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National Legislation

America Needs AgJOBS, not Harsh Guestworker Programs

Background:  Immigration is a critical issue for farmworkers.  The majority of farmworkers are undocumented, with estimates ranging from 53% to 75% of the workforce.  Without legal status, most farmworkers are too fearful of deportation to challenge unfair treatment.  Intensified immigration enforcement efforts have driven undocumented workers further underground, leaving them even more vulnerable to exploitation.  Read more...

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File

Pulling at the Thread: Anti-Immigrant Proposals Threaten Social Security Traditions

Proposals in Congress adversely target immigrants' retirement security in ways that would require the Social Security Administration (SSA) to alter the current retirement benefits framework by significantly changing the way work history is credited to individuals.

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File

The Benefits of Family Sponsorship

Provides facts and figures about the family-based immigration system in the U.S.

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File

Why Denying Driver's Licenses to Undocumented Immigrants Harms Public Safety and Makes Our Communities Less Secure

States need to create practical, workable solutions, and denying undocumented immigrants licenses is simply bad public policy.

Published On: Tue, Jan 01, 2008 | Download File

The "Secure America through Verification and Enforcement" ("SAVE Act") of 2007 (H.R. 4088) Summary and Analysis of Provisions

The “SAVE Act” was introduced in November 2007 by Reps. Heath Shuler (D-NC) and Brian Bilbray (R-CA).  A companion bill (S. 2368) has been introduced in the Senate by Sens. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Mary Landrieu (D-LA).  The “SAVE Act” is an immigration enforcement-only package that would dramatically expand the error-ridden Basic Pilot electronic employment verification system and make a number of harsh and unnecessary changes to current law .  The Basic Pilot system is currently used by only 30,000 employers, but would expand to cover over 6 million employers in just four years – roughly a 20,000 percent increase.  Beyond that, the bill seeks to increase the Border Patrol and spend more resources on the southern border, codify recently withdrawn DHS regulations related to the Social Security Administration “no match” letters, expand local police responsibilities to include immigration enforcement, and a number of other enforcement measures.  Absent from the bill are any provisions that would address the more than 12 million people in the US without status. 

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Published On: Sat, Dec 15, 2007 | Download File

DREAM Act: Student Biographies

Biographies of student who would benefit from the passage of DREAM.

Published On: Sat, Dec 01, 2007 | Download File

Too Costly for My Town: The Dollars and Cents of an Immigration Ordinance

A fact sheet that describes the costs associated with local anti-immigrant ordinances.

Published On: Mon, Oct 01, 2007 | Download File

Wasted Talent and Broken Dreams: The Lost Potential of Undocumented Students

By Roberto G. Gonzales Ph.D.

The current political debate over undocumented immigrants in the United States has largely ignored the plight of undocumented children. Yet children account for 1.8 million, or 15 percent, of the undocumented immigrants now living in this country. These children have, for the most part, grown up in the United States and received much of their primary and secondary educations here. But without a means to legalize their status, they are seldom able to go on to college and cannot work legally in this country. Moreover, at any time, they can be deported to countries they barely know. This wasted talent imposes economic and emotional costs on undocumented students themselves and on U.S. society as a whole. Denying undocumented students, most of whom are Hispanic, the opportunity to go to college and join the skilled workforce sends the wrong message to Hispanics about the value of a college education-and the value that U.S. society places on their education-at a time when raising the educational attainment of the Hispanic population is increasingly important to the nation's economic health. Read more...

Published On: Mon, Oct 01, 2007 | Download File

Division and Dislocation: Regulating Immigration through Local Housing Ordinances

By Jill Esbenshade, Ph.D.

In this IPC Special Report, author Jill Esbenshade finds that ordinance initiatives are correlated with a recent and rapid increase in the foreign-born or Latino share of the population, which creates the perception of an immigration “crisis.” But undocumented immigration will not be “solved” by the local ordinances that are unconstitutional, deny due process rights to renters and landlords, and foster anti-immigrant and anti-Latino discrimination.

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Published On: Sat, Sep 01, 2007 | Download File

Missing the Target: Anti-Immigrant Ordinances Backfire

If you believe Bill Chase, a member of the Culpeper County Board of Supervisors from Stevensburg, Virginia, the Latino immigrants who have moved to the county in recent years aren’t as willing to learn English as his own immigrant forefathers. “I think we all came from foreign countries and turned into English-speaking Americans,” Chase told The Washington Post on August 9. Then, apparently without appreciating the irony, he added, “But I don’t feel a willingness of this particular group to do that. I don’t see the willingness to blend into society.”

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Published On: Wed, Aug 01, 2007 | Download File