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Immigration Reform Movement Takes Giant Leap Forward with Launch of National Campaign

The immigration reform movement took one giant step forward today with the formal launch of a new campaign, Reform Immigration FOR America, designed to achieve comprehensive immigration reform during the 111th Congress. The campaign, launched in 40 cities across the country, pulls together diverse voices from immigrant communities, progressive groups, civil rights organizations, business, labor, and community organizers to call on Congress for smart, practical reform of our immigration system. Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com. (June 1, 2009)

African American Jobs and Immigration Myth Unplugged

A long-standing and contentious issue which anti-immigrant groups are currently trying to exploit is whether or not the presence of immigrants in the U.S. labor force—especially undocumented immigrants—has a major adverse impact on the employment prospects of African Americans. The anti groups argue that undocumented immigrants, who tend to have low levels of formal education and work in less skilled occupations, are “taking” large numbers of jobs that might otherwise be filled by African American workers. However the evidence just isn’t there. Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com. (May 29, 2009)

A New Study Reinforces Growing Influence of Second Generation Latinos

A new study by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that Latino children now make up 22% of all children under the age of 18 in the U.S.—a huge increase from 9% in 1980. As the vast majority of these kids are U.S. citizens, nearly all of them will be raised and educated in the U.S. and become tomorrow’s workers, taxpayers, and parents. So before anti-immigrant groups use these numbers to argue that immigration costs the nation too much—i.e. the cost of educating these children, who are our country’s future leaders—we should review a National Academies study that reminds us that a child’s education is an investment: “Children who consume services and pay no taxes today become contributing taxpayers tomorrow.” Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com. (May 28, 2009)

High School Teens Deported on the Way to School

Three high school students were deported to Mexico last week when they were swept up in a Transportation Security Agency (TSA) raid at the Old Town transit center on their way to school in San Diego, California. Border Patrol confirmed that 21 people were detained. The teens� parents and immigrant rights group activists denounced the sweep, including the American Friends Service Committee�s border director, Pedro Rios, who questioned the effectiveness of TSA�s and Border Patrol�s enforcement strategies. Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com. (May 27, 2009)

President Obama Honors the American Dream with Supreme Court Nomination

Today, President Obama made history by nominating the first Hispanic, federal judge Sonia Sotomayor, for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. If confirmed, Judge Sotomayor will replace retiring Justice David Souter and become the first person of Puerto Rican heritage—and the third woman—to serve on the high court. In a heartwarming speech, President Obama highlighted Judge Sotomayor�s rigorous intellect, mastery of the law and depth of experience on the bench, which he characterized as �more varied than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court when they were appointed��a measured response to conservative jabs at her credibility and jurisprudence. Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com. (May 26, 2009)

Immigrants Serve U.S. Abroad, Fight For Citizenship At Home

From the Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, immigrants have voluntarily served in all branches of the U.S. military from the beginnings of America. Without the contributions of immigrants, the military could not meet its recruiting goals and could not fill the need for foreign-language translators, interpreters, and cultural experts. Since 2001, 47,500 service members have naturalized and become U.S. Citizens in ceremonies around the world from Afghanistan, to Iraq to South Korea and even on board Navy flagships at sea.Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com. (May 22, 2009)

Local Police Report Makes the Case for Federal Enforcement of Immigration Laws

This week the Police Foundation issued a long awaited report, The Role of Local Police: Striking a Balance Between Immigration Enforcement and Civil Liberties. The Police Foundation found that because Congress has failed to move forward with comprehensive immigration reform, states and localities have spent more time and resources curbing immigration themselves at the high cost of protecting their communities from more serious threats to public safety. Read more at ImmigrationImpact.com (May 21, 2009)