Filter
The Wrong Side of History: Why the Anti-Immigrant Movement Will Always Lose
The anti-immigrant movement’s current motto could be “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” As evidence mounts that the demographic makeup of the country is changing, the current crop of immigration restrictionists know that they are gradually losing their committed base. Thus, they are pulling out every trick in the book to motivate that base to […]
Read MoreGeorgia State Legislature Pursuing Budget Busting Solutions to Immigration
Washington D.C. – In the face of a $1.7 billion budget shortfall in fiscal year 2011, Georgia state legislators are currently pursuing anti-immigrant legislation that could further damage the state’s bottom line. House Bill 87, a copycat of Arizona’s SB1070, is currently working its way through the state legislature without the benefit of a fiscal […]
Read MoreState Compacts Reframe Approach to Immigration, But Will Legislators Listen?
Rather than allow immigration restrictionists to define how their state deals with immigration, business leaders, elected officials, community activists and faith groups in Utah and Indiana have taken an important step in reframing their state’s approach by signing “state compacts”—declarations of principles to guide the state’s immigration discussion. And they’re not the only folks standing […]
Read MoreNew DHS Documents Highlight Internal Confusion Over Secure Communities Program
Since the Secure Communities program was announced in 2008, immigrant advocates have consistently asked whether the program is voluntary or mandatory. ICE’s response to the question has changed many times over the years. While ICE has said that the agency will eventually install Secure Communities in all state and local detention facilities nationwide (which makes […]
Read MoreSome States “Just Say No” to Harmful Immigration Enforcement Laws
If Arizona had its own television show, the warning “don’t try this at home” would appear after every commercial break. (Cut to tumbleweeds and Arizona businesses pulling their pockets inside out) This week, some states—like Virginia, South Dakota and New Hampshire—actually heeded that warning and rejected a host of enforcement measures targeting undocumented immigrants. States […]
Read MoreRepublicans Attempt to Change Outgoing Message on Immigration, Again
This week, the conflicting messaging on immigration from Republican politicians is particularly hard to follow. Voters can “press one” for Senator Lindsay Graham’s message that immigration reform is reality if we just pass a border bill; “press two” for Senator Orrin Hatch’s message that Utah voters want to welcome immigrants by stopping them from coming; […]
Read MoreIsn’t It About Time We Thought Realistically About Border Security?
Old thinking on border security was on grand display today during a House Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee hearing titled “Securing our Borders – Operational Control and the Path Forward.” Congress’ seemingly insatiable appetite for border enforcement does not seem to be assuaged by the reality at the border. Despite the record number of resources […]
Read MoreProgressive Immigration Measures Pick Up Steam at the State Level
By SUMAN RAGHUNATHAN, PROGRESSIVE STATES NETWORK As the list of state business leaders, law enforcement, and conservative lawmakers who realize that anti-immigrant efforts are costly, misguided, and destructive to state economies continues to grow, a number of state elected officials are putting their weight behind progressive, solutions-based approaches to immigration policy. A group of progressive […]
Read MoreMandatory E-Verify is Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be
Today, the House Immigration Subcommittee held a hearing on the E-Verify system, a tool to help employers electronically verify that their employees have permission to work in the United States. Although E-Verify remains largely voluntary—except for federal contractors, employers in certain states that have made it mandatory, and a few other exceptions—some members of Congress […]
Read MoreWill Senators Graham and Schumer Commit to Immigration Reform this Time Around?
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Photo by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This week, Politico reported on the on-again off-again relationship between Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on immigration. Apparently, it’s on-again, with both Schumer and Graham telling reporters and contacts that they are back at the negotiating table. Lest we […]
Read MoreMake a contribution
Make a direct impact on the lives of immigrants.
