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Bad for Business: How Anti-Immigration Legislation Drains Budgets and Damages States’ Economies
This session, state legislatures are once again considering harsh immigration-control laws. These laws are intended to make everyday life so difficult for unauthorized immigrants that they will choose to “self-deport” and return to their home countries. Proponents of these laws claim that the departure of unauthorized immigrants will save states millions of dollars and create jobs for U.S citizens. However, experience from states that have passed similar anti-immigration measures shows that the opposite can occur: the impact of the laws can hinder prospects for economic growth, and the costs of implementing, defending, and enforcing these laws can force taxpayers to pay millions of dollars.
Read MoreSTARS Act Highlights Potential Pitfalls of Rubio DREAM Proposal
When news broke yesterday that a Florida congressman introduced an alternative version of the DREAM Act, many assumed it was Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been promising for months to introduce such legislation. In fact, the bill in question—dubbed the STARS Act—was introduced by Rep. David Rivera, a member of the House who introduced similar […]
Read MoreMayor Bloomberg Shows the Way to Real Immigration Reform
NY Daily News May 27, 2012 Immigration know-nothings gasped when Mayor Bloomberg said the federal government “should deliberately force some places that don’t want immigrants to take them” as a way to revitalize America’s “big, hollowed-out cities.” Experience teaches that he’s right. Imagine what New York would have been like had the city not benefited […]
Read MoreFAQ: The New Push in Congress to Increase STEM Visas
ComputerWorld May 25, 2012 There is a bipartisan push for legislation to automatically give green cards to foreign students who earn a master’s degree and above in science, technology, engineering and math, the so-called STEM degrees. In the past two weeks, three green card STEM bills were introduced in the Senate. There are already bills […]
Read MoreIn California, Lawmakers Mount New Challenge to Secure Communities
Last year, lawmakers in California were poised to pass a bill—known as the TRUST Act—to let local jurisdictions opt out of Secure Communities, the federal program that routes fingerprints taken at local jails to federal immigration authorities. Before final passage, however, federal officials rendered the bill moot by declaring that participation in the program was […]
Read MoreMichigan Pushes Plan to Welcome Immigrants and their Revitalizing Power to State
While some states pushed for punitive immigration measures over the last year—measures designed to drive immigrants away —others, like those in Michigan, were busy putting together a plan that welcomes immigrants and their revitalizing power to the state. This month, leaders in Michigan—including state Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) and U.S. Rep. Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit)—helped launch […]
Read MoreComments Due on Proposed Rule that Will Help Keep American Families Together
The administration recently published a proposed rule that will help keep American families together. The “Proposed Rule on Provisional Unlawful Presence Waivers of Inadmissibility for Certain Immediate Relatives” is an effort to streamline the application process for many relatives of U.S. citizens currently eligible for a green card by minimizing the amount of time that […]
Read MoreNew Border Patrol Strategy Changes Rhetoric More than Substance
The U.S. Border Patrol’s newly released strategic plan is a decidedly mixed bag when it comes to border security—just like the Border Patrol’s last strategic plan, released in 2004. On the plus side, both documents advocate an intelligence-driven, risk-based approach to border security which focuses on the greatest security threats. Both plans also call for […]
Read MoreSenators Reintroduce the DREAM Act
Washington, D.C. – Today, Senators Richard Durbin, Harry Reid, and Robert Menendez re-introduced the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. Last fall, the DREAM Act passed the House of Representatives, and garnered the support of a majority in the Senate, but was ultimately defeated when the Senate failed to invoke cloture and […]
Read MoreIn Heart of Texas, Sheriff Takes Heat for Honoring Immigration Detainers
A local election in Travis County, Texas, is bringing to light important questions surrounding the controversial Secure Communities program. As recently reported by the Texas Tribune, Democratic primary challenger John Sisson has criticized incumbent Sheriff Greg Hamilton for honoring federal immigration “detainers”—the lynchpin of Secure Communities—because of their harm to immigrant communities. While Hamilton has […]
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