Center for Immigration Studies

Midwestern Cities Take the Lead in Welcoming Immigrants
Which city is the best at integrating immigrants into the fabric of American life? This year, according to the NAE Cities Index, it’s the epicenter of the Midwest, Chicago. According to this year’s results, Chicago is an exemplary case when it comes to policies that support immigrants. It is… Read More

Veterans Day: The Contributions of Immigrant Service People
Today is Veterans Day, a day that began as Armistice Day on Nov. 11, 1919, the one-year anniversary of the end of World War I, and that was set aside every year thereafter to observe peace. After the Korean War, the date officially became a day to honor all military… Read More

New Americans in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
New research from New American Economy shows that immigrants accounted for 47.1 percent of total population growth in Cedar Rapids between 2012 and 2017. The report, New Americans in Cedar Rapids, was prepared in partnership with the City of Cedar Rapids and the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance. In… Read More

Lebanese immigrant ensures newcomers have opportunities in Cedar Rapids, IA
When Salma Igram arrived in the United States, she was 18 years old and had never seen a calculator or a hamburger, “let alone a hot dog,” she says. But there she was in her husband’s fast-food restaurant, Jimbo’s, working the griddle and mastering the cash register. “My husband would… Read More

Immigrant credits English language and training opportunities as critical to his success
Tony Golobic jokes that he got his first job in America —cleaning oil-fired boilers —because no one else wanted to do it. “The boilers were red hot, the work was dangerous and dirty,” he says. “But I was making really good money, a lot more money than I ever imagined. Read More

New Pilot Program in El Paso Rushes Asylum Seekers Through A Deeply Flawed Process
Media reports today indicate that the government has initiated a new pilot program in El Paso, Texas to rush the review of sensitive asylum cases. The reported program, called “Prompt Asylum Case Review,” forces families to navigate the asylum process while detained in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Read More

The Cost of Removing Optional Practical Training for STEM Graduates
Workers who possess training or skills in science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) are some of the most sought after segments of the labor market. Chronic shortages of specialized, high-skilled workers have been making headlines in the United States for nearly a decade, even… Read More

Immigrant Entrepreneur Opens Doors for Innovation and Design in Wayne County
At times during the First Liberian Civil War, young Andreas Browne got on his knees and prayed for the opportunity to live. Now he calls his time in America his “second life.” Browne grew up in Monrovia, the capital city of Liberia, on Africa’s western coast. His mother moved to… Read More

New Americans in Wayne County
New research from New American Economy shows that immigrants contributed more than $10.5 billion to Wayne County’s GDP in 2017. The report, New Americans in Wayne County, was prepared in partnership with the Office of Wayne County Executive and Wayne United. In addition to their financial contributions, which… Read More

Immigrant Engineer Driven By a Call to Serve His Country and Community
Kamal AlSawafy was 9 years old when he arrived in Dearborn in 1997. Three years earlier, his family had fled Iraq, where his father, a construction worker, risked imprisonment and torture for his failure to support then-President Saddam Hussein. Now they had been granted refugee status and joined family in… Read More
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