Immigration Processing
With the shutdown of the government in its second week, many immigration-related agencies continue to be closed, affecting availability of services and information necessary for applications for immigration benefits and litigation of immigration cases. Because multiple federal agencies play a role in contributing to the functioning of the immigration system, the impact of the shutdown […]
Read MoreIraqi Visa Bill Reauthorized Despite Washington Gridlock
On October 4th, with little fanfare, President Obama signed into law an extension of a popular special immigrant visa program for Iraqi translators/interpreters. The law, which passed unanimously out of both the House and the Senate, extends the program, which expired on September 30, until the end of 2013. This rare agreement in the midst […]
Read MoreICE Detainers Continue to Target Immigrants with No Criminal Convictions
This week, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) released a troubling new report showing that only about 10% of ICE detainers target “individuals who pose a serious threat to public safety or national security.” Although the agency’s highest enforcement priorities are threats to public safety and national security, government data shows that, in recent months, […]
Read MoreHouse Democrats Introduce New Comprehensive Immigration Bill
Several Democrats in the House of Representatives proposed H.R. 15, an immigration reform bill today that addresses border security, legalization of undocumented immigrants, interior enforcement of the immigration laws, and fixes for our dysfunctional legal immigration programs. This bill is based on S.744, which the Senate passed in June, but removes the Corker-Hoeven border security […]
Read MoreColorado 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 […]
Read MorePossible Increase in Unauthorized Immigration, Brought to You by an Improving Economy
The dynamic between the economy and the size of the unauthorized population living in the United States was brought home by a new report from the Pew Research Center, which finds that the shrinking number recorded during and immediately after the Great Recession may be slightly on the rise in light of the improving economy. […]
Read MoreDollars and Lives Lost in the Wait for Immigration Reform
Two-and-a-half months after the Senate passed immigration reform legislation (S. 744), the House of Representatives continues to dawdle. Other than giving speeches and mulling over a few backward-looking, enforcement-only bills, the House has done nothing to revamp the broken U.S. immigration system or to realistically resolve the status of the 11 million unauthorized immigrants now […]
Read MoreThe Cost of Immigration Enforcement and Border Security
Since the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003, the federal government has spent an estimated $324 billion on the agencies that carry out immigration enforcement.
Read MoreLocal 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 […]
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