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House Votes on Immigration Demonstrate Need for Bolder Executive Action
Last week, the House of Representatives passed an appropriations bill that demonstrates how out of step they are with the public on immigration. House Members passed a series of amendments designed to stop the Obama administration from pursuing humane immigration policies, voting to block funds for any prosecutorial discretion activities, including the new 3 and […]
Read MoreProsecutorial Discretion: A Statistical Analysis
In August 2011, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it would review more than 300,000 pending removal proceedings to identify low-priority cases meriting favorable exercises of prosecutorial discretion. The initiative was officially launched in November 2011 and is expected to continue for much of 2012. To date, DHS has released statistics on three occasions measuring the progress of the initiative. This fact sheet provides background information about the case-by-case review process and a statistical assessment of those figures.
Read MoreLegal Action Center Files Suit Against DHS for Failure to Disclose Records on “Voluntary” Returns
Washington D.C. – Yesterday, the Legal Action Center (LAC) at the American Immigration Council, in collaboration with Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, filed suit against Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for unlawfully withholding records concerning voluntary returns of noncitizens from the United States to their countries of […]
Read MoreBad 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 MoreReport: Immigration Needed to Spur Economic Recovery in California, Increase Competition
KPCC Southern California Public Radio May 31, 2012 It’s often said that the U.S. is a “nation of immigrants,” one that was built by them. But since 9/11, immigration policy has made it more complicated for many hardworking immigrants to get here, and that’s a trend that the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce has noticed. […]
Read MoreLaw Professors Push White House to Grant Administrative Relief to DREAMers
In the absence of Congressional action on the DREAM Act, advocates and DREAMers have increasingly turned to the White House to help them secure temporary protection from removal. This week, DREAMERS got a huge boost from 96 law professors who sent a letter to President Obama outlining the extensive authority under law that his administration […]
Read MoreStill No Resolution on VAWA, Protections for Immigrants at Risk
Despite the recent controversy over amendments to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), there is still no resolution on its reauthorization. The bill remains stalled in Congress due to conflicting versions passed by the House and Senate. As one source put it, while the current impasse is technically procedural (due to a revenue-related procedural rule), […]
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 MoreHighly Skilled Immigrants
Highly skilled immigrants help drive the innovation economy, but the US’s lack of visa often shuts the door. In an increasingly globalized economy, an order from Seattle can be filled at a factory in Shenzhen by a company based in Sao Palo. Companies, revenue, and jobs are increasingly mobile, and success in the global economy […]
Read MoreTourism and Hospitality
International tourists, a potential economic boon, are being deterred from the US by American bureaucracy. And during peak season, businesses must be able to hire the immigrant staff they need. Visitors already know that the United States has it all: beaches, mountains, world-class cities and shopping. That’s why in 2011, a record 62 million foreign […]
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