Restrictionists
Obama’s Controversial Two-Step Moves in Direction of Immigration Reform
After boosting border enforcement, the Obama Administration recently announced that it will also increase funding for a troublesome program started by George W. Bush. The controversial program gives Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unregulated access to the immigration information of every person in local prisons across the United States. Although Obama may be sending mixed signals as he paves a road to immigration reform—signals that frustrates many of his most steadfast supporters—he also understands that he must smooth the way for immigration reform by restoring the confidence of the American public and prove that the government is capable of upholding the rule of law. Immigration enforcement is fundamentally a federal responsibility, but state and local governments can and should play a role in helping the federal government remove violent criminals from American society. Obama's focus on catching hardened criminals represents the right prioritization of resources that are being funneled in the wrong direction. Rather than addressing the serious problems associated with the Bush Administration's "Secure Communities" program, Obama's 2010 budget, which allots $200 million for the program, seeks to expand rather than mend the deeply flawed initiative. Read More
New Reports Reveal Immigration Does Not Increase Unemployment
Two new reports prepared for the IPC by the consulting firm Rob Paral & Associates debunk the simplistic myth propagated by anti-immigration activists that immigrants fill U.S. jobs only at the expense of unemployed native-born workers. The reports use data from the Census Bureau to demonstrate that there is no discernible relationship whatsoever between the number of recent immigrants in a particular locale and the unemployment rate among native-born whites, blacks, Latinos, or Asians. This holds true even now, at a time of economic recession and high unemployment. These reports are the first two installments of a three-part series, Untying the Knot vinyan download , which seeks to unravel the complex and frequently misrepresented relationship between immigration and unemployment. The first report, "The Unemployment and Immigration Disconnect," analyzes the relationship (or lack thereof) between recent immigration and the general unemployment rate in different regions, states, and counties. The report finds that areas with high unemployment rates do not necessarily have large numbers of recent immigrants. For instance, recent immigrants are 7.3% of the population in New Jersey and only 0.8% of the population in Maine, yet unemployment rates are nearly identical in both states. On average, counties with lower unemployment rates have larger populations of recent immigrants. Read More
Mexican Migration Slows Along With U.S. Economy
Mexican Census data released this week shows a decline in Mexican migration to the United States. This data comes as no surprise and is in line with what other researchers have been saying for months when it comes to the immigration slow down: "it's the economy stupid." The New York Times reports today: Mexican and American researchers say that the current decline, which has also been manifested in a decrease in arrests along the border, is largely a result of Mexicans' deciding to delay illegal crossings because of the lack of jobs in the ailing American economy. Read More
Pew Report Reveals Continuing Importance of Immigrants to Housing Market
A recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center sheds new light on the value of immigration to the U.S. economy—even in the midst of a recession. The report, which examines the impact of the housing market's boom-and-bust cycle on minorities and immigrants in the United States, found that the latest housing "bust" which began to unfold in 2005 has had less of an impact on immigrant homeowners than on native-born homeowners. Although immigrants are still less likely to own homes than the native-born (just as native-born blacks and Latinos are less likely to own homes than native-born whites), rates of homeownership have declined faster for the native-born than for immigrants since the onset of the current housing crisis. The findings of the Pew report are a far cry from the shrill claims of anti-immigrant commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, who not long ago helped propagate the fabricated claim that the crumbling of the housing market was precipitated in no small part by millions of undocumented immigrants defaulting on subprime mortgages. Read More
Anti-Immigrant “Advocates of Extremist Views” Raise National Criticism, International Concern
Today, a San Francisco Chronicle editorial holds talk-show host Michael Savage, along with his colleagues Lou Dobbs and Jay Severin, accountable for the consequences of their anti-immigrant remarks: Demonization of Mexican and other Latino immigrants is fueling hate crimes and violence against them, and it's time for America's leaders and media to put a stop to it all... At a time when the nation is overcoming its black-white divisions and an African American is in the White House, the FBI reports that hate crimes against Latinos grew 40 percent over four years, reaching 830 in 2007, the last year measured. The Chronicle's editorial comes shortly after Jay Severin, a radical right-wing talk show radio host from Boston, was indefinitely kicked off the air after making some brazen anti-immigrant comments and the UK's decision last week to ban Michael Savage from entering the country in an effort to keep "advocates of extremist views" from provoking social turmoil. Yet as Savage threatens to sue British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith for libel, he continues to defame immigrant populations and entire ethnic groups. Read More
Sheriff Joe Arpaio to Recruit and Arm Citizens, Neo-Nazis “Have His Back”
Rather than cleaning up his police department and addressing allegations of racial profiling and discrimination, Arpaio has decided to recruit and arm more Maricopa citizens in the absence of state funds. Back in April, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in Arizona voted to postpone the acceptance of $1.6 million from the state to help pay for County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's controversial immigration enforcement tactics. Observers said the decision could signal that the board is concerned by federal inquires into Arpaio's practices that stem from his hard-line immigration tactics which include the deputization of volunteer "posses" to perform immigration sweeps, armed workplace raids, and set up checkpoints. Read More
Obama Budget Not a Replacement for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
The Obama Administration appears increasingly poised to move forward on comprehensive immigration reform, as promised. Yesterday the White House announced budgetary initiatives that signal a change in priorities and pave the way for immigration reform. At the same time, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, testified before the Senate yesterday about her plans to protect our borders and enforce our immigration laws in smarter and more effective ways. While the changes are welcome, they're still just fiddling along the edges of a real solution. Comprehensive immigration reform is the only real way to fix the problem. Read More
Jury Member, Witness, Legal Experts Condemn Pennsylvania Hate Crime Verdict
Embedded video from CNN Video Last week, in the small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, an all-white jury acquitted defendants Derrick Donchak, 19, and Brandon Piekarsky, 17, of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and ethnic intimidation in the death of Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez last July. "Ethnic intimidation" is Pennsylvania's legal term for "hate crime." Both teens, however, were convicted of simple assault. The verdict has left many feeling that the two teens got away with murder. Last summer, Ramirez, the 25 year-old father of two, was walking down the street with his girlfriend when he encountered the group of teens who had been drinking earlier in the night. Prosecutors said the teens "baited Ramirez into a fight with racial epithets and provoked an exchange of punches and kicks that ended with Ramirez convulsing in the street, foaming at the mouth." According to one affidavit, one teen in the group yelled to Ramirez's girlfriend, "Get your Mexican boyfriend out of here!" Another witness, a retired police officer, overheard the teens screaming at Ramirez's girlfriend as they ran, "Tell your effin Mexican friends [to] get the eff out of Shenandoah or you're gonna be laying effin next to him." Ramirez died two days later in the hospital. Read More
Hard-Line Immigration Laws Take a Back Seat in Tennessee
When it comes to immigration in Tennessee, state legislators are starting to realize that not only do they have bigger fish to fry, immigration is a fish that's better left swimming in federal waters. The Tennessean reports that, though Republicans had hoped to pass stringent immigration legislation when they took power of the Tennessee State Congress this past fall, the Tennessee GOP is starting to find that their immigration platform is not only economically foolish, it also doesn't reflect the priorities or attitudes of their constituents. Republican Rep. Tony Shipley, the man who was once concerned about "German workers who might try to sneak over the Atlantic Ocean into Chattanooga," took his own immigration bill off the floor when he found out it would cost the state upwards of $11 million and could have jeopardized $217 million in federal funds for children's health services and food assistance. Shipley told The Tennessean: Read More
Olbermann Blames “Republican Echo Chamber” for “Making Scapegoats Out of Mexicans”
This week, Keith Olbermann went after right-wing pundits who are scapegoating immigrants for the swine flu epidemic. During his MSNBC show, Olbermann condemned comments made by Michelle Malkin, Glenn Beck, Michael Savage, and others: In responding to Swine Flu, however, the Republican party‘s chosen talking heads have opted for an oldie but goodie. Our third story tonight, making scapegoats out of Mexicans... Well, yes, you [Michelle Malkin] are a racist. Exactly how does that apply, though, to the people who the Centers for Disease Control confirmed actually carried the Swine Flu from Mexico to the U.S., a group of Catholic school students from New York City, who spent Spring Break in Cancun. Uncontrolled Catholic immigration, open borders for private school kids reckless? Read More
All gifts are matched dollar for dollar
No one should face the immigration system alone
