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Policy or Politics? DHS Changes and Expands 287(g) Program
Last Friday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced changes to the controversial 287(g) program—a program which allows state and local police agencies to partner with ICE to enforce federal immigration laws. DHS also announced that, rather than waiting for the new policies to be implemented and tested, it has expanded the problematic […]
Read MoreLarge Immigrant Populations Keep Cities Safe, Just Ask El Paso, TX
El Paso, Texas, is a relatively poor, Hispanic, gun-friendly city and home to many undocumented immigrants. Yet although El Paso is adjacent to a violence-riddled Mexican city, it’s actually counted among the safest big cities in the U.S. Why is El Paso so safe? A recent article in Reason Online dispels some of the myths […]
Read MorePolitics as Usual: Senate Amendments Make Bad Policy, but Great Theater
It’s time to take a deep breath and recognize that you can rarely take Senate votes at face value when it comes to immigration. The amount of posturing and political preening that goes on is directly proportionate to how close we really are to pushing a substantive immigration proposal. So, what have we seen this […]
Read MoreImmigrant Homebuyers Play Crucial Role in Housing Market Revival
Earlier this week, the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University released a new housing report which provides a rather grim analysis of the current housing crisis. Real home prices continue to fall and foreclosures continue to mount despite recent federal interventions. Because of job losses, decreased home prices, and tougher credit eligibility requirements, […]
Read MoreObama Administration Begins Rolling Back Midnight Regulations Left by Bush Administration
While a bill that would reform our immigration system waits in queue behind other issues, like healthcare and climate change, the new Administration has begun a good faith effort to right some of the most egregious wrongs left by the former White House. For example, last week Secretary Napolitano suspended the Bush administration’s policy of […]
Read MoreAdministration Begins Rolling Back Midnight Regulations Left by Bush Administration
Photo by lombardi. While a bill that would reform our immigration system waits in queue behind other issues, like healthcare and climate change, the new Administration has begun a good faith effort to right some of the most egregious wrongs left by the former White House. For example, last week Secretary Napolitano suspended the Bush […]
Read MoreCongress Beware: Don’t Touch the Fence
As Congressional appropriations committees meet over the coming months to craft legislation funding immigration-enforcement operations for next fiscal year, they would do well to continue to steer clear of one of the Bush administration’s more costly border boondoggles: the border fence. The Associated Press reported yesterday that construction of the final 40 miles of the […]
Read MoreThe American People are Calling for Change
Yesterday the Reform Immigration FOR America campaign kicked off its efforts to mobilize millions of supporters across the country and press for fair, practical, and humane immigration policies. While small-but-vocal anti-immigrant groups continue to voice their negative and divisive messages, more and more people across the country are speaking out in support of an immigration […]
Read MoreFuzzy Math: The Anti-Immigration Arguments of NumbersUSA Don’t Add Up
According to the anti-immigration group NumbersUSA, immigration to the United States is all about arithmetic: immigration increases the U.S. population, and more people presumably means more pollution, more urban sprawl, more competition for jobs, and higher taxes for Americans who must shoulder the costs of “over-population.” At first glance, this argument is attractive in its simplicity: less immigration, fewer people, a better environment, more jobs, lower taxes. However, as with so many simple arguments about complex topics, it is fundamentally flawed and misses the point. “Over-population” is not the primary cause of the environmental or economic woes facing the United States, so arbitrary restrictions on immigration will not create a cleaner environment or a healthier economy.
Read MoreHigh School Teens Deported on the Way to School
Three high school students were deported to Mexico last week when they were swept up in a Transportation Security Agency (TSA) raid at the Old Town transit center on their way to school in San Diego, California. Border Patrol confirmed that 21 people were detained. According to reports, TSA and Border Patrol agents inquired about […]
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