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Businesses Warn State Lawmakers That Immigration Legislation Will Break the Bank
As many state legislative sessions come to a close, lawmakers are giving serious thought about proceeding with restrictive immigration legislation. Legislators in some states (Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Virginia, Wyoming, and most recently, Arizona) have canned restrictive enforcement legislation due to prohibitive costs and push back from business and community groups […]
Read MoreStates Legislators Attempt to Reframe Enforcement-Only Approach to Immigration
Heading into legislative sessions this year, many state lawmakers seemed to be on a collision course with enforcement-only immigration proposals. This week, however, legislators in Utah at least attempted to look beyond the narrow scope of enforcement to proposals that aimed at a more balanced immigration debate. States like Nebraska and Kentucky also attempted to […]
Read MoreStates Playing with Enforcement-Only Fire Likely to Get Burned
The steady drumbeat of protest continued this week in states considering restrictive immigration measures. Indiana, for example, got a taste of forthcoming economic backlash when two organizations threatened to pull conventions from the state if enforcement legislation passed—a costly lesson Arizona knows well. Legislators in other states considering similar measures—Nebraska, Michigan, Arizona and Alabama—also heard […]
Read MoreThe 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 MoreNew Study on Immigrant Integration Compares and Ranks the United States, Canada, and Europe
Washington D.C. – In cooperation with the Immigration Policy Center, the British Council and the Migration Policy Group release a new study today which reviews and ranks U.S. immigrant integration policies against other countries. The Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX: www.mipex.eu) contrasts and compares integration policies for legal immigrants across countries in Europe and North […]
Read MoreWill State Legislators Continue to Pull the Plug on Restrictive Immigration Measures?
While some state lawmakers continue to tango with restrictive immigration bills this week, others pulled the plug on measures they worried were too costly or politically risky. Lawmakers in Arkansas, New Mexico and Nebraska voted down (or anticipated the failure of) measures that would restrict access to preventative medical care, tuition equity and driver’s licenses […]
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 MorePresident’s 2012 Budget Reveals Conflicted Priorities on Immigration
The President’s proposed FY 2012 budget for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) illustrates the Obama administration’s conflicted priorities when it comes to immigration. On the one hand, the budget increases funding for worthy causes such as immigrant integration, alternatives to detention, and civil-liberties oversight of enforcement programs. On the other hand, these funding increases […]
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