Immigration 101

Four Myths That Sen. Sessions Believes About Immigration to the United States
Nativist ideology is filled with falsehoods, half-truths, and distortions. From the impact of immigrants on the economy to the pace of their integration into U.S. society, the nativist creed more often than not gets it wrong. For example, consider the current chairman of the Senate’s immigration subcommittee, Sen. Jeff Sessions… Read More

Setting the Record Straight on Immigrant Work Authorization
The anti-immigrant Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) issued a report last week alleging a “huge parallel immigrant work authorization system outside the bounds of the laws.” Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) seized upon it to demand a “full investigation.” Yet the issuance of work permits is not new, huge,… Read More

Six Reasons Why Sen. Jeff Sessions’ ‘Immigration Handbook’ is a Work of Fiction
The chairman of the Senate Immigration Subcommittee, Jeff Sessions (R-AL), wasted no time in advertising his antipathy towards immigrants. Shortly after assuming his post, Sessions released an “Immigration Handbook for the New Republican Majority” that, in only 23 pages, managed to distill just about every fact-free sound bite ever conceived… Read More

Non-Citizen Voter Fraud is Not Swaying Elections
Along with campaign ads and ballot initiatives, the November elections inevitably bring allegations that non-citizens are turning out in droves to skew elections. Despite repeated investigations over the years finding no indication that systematic vote fraud by non-citizens occurs, some voters will have to navigate cumbersome voter identification… Read More

Anti-Immigrant Group Runs Ad in States with Key Senate Races
Many opponents of immigration reform view the U.S. job market as a playing field upon which two teams compete: the native-born and immigrants. From this perspective, every job gained by one side amounts to a job lost by the other. And so every immigrant worker who enters the U.S. labor… Read More

Anti-Immigrant Group Repeatedly Blames Immigrants for Unemployment
According to anti-immigrant groups such as the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), every immigrant worker who enters the U.S. labor force is stealing a job from a native-born worker. In this view of the world, employment is a zero-sum game in which immigrants and the native-born compete for a… Read More

Anti-Immigrant Group Reduces Lives of Refugee Children to Costs of Education
The nativist Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) has long blamed children for the costs of their own educations. Whether focusing its ire on immigrant children or the U.S.-born children of immigrants, FAIR is routinely outraged at how many taxpayer dollars are devoted to teaching these children… Read More

Anti-Immigrant Groups Attempt to Incite Fear Over Administrative Action
As news trickles out of the White House that President Obama is planning to announce a program like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) initiative for other worthy populations, the anti-immigrant community is preparing their fire. An early shot comes via a post in The Hill where… Read More

Restrictionists Spread Unfounded Rumors About Migrant Children and Disease
More often than not, anti-immigrant groups use their hateful rhetoric to blame immigrants for all of our nation’s ills. On a regular basis, restrictionist groups release reports that portray immigrants as criminals, terrorists, a threat to American workers, an economic and fiscal burden, or an obstacle to national unity,… Read More

Avalanche of Local Detainer Limits Underscores Need for Federal Policy Reform
Across the United States, county after county continues to alter policies to limit compliance with immigration detainers because of constitutional concerns. A spate of federal rulings found that detainers were not mandatory, so local officials increasingly seem to be coming to the conclusion that honoring detainer requests… Read More
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