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Why Should We Support a Legalization Program for Unauthorized Immigrants?
As the immigration debate heats up in Congress, the central question for much of the American public will be whether or not to create a pathway to legal status for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants now living in the United States. In formulating an answer to that question, however, it is necessary to ask two […]
Read MoreLegalize Who?: A Portrait of the 11 Million Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States
As the immigration debate heats up in Congress, the central question will be what to do about the 11 million unauthorized immigrants now living and working in the United States. The media often portrays this population as barely literate young men who pour over the southern border and live solitary lives, rather than providing a nuanced understanding of who the 11 million really are: adults and children, mothers and fathers, homeowners and churchgoers who are invested in their communities. This fact sheet attempts to provide a basic understanding of who the unauthorized are as people: where they live, where they’re from, how long they have been here, and what family and community ties to the United States they have.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources provide this very necessary social context to the immigration debate. And what the data reveal are that most of the unauthorized have been here for over a decade. While they are concentrated in California, Texas, Florida, and New York, there are sizeable unauthorized populations in other states across the country. Three-fifths of unauthorized immigrants come from Mexico, but significant numbers also come from Central America and the Philippines. Nearly half of all adult unauthorized immigrants have children under the age of 18, and roughly 4.5 million native-born U.S.-citizen children have at least one unauthorized immigrant parent. More than half of unauthorized immigrant adults have a high-school diploma or more education. Nearly half of longtime unauthorized households are homeowners. And approximately two-fifths of unauthorized immigrant adults attend religious services every week. In other words, most unauthorized immigrants are already integrating into U.S. society not only through their jobs, but through their families and communities as well.
Obama Backs ‘Startup Visas’ For Foreign-Born Tech Entrepreneurs In Immigration Speech
Huffington Post January 30, 2013 President Obama on Tuesday called on Congress to create a special visa category that allows foreign-born entrepreneurs who launch successful startups to remain in the country. … Obama’s speech was praised by supporters of a startup visa. His speech “shows that there is broad support to modernize our immigration system […]
Read MoreFederal Judge Leaves Anti-DACA Lawsuit Hanging By a Thread
Lost amidst coverage of recent immigration reform proposals was a ruling issued last Friday in Kris Kobach’s legal crusade against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The lawsuit, filed last summer in a federal court in Dallas, alleges the program violates an obscure provision of the immigration laws that supposedly prohibits immigrants who […]
Read MorePress Release: Statement from Partnership for a New American Economy Co-Chair and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on President Barack Obama’s Speech on Immigration in Las Vegas
“Today’s immigration speech by President Obama, coming on the heels of yesterday’s announcement of bipartisan agreement on reform principles by the Senate ‘Gang of Eight,’ shows that there is broad support to modernize our immigration system in a way that helps grow our economy and attract the world’s most talented and hardest-working. It’s time to […]
Read MorePresident Lays Out His Vision For Immigration Reform
After eight Republican and Democratic senators yesterday released their framework for comprehensive immigration reform, President Obama laid out his administration’s vision today of what he thinks should be included in the bill to overhaul the nation’s immigration system. He praised the bipartisan principles, which mirror the White House’s 2011 blueprint for immigration reform. “At this […]
Read MoreHatch wants more visas for skilled immigrants
Salt Lake Tribune January 29, 2013 A new immigration bill led by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, would greatly increase the number of foreign-born scientists and engineers who are allowed to live and work here. … [Overstock.com President Jonathan] Johnson said his company is always looking for engineers and software developers and can’t find enough domestically, […]
Read MorePresident Obama Provides Moral Imperative for Immigration Reform
Washington D.C. – Today, in Las Vegas, President Obama urged the country to join him in moving forward on immigration reform, offering a proposal that addresses the pressing economic, cultural, and moral crisis facing the nation over immigration. In doing so, he brought policies and principles down to one very important idea—that our American identity […]
Read MorePress Release: Statement from Partnership for a New American Economy Co-Chair and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Introduction of the Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 by Bipartisan Members of the U.S. Senate
“If we want to out-innovate the rest of the world, we need to make sure that we are able to recruit and retain the world’s top innovators. The Immigration Innovation (I2) Act of 2013 will ensure that more of the world’s most talented individuals can bring their inventions and new businesses here, and its provisions […]
Read MorePress Release: Statement from Partnership for a New American Economy Co-Chair and New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on Bipartisan Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Framework Calls For Immigration System that Reflects Economic Needs, Secures Our Borders, Provides a Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Immigrants, Reduces Visa Backlogs, and Ensures that Employers Hire Only Legal Workers Following today’s announcement of a “Bipartisan Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform” by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham […]
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