Center for Immigration Studies

Immigration Policies ‘Work Against the Small Businesses,’ Says Head of Major South Carolina Restaurant Group
Steve Carb is the head of SERG Restaurant Group on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, which employs more than 800 hospitality workers annually. During the summer peak season, he manages to staff his 10 restaurants with help from locals and college students. But once school starts in the fall,… Read More

Idea that Immigrants Don’t Want To Pay Taxes ‘Couldn’t Be Further From the Truth,’ Lawyer Says
Debbie Rodriguez sees plenty of undocumented immigrants realize their own American dream — and create jobs for other Americans in the process. “We’re in a unique situation to know who the business owners are in our community and sometimes they don’t have permission to be here,” says Rodriguez,… Read More

America Needs to Know: Immigrant Businesses Add $780 Billion to U.S. Economy, Says Hispanic Chamber CEO
Javier Palomarez is the president and CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The chamber represents 4.2 million Hispanic-owned businesses in the United States, which collectively contribute $668 billion to the national economy. “We represent 271 major corporations and work with a network of 200 local… Read More

Conservative Pastor and Ex-Army Analyst Says Making America Stronger Means Treating Immigrants ‘Better’
Fred Otto, who preaches at the staunchly conservative Church of the Nazarene in Bisbee, Arizona, says that according to the Bible we are all immigrants — all aliens — on this earth. “There’s a lot of language in the Bible about remembering the aliens and remembering the sojourner,” he says. Read More

Immigrants are ‘Backbone of Our Communities,’ Says U.S. Lawyer, ‘We Need Them’
Heather Moretzsohn’s life has always been about immigration. Her father was an immigration lawyer, and all of his children married people from other countries. Moretzsohn’s own husband is a biology professor from Brazil. She now lives in Corpus Christi, and as an immigration lawyer herself she understands that our communities… Read More

Weekend Reading: Highlights from this week’s immigration news (August 8-12)
This week, business leaders from across the country voiced their support for our #ReasonForReform campaign, which officially launched on August 3. In an op-ed on Huffington Post, Jalak Jobanputra, Founding Partner of FuturePerfect Ventures, writes: “People from all across the world have great ideas, and… Read More

Stanford Business School Grad Hopes Reform Will Allow Him to Keep Company in Silicon Valley
Russian-born immigrant, recent Stanford Graduate School of Business graduate, and entrepreneur Misha Esipov, 28, is “on a mission to improve immigrant lending around the world” and “build a cross-border credit bureau to connect U.S. lenders to international data.” His company, Nova Credit Inc., is developing an international credit passport system that allows people’s… Read More

Stanford Business School Grad Hopes Reform Will Allow Him to Keep Company in Silicon Valley
Russian-born immigrant, recent Stanford Graduate School of Business graduate, and entrepreneur Misha Esipov, 28, is “on a mission to improve immigrant lending around the world” and “build a cross-border credit bureau to connect U.S. lenders to international data.” His company, Nova Credit Inc., is developing an international credit passport system… Read More

Immigrant Auto Dealership CEO Wants a Merit-Based Immigration System
When Bernie Moreno’s mother decided to leave her native Colombia and bring her seven children, husband, and 22 suitcases to the United States, it wasn’t to escape a life of poverty. She wanted to avoid a life of entitlement. Worried that her children would grow up too comfortable in an… Read More

First-Generation American Entrepreneur Needs Immigration Reform to Compete Globally
As Argentine immigrants, Betty Manetta’s parents worked long hours in factory jobs to put their daughters through private school. Witnessing her parents’ work ethic and their belief that education is the key to success, cultivated a drive in Manetta. After high school, she worked for Western Electric, put herself through… Read More
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