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Did You Know That Our Founding Fathers Were All Immigrants?
The hit musical Hamilton explains why. There are plenty of verbal acrobatics in Hamilton, the smash-hit hip-hop musical about the life of America’s first Treasury Secretary, but one simple statement has become a kind of battle cry: “Immigrants, we get the job done!” Sung by Nevis-born Alexander Hamilton and his French compatriot, the Marquis […]
Read MoreWhat President Obama Proposed on Immigration in His Final Budget
President Obama unveiled his proposed budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 which begins on October 1, 2016. While this is the President’s final budget and is largely seen as a political document, it does set the baseline for the funding of federal programs and new initiatives executive agencies would like to undertake. For issues concerning […]
Read MoreFlorida House Punishes Sanctuary Cities, Bill Authorizing Military Force Against Refugees Passes Committee
The Florida House of Representatives passed a sweeping “anti-sanctuary city” bill this week that would penalize Florida counties who do not aggressively target undocumented immigrants or who fail to honor every federal request to detain immigrants, regardless of the requests’ constitutionality. A House committee also passed a bill that targets non-Western Hemisphere refugees who are […]
Read MoreGovernment Losing its License to Operate Family Detention Center in Pennsylvania
On January 27, 2016, Pennsylvania state officials informed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that it would not renew and would revoke the operating license for the Berks County Residential Facility, the immigration detention center in Leesport, Pennsylvania, which jails mothers and children, often for extended periods of time. The current license will expire on […]
Read MoreAn Immigrant Family Behind America’s Pita Craze
In elementary school, Karen Toufayan’s friends never knew what to make of her lunch. While the others munched on Wonder Bread, Karen usually unwrapped a pita. “Nobody knew anything about pita bread,” says Karen. “They couldn’t even pronounce it. People were like, ‘What is that?’” She says it was like that scene from the movie […]
Read MoreXenophobic Immigration Policy Would Wreck the U.S. Economy
The GOP candidates for President are falling over one another to demonstrate who would be the “toughest” on immigrants and who would finally make U.S. borders “secure.” Leading the way is Donald Trump, who issued shrill declarations during the January 14 GOP debate that “We have no borders” and “Illegal immigration is beyond belief”—all of […]
Read MorePunitive and Productive Immigration Legislation Moving in the States
Washington, D.C. – After passage of Arizona’s controversial SB1070 law last year, other states threatened to introduce similar measures. South Carolina, Mississippi, and Nebraska have already begun working on SB1070-style legislation. Meanwhile, legislators seeking true solutions have begun pursuing progressive immigration policies. On a teleconference yesterday, immigration policy experts discussed the ramifications of pursuing anti-immigrant […]
Read MoreIs It Time to Change our Cuban Immigration Policy?
In December of 2014, President Obama restored full diplomatic relations with Cuba and, for the first time since 1961, opened an embassy in Havana. Many believe that normalizing relations with Cuba may prompt Congress to change the current laws regarding the treatment of Cuban migrants. Perhaps in anticipation of this happening, over the past year, […]
Read MoreU.S. Children of Undocumented Immigrants Set up for Failure by Current Policies
U.S. children are clearly at a disadvantage if they have at least one undocumented parent. According to a report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI) released yesterday, of the estimated 5.1 million U.S. children under age 18 currently living with at least one undocumented parent, 79 percent (4.1 million) are U.S. citizens. The population of […]
Read MoreCourt Says Class Action Challenging Abusive Conditions in Hieleras Can Move Forward
A federal court in Tucson, Arizona held that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must answer allegations of horrific conditions experienced by individuals in Tucson Sector detention facilities (a.k.a. “hieleras”) along the southern border. In decisions handed down on January 11, the court decided that the case, Doe V. Johnson, may proceed as a class […]
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