News Room

Media Contact: Wendy Sefsaf at 202-507-7524 or wsefsaf@immcouncil.org

Press Releases

06/11/13 | Senate Floor Debate Must Maintain Spirit of Compromise

Washington D.C. – Today, the long-awaited opportunity to reform the country’s dysfunctional immigration system moves one step closer to reality as the full Senate begins consideration of S. 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act. The Senate Judiciary Committee set a high standard for civility and transparency during its markup of the bill last month, and we urge the full Senate to continue in this vein. The bill that emerged from committee offers a workable plan that takes a balanced approach to immigration reform. Evidence, rather than grandstanding and rhetoric, should drive the debate on the Senate floor. Common sense and good policy can trump political one-upmanship, as long as Senators keep the following principles in mind.

05/21/13 | Senate Judiciary Committee Votes to Pass Immigration Bill on to Full Senate

Mark-Up Characterized by Transparency and Bipartisan Cooperation

Washington D.C. - Today, on a bipartisan vote of 13 to 5, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to pass Senate Bill 744, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, out of the committe and on to the Senate floor for a full vote in the coming days. The Senate committee mark-up spanned three weeks and covered many of the 300 amendments offered on every aspect of the bill. The resulting legislation represents a concerted effort to find a workable and fair immigration policy that makes our nation stronger.

The following is a statement by Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council:

“We congratulate Senator Leahy and the entire Senate Judiciary Committee on the spirit of deliberation, collaboration, and transparency that marked the process. Many amendments added during the mark-up will strengthen the bill in the areas of high-skilled immigration, protections for vulnerable groups and due process. However, other amendments, like those attempting to deny citizenship, may have been driven more by rhetoric than reality. In addition, not providing some relief to siblings who face extreme hardships because of their separation and not ending the discrimination against same sex couples legally married in the United States is short-sighted and bad policy. Yet despite these high costs, the overall bill coming out of committee now gives the Senate an important and rare opportunity to complete the task we have been working on for years—passage of a comprehensive immigration reform bill that finally moves us to our goal of fixing our broken immigration system.

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05/21/13 | Senate Judiciary Committee Votes to Pass Immigration Bill on to Full Senate

The following is a statement by Benjamin Johnson, Executive Director of the American Immigration Council:

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IPC in the News

Fox News Latino Cites IPC Fact Sheet in Article

A recent Fox News Latino article drew on a recent fact sheet released by the Immigration Policy Center in an article on the economic impact of immigrants in Texas.

"A Texas congressman wants to know what the economic impact on the Lone Star State would be if it lost its estimated 1.4 million undocumented immigrants.

"Rep. Pete Gallego, a Democrat, believes the cost to Texas would be much higher now than a 2006 estimate done by the state comptroller. So his office has sent a letter to the comptroller asking for a more current analysis.

"In 2006, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn concluded that a loss of the undocumented immigrant population would have resulted in 'a loss to our gross state product of $17.7 billion.'

"But a more recent report by the Immigration Policy Center this year put the economic loss at more than twice the last estimate, which Gallego’s office said was the first such comprehensive effort by a state.

"'If all unauthorized immigrants were removed from Texas, the state would lose $69.3 billion in economic activity, $30.8 billion in gross state product, and approximately 403,174 jobs, even accounting for adequate market adjustment time,' said the IPC report.

Published In: Fox News Latino | 06/17/13

The IPC's Mary Giovagnoli in Chicago Sun-Times

Mary Giovagnoli, the Director of the Immigration Policy Center, was quoted in a recent article in the Chicago Sun-Times on Senator John Cornyn's proposed border amendments in the Senate immigration bill:

"Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) wants to halt the legalization of undocumented immigrants after a required 10-year wait if border security fails to meet potentially unattainable standards.

"He might as well say he is against immigration reform. His plan would effectively kill it, which is why some, including Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), have called his proposal a poison pill.

“'It becomes a way to say we can’t move forward,' said Mary Giovagnoli, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Immigration Policy Center."

Published In: Chicago Sun-Times | 06/16/13

AIC Executive Director Ben Johnson Quoted in the New York Times

Ben Johnson, the AIC's Executive Director was quoted in a New York Times article titled "Obama Backs Bill to Overhaul Immigration as Debate is Set." From the article:

"Other experts said Mr. Obama had learned from hard experience during the health care and budget debates about the right time to lie low and the right time to insert himself in the process.

"'There’s no question that the president has a delicate dance,' said Ben Johnson, the executive director of the American Immigration Council. 'He’s got to strike the right tone and the right balance of using the office effectively and not trampling on the process that’s currently under way.'"

Published In: New York Times | 06/12/13